Rachel Roberts was a Welsh actress noted for her fervour and passion; Roberts is best remembered for her forthright screen performances in two key films of the 1960s. After a Baptist upbringing (against which she rebelled), followed by the University of Wales and RADA, 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 BAFTA. Lindsay Anderson cast her as the suffering Mrs Hammond in This Sporting Life (1963, another BAFTA and an Oscar nomination). Both films were significant examples of the British New Wave of film making.
