Rachel Roberts (actress)

For other uses, see Rachel Roberts.

Rachel Roberts
Roberts in 1976
Born	(1927-09-20)20 September 1927 Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, United Kingdom
Died	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Suicide
Years active	1953–1980
Spouse(s)	Alan Dobie (1955-1961) Rex Harrison (1962-1971)

Rachel Roberts (20 September 1927 – 26 November 1980) was a Welsh actress noted for her fervour and passion. Roberts is best remembered for her forthright screen performances as the older mistress of the central male character in two key films of the 1960s, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and This Sporting Life. For This Sporting Life, Roberts was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Lead Actress. In Australia, she is remembered for her performance as Mrs Appleyard in Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock.

Early life and career

Roberts was born in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales. After a Baptist upbringing (against which she rebelled), followed by study at the University of Wales and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, she began working with a repertory company in Swansea in 1950. She made her film debut in the Welsh-set comedy Valley of Song (1953), directed by Gilbert Gunn.

Her portrayal of Brenda in Karel Reisz's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) won her a British Academy Film Award. Lindsay Anderson cast her as the suffering Mrs Hammond in This Sporting Life (1963), earning another BAFTA and an Oscar nomination. Both films were significant examples of the British New Wave of film-making.

In theatre, she performed at the Royal Court and played the title role as the life-enhancing tart in Lionel Bart's musical Maggie May (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, as the authoritarian head teacher of a Victorian girls' school.

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

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 and Stephen Frears.

Personal life and suicide

She married Alan Dobie (1955–1961), then Rex Harrison (1962–1971). Both marriages ended in divorce. Her alcoholism and depression increased after her divorce from Harrison. Devastated by their divorce, she moved to Hollywood in 1975 and tried to forget the relationship. In 1980, a final attempt to win Harrison back proved futile, and, impulsive and insecure, she committed suicide on 26 November 1980, at her home in Los Angeles.

It was reported that her death was a result of swallowing lye, alkali, or another unidentified caustic substance, as well as barbiturates and alcohol, as detailed in her posthumously published journals. The corrosive effect of the poisonous agent was an immediate cause of death. Her gardener found her body on her kitchen floor, lying amidst shards of glass; she had fallen through a decorative glass divide between two rooms. Her cause of death was initially reported as cardiac arrest. The coroner documented the cause of death as "swallowing a caustic substance" and, later, "acute barbiturate intoxication." It was ruled a suicide. She was 53 years old.

She was cremated at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles. Her journals became the basis for No Bells on Sunday: The Memoirs of Rachel Roberts (1984).

In 1992, Roberts' ashes, along with those of her very good friend Jill Bennett (who committed suicide in 1990), were scattered on the River Thames in London by director Lindsay Anderson during a boat trip, with several of the two actresses' professional colleagues and friends aboard; musician Alan Price sang "Is That All There Is?" The event was included as a segment in Anderson's BBC documentary film, also titled Is That All There Is?

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Notes
1953	Valley of Song	Bessie Lewis	Alternative title: Men Are Children Twice
	The Limping Man	Barmaid
1954	The Weak and the Wicked	Pat, pregnant inmate	Alternative title: Young and Willing
	The Crowded Day	Maggie	Alternative title: Shop Spoiled
1957	The Good Companions	Elsie and Effie Longstaff
1959	Our Man in Havana	Prostitute	Uncredited
1960	Saturday Night and Sunday Morning	Brenda	BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role
1961	Girl on Approval	Anne Howland
1963	This Sporting Life	Mrs. Margaret Hammond	BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
1968	A Flea in Her Ear	Suzanne de Castilian
1969	The Reckoning	Joyce Eglington	Alternative title: A Matter of Honour
1971	Doctors' Wives	Della Randolph
	Wild Rovers	Maybell (town madam)
1973	Alpha Beta	Nora Elliot
	The Belstone Fox	Cathie Smith	Alternative title: Free Spirit
	O Lucky Man!	Gloria Rowe/Madame Paillard/Mrs. Richards
1974	Murder on the Orient Express	Hildegarde Schmidt
1975	Picnic at Hanging Rock	Mrs. Appleyard
1978	Foul Play	Delia Darrow/Gerda Casswell
1979	Yanks	Mrs. Clarrie Moreton	BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
	When a Stranger Calls	Dr. Monk
1981	Charlie Chan and the Curse of the Dragon Queen	Mrs. Dangers
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958–1959	Our Mutual Friend	Lizzie Hexam	Miniseries
1960	On Trial	Mrs. Rogerson	1 episode
	BBC Sunday-Night Play	Mrs. Holyoake	1 episode
1963	The Eleventh Hour	Mary Newell	1 episode
1966	ITV Play of the Week	Lady Hamilton	1 episode
	Out of the Unknown	Anna Preston	1 episode
	Blithe Spirit	Ruth Condomine	US TV movie
1969	Destiny of a Spy	Megan Thomas	US TV movie
	Happy Ever After		1 episode
1970	Night Gallery	Rebecca Brigham	1 episode
1971	Marcus Welby, M.D.	Dr. Victoria Thorson	1 episode
1973	Baffled!	Mrs. Farraday	Television movie
1974	Graceless Go I		UK TV drama
	Play for Today	Olwen	1 episode
	Great Expectations	Mrs. Gargery	Television movie
1976–1978	The Tony Randall Show	Mrs. Bonnie McClellen	32 episodes
1977	A Circle of Children	Helga	USA TV movie
1979	Family	Angela Brown	1 episode
	Six Plays by Alan Bennett: The Old Crowd	Pauline	British Videotaped TV drama
	3 by Cheever: The Sorrows of Gin	Mrs. Henlein	Television movie
1980	The Hostage Tower	Sonya	Television movie
1982	The Wall	Regina Kowalska	Television movie

External links

• Rachel Roberts at the Internet Movie Database
• Rachel Roberts at the TCM Movie Database
• Rachel Roberts at the Internet Broadway Database
• Rachel Roberts born in Llanelli Llanelli Community Heritage