Rachel Roberts (actress)

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Rachel Roberts

Born Rachel Roberts
September 20, 1927
Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, West Wales
Died November 26, 1980 (aged 53)
Los Angeles, California, United States
Years active 1953–1980
Spouse(s) Alan Dobie (1955-1961)
Rex Harrison (1962-1971)

Rachel Roberts (September 20, 1927 – November 26, 1980) was a Welsh actress.

Contents

[edit] Biography

[edit] Career

An actress of fervour and passion, Rachel Roberts gave forthright performances in two key films of the 1960s. After a Baptist upbringing (which she rebelled against), followed by the University of Wales and RADA, she was on stage from 1951. She made her film debut in the Welsh-set comedy Valley of Song (1953; directed by Gilbert Gunn), but was too direct and intense to fit comfortably into leading roles in 1950s British films.

However, these qualities led to her breakthrough BAFTA-winning portrayal of Brenda in Karel Reisz's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960). Lindsay Anderson saw that she would be perfect as the suffering Mrs Hammond in This Sporting Life (1963, another BAFTA and an Oscar nomination).

In theatre, she played at the Royal Court and was the life-enhancing tart Maggie May in Lionel Bart's musical (1964). In films she continued to play women with lusty appetites (as in Lindsay Anderson's O Lucky Man! (1973), although the haunting Australian-made Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975, directed by Peter Weir) provided her with a different kind of role.

In 1979, Roberts co-starred with Jill Bennett in the London Weekend Television production of Alan Bennett's The Old Crowd, directed by Lindsay Anderson.

She appeared in supporting roles in several U.S. films such as Foul Play (1978) after relocating to Los Angeles in the early 1970s, her final British film being Yanks (1979, directed by John Schlesinger), for which she received a Supporting Actress BAFTA.

[edit] Personal life

She married firstly Alan Dobie (1955–1961), then Rex Harrison (1962–1971).

[edit] Illness and Death

Impulsive and insecure, her alcoholism and depression increased after her divorce from Harrison in 1971, and she died at her home in Studio City from an overdose of barbiturates. Her journals became the basis for No Bells on Sunday: The Memoirs of Rachel Roberts (1984). 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 on her kitchen floor amongst the shards of glass on November 26, 1980. She was 53.

[edit] Filmography

Alpha Beta (1973) with Albert Finney

Awards
Preceded by
Geraldine Page
for Interiors		 BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1979
for Yanks		 Succeeded by
Rohini Hattangadi
for Gandhi
Preceded by
Frances Sternhagen
for Equus		 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play
1975-1976
for Habeas Corpus		 Succeeded by
Rosemary De Angelis
for The Transfiguration of Benno Blimpie

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Roberts, Rachel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Roberts, Rachel
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actress
DATE OF BIRTH September 20, 1927
PLACE OF BIRTH Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, West Wales
DATE OF DEATH November 26, 1980
PLACE OF DEATH Los Angeles, California, United States
Languages