Rachel Roberts (actress)

Roberts was born in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales, the daughter of a Baptist minister, though she later rebelled against her upbringing.^[2] After studying at the University of Wales in Aberystwyth and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art,^[2][3] she began working with a repertory company in Swansea in 1950.^[4] Her film debut was in Gilbert Gunn's Welsh-set comedy Valley of Song (1953).^[3]

Her portrayal of Brenda in Karel Reisz's Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (1960) won her a British Academy Film Award.^[5] Lindsay Anderson cast her as the long suffering Mrs Hammond in This Sporting Life (1963), earning her another BAFTA and an Oscar nomination. Both films were significant examples of the British New Wave of film-making.^[6]

In theatre, she performed at the Royal Court and played the title role as the life-enhancing prostitute in Lionel Bart's musical Maggie May (1964).^[7] On film she played a dual role as a suicidal housewife and a predatory PR officer in Lindsay Anderson's O Lucky Man! (1973).^[8][9] It was her work as Hildegarde Schmitt in Murder on the Orient Express (1974)^[10] that got her a leading part in Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), playing the authoritarian head teacher of a girls' school in 1900 Australia.^[11]

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.^[5]

In 1976, she won a Drama Desk Award for her performance in Alan Bennett's play Habeas Corpus.^[12] 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.^[13]

Roberts was married twice and had no children. She first married actor Alan Dobie in 1955. They divorced in 1960. The following year, Roberts married actor Rex Harrison in Genoa, Italy.^[14] The marriage was tumultuous; Roberts and Harrison both drank excessively and engaged in public fights.^[15] Harrison later left Roberts and they divorced in 1971.^[16] Later that year, Harrison married British socialite Elizabeth Rees-Williams, Roberts's former best friend.^[17]

Roberts was known in the entertainment industry for the eccentric behaviour that stemmed from her alcoholism.^[18] At the time of her death, Roberts was intermittently with Darren Ramirez, a Mexican almost 20 years younger. It was a largely platonic relationship. In her final years she became obsessed with rekindling her relationship with Harrison.^[19]

Rachel Roberts was devastated by her divorce from Rex Harrison, and her alcoholism and depression worsened.^[16] She moved to Hollywood in 1975 and tried to forget the relationship. In 1980, Roberts attempted to reconcile with Harrison, but he was married to his sixth and final wife, Mercia Tinker.^[20]

On 26 November 1980, Rachel Roberts died at her home in Los Angeles at the age of 53. Her death was initially attributed to a heart attack.^[14] 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.^[21] An autopsy later determined that her death was a result of swallowing lye or another alkali, or another unidentified caustic substance, as well as barbiturates and alcohol, as detailed in her posthumously published journals. The corrosive effect of the alkali was the immediate cause of death. The coroner documented the cause of death as "swallowing a caustic substance" and, later, "acute barbiturate intoxication."^[21][22] Her death was ruled a suicide.^[22]

Roberts was cremated at the Chapel of the Pines Crematory in Los Angeles.^{[citation needed]} Her journals became the basis for No Bells on Sunday: The Memoirs of Rachel Roberts, published in 1984.^[23]

In 1992, Roberts's ashes, along with those of her friend Jill Bennett, who died by 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?.^[24][25][26]