Rachel Roberts 1927 – 1980

Rachel Roberts (pictured left, with Audrey Hepburn and Dirk Bogarde): Welsh actress on screen 1953 – 1980, born 20 September 1927, Llanelli UK; died 26 November 1980, 53 years of age, Los Angeles USA; suicide by ingesting acid.

Roberts established herself as a leading dramatic actress in British theatre, films and television in the late 1950s and early 1960s, culminating in a Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for This Sporting Life (1963).

In 1962, Roberts became the fourth of six wives of Britsih actor Rex Harrison (1908 – 1990) until their alcohol-affected marriage end in divorce in 1971, with Harrison marrying Robert’s best friend, Elizabeth Rees, later that year. After the breakup with toyboy Darren Ramirez, and a failed reconciliation with Harrison, Roberts consumed alcohol, barbiturates and an unknown caustic substance (probably cleaning fluid) and was found dead in the kitchen of her Los Angeles home.