Adrienne Corri: The Fiery Redhead Whose Nude Defiance Lit Up A Clockwork Orange

Adrienne Corri (born Adrienne Riccoboni, 13 November 1931, Glasgow – died 13 March 2016, London) was the Scottish actress whose flaming red hair, sharp blue eyes, and unapologetic sensuality made her unforgettable.

Standing a statuesque 5′7″ (1.70 m) with a slim yet sinuous, voluptuous figure that turned heads in every era she worked, Corri radiated pure sexual heat. That trademark cascade of bright auburn hair framed a face full of fire and promise; her body moved with the fluid confidence of a woman who knew exactly how desirable she was.

No soft ingénue—period critics called out the “no nice-little-girl-next-door nonsense” about her. She was all curves, attitude, and natural redhead intensity.

Trained at RADA and active from 1949 to the early 1990s, Corri specialized in fiery, flamboyant roles across stage and screen. She shone in Jean Renoir’s The River (1951) as the spoiled, ripe Valerie, appeared in Doctor Zhivago, and later owned horror territory in films like Vampire Circus. But nothing seared her into cinematic legend like her work in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange (1971).

Adrienne Corri – Physical Details

• Hair color: Flaming bright red / auburn
• Eye color: Blue
• Height: 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
• Weight: Approx. 134 lbs (61 kg)
• Body type: Slim to sinuous / lightly voluptuous
• Measurements: waist ~26″ and thighs ~34″.
• Bra/cup size: B (natural)
• Boobs: Natural
• Tattoos: None known / none documented

Her iconic and difficult performance in Kubrick’s movie

As Mrs. Alexander, the writer’s wife, Corri delivered one of the most iconic and erotic-charged sequences in film history. Two previous actresses had walked away from the physical and psychological demands of the home-invasion rape scene.

Corri stepped in without hesitation. Clad in a vivid red pajama suit, she answers the door only to have Alex (Malcolm McDowell) and his Droogs invade. Scissors snip the fabric away piece by piece until she stands completely naked except for a pair of red socks, her natural red hair cascading, her body fully exposed under Kubrick’s clinical, endless takes. She is manhandled, carried across Dim’s shoulders, forced to endure the stylized ultraviolence while Alex croons “Singin’ in the Rain.”

Corri famously quipped to McDowell beforehand: “Well, Malcolm, you’re about to find out that I’m a real redhead.” She endured days of grueling repetition, sometimes dozens of takes of the same brutal choreography without flinching, earning Kubrick’s respect and later gifting him red socks as a darkly playful reminder of the scene.