Trivia

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 in a negligee on her kitchen floor amongst the shards of glass on November 26, 1980.

Her marriage to Rex Harrison surprised many of her friends, since she was a dedicated socialist and he a fervent Tory.

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).

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.

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).

An alcoholic for much of her life, Roberts had a habit of imitating a Welsh Corgi dog when drunk. Once, at a party thrown by Richard Harris she attacked Robert Mitchum on all fours, chewing his trousers and chomping on his bare skin, while he patted her on the head, saying "there, there".

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.

Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where she was awarded the Athene Seyler Award for Comedy.

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.

Her father was a clergyman.

Studied at the University of Wales.

Was nominated for Broadway's 1974 Tony Award as Best Actress (Dramatic) for performances with the New Phoenix Repertory Company.

Harrison and Miss Roberts were married in a civil ceremony in Genoa, Italy, in 1962 and divorced in 1971. It was her second marriage and Harrison's fourth.

In her final years she became obsessed with rekindling her relationship with Harrison.

In 1992, Roberts's ashes, along with those of her 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.

Her death was initially attributed to a heart attack. 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. 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.

Miss Roberts and her first husband Alan Dobie divorced in 1960 after five years of marriage.

At the time of her death, Roberts was intermittently with Darren Ramirez, an attractive Mexican almost 20 years younger.

The posthumously published No Bells on Sunday (1984), a biography-memoir edited by British film critic Alexander Walker, includes the actress's journal entries from the last three years of her life.

Roberts studied at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth (1945), and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (1948-50). She acted in classic roles at the Old Vic, in Stratford, and at the Bristol Old Vic, but some of her most outstanding theatrical performances were in modern parts, in the musical Maggie May in 1964, in Alpha Beta in 1972, and in John Osborne's The End of Me Old Cigar in 1975. Her other memorable films include Anderson's O Lucky Man (1973), Sidney Lumet's Murder on the Orient Express (1974), and Peter Weir's Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975).

In late November complete a film titled A Matter of Honour.