British actress Suzanna Hamilton was discovered in the early 1970's by filmmaker Claude Whatham, at age 12, in a children's experimental theater in north London. She starred in her first feature, "Swallows and Amazons", based on the popular Arthur Ransome children's book, in 1974. Whatham also cast her as Princess Alexandra in the BBC miniseries, "Disraeli". Hamilton first received training in acting at the Anna Scher Theatre School and later, at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Suzanna's first major screen role was Izz Huett, the lovesick dairymaid, in Roman Polanski's 1979 film, "Tess", based on the classic Thomas Hardy novel, "Tess of the d'Urbervilles", which featured Nastassja Kinski in the title role.
