Beautiful, swift and tough-tongued British character actress Rachel Roberts gained notice for her roles on the English stage, before she hit it largely in films. Born in Wales and married to actor Rex Harrison in 1962, Roberts made her film debut in a key role in J. Lee Thompson's Young and Willing (1954) a drama film about the life of women in ...
November 26, 1980, Los Angeles, California, United States
Place Of Birth
Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, UK
Height
5' 5" (1.65 m)
Profession
Actress, Soundtrack
Education
University of WalesRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art
Nationality
British
Spouse
Rex Harrison, Alan Dobie
Children
Jack Niccol, Ava Lila Rae Niccol
Awards
BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role, BAFTA Award for Best British Actress, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
Nominations
Academy Award for Best Actress, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture – Drama, Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play
Movies
Picnic at Hanging Rock, This Sporting Life, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Murder on the Orient Express, O Lucky Man!, Yanks, Foul Play, When a Stranger Calls, Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen, Doctors' Wives, A Flea in Her Ear, Wild Rovers, Valley of Song, The Belstone Fox, Baffle...
TV Shows
The Tony Randall Show, Our Mutual Friend
Star Sign
Virgo
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Quote
1
Everybody has a story...and a scream.
2
It is very difficult to be taken seriously when you're introduced at a party to somebody as the fourth Mrs Rex Harrison.
3
Whenever I act well, my head clears. Always a bit frail I was personally, but never professionally.
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Fact
1
She was cremated at the Chapel of the Pines Crematorium in Los Angeles and her ashes scattered along with those of Jill Bennett on the River Thames by Lindsay Anderson.
2
Studied at the University of Wales.
3
Her father was a clergyman.
4
Her marriage to Rex Harrison surprised many of her friends, since she was a dedicated socialist and he a fervent Tory.
5
Became the first Welsh actress to win a BAFTA (British version of the "Oscar") for "Best British Actress" for her sterling performance in Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960).
6
Was nominated for Broadway's 1974 Tony Award as Best Actress (Dramatic) for performances with the New Phoenix Repertory Company.
7
Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where she was awarded the Athene Seyler Award for Comedy.
8
Making her debut as Ceres in Twelfth Night with Sir Michael Redgrave in 1951, she performed at the Old Vic Company in 1954 and 1955 with Shakespearean roles in Macbeth, Love's Labour's Lost, Othello and Henry V.
9
Played quite a few gravelly-voiced musical roles in the 1950s on stage before she focused on drama, including Talk of the Night, The Buccaneer, Oh, My Papa! and Maggie May.
10
Actual suicide was a result of swallowing lye, alkali, or another unidentified caustic substance on top of the barbiturates which were ingested as detailed in her posthumously published journals. The acidic effect of the poisonous agent was an immediate cause of death which propelled her body through a decorative glass screen. She was found by her gardener cut to ribbons in a negligee on her kitchen floor amongst the shards of glass on November 26, 1980.
11
The only actress to date that kept a vivid account of her life on record up until the very eve of her death. This account was published posthumously as No Bells on Sunday: The Rachel Roberts Journals (edited by the late Alexander Walker and interwoven with commentary and interviews from friends and colleagues; Pavilion Books and Simon & Schuster, London & New York, first editions 1984).
$3 Million
