[1] She started out on stage and her first breakthrough role was in the first production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie opposite Vanessa Redgrave.
Her television work began with Ken Loach's once controversial Up The Junction (1965) for the BBC's Wednesday play series.
Her American television appearances include a 1977 episode of The Waltons titled "The Seashore" where she guest starred as Lisa, a troubled student who fled England to escape turmoil and personal tragedy during the onset of World War II.
She was also a successful novelist and her published novels included Focussing, Lovers of Africa (Love & Hunger in the USA), The Testimony of Daniel Pagels and Delicate Matters.
Her second husband was the actor Michael J. Shannon, whom she met and fell in love with during the American season of Frith Banbury's production of Frank Harvey's The Day After the Fair, in which they both acted.