Rachel Thomas
Encyclopedia
Rachel Thomas OBE
(10 February 1905
- 8 February 1995
), was a Welsh
character actress, well known to film
and television
audiences.
Born in the village of Alltwen
, near Pontardawe
, Wales
, she appeared in such classic films as The Proud Valley
(1940) with Paul Robeson
, Blue Scar (1949) and Tiger Bay
(1959). In 1943, she appeared as Maria Petrovitch in the Ealing war movie Undercover, an account of the guerrilla resistance movement in Yugoslavia during World War II. In 1954 she was part of the original BBC Radio
cast of Dylan Thomas
' radio play Under Milk Wood
, playing the roles of Rosie Probert, Mary Ann Sailors, and Mrs. Willy Nilly. She played Mary Ann Sailors in the 1972 film version.
She almost always played the stereotypical Welsh mother (or grandmother in her later years) and appeared on both Welsh-
and English
-language television.
In 1968 she was awarded the OBE for her services to Wales
.
She died two days before her 90th birthday following a fall in her home.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(10 February 1905
1905 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1905 to Wales and its people.-Incumbents:*Prince of Wales - George, Prince of Wales, son of King Edward VII of the United Kingdom*Princess of Wales - Mary of Teck...
- 8 February 1995
1995 in Wales
This article is about the particular significance of the year 1995 to Wales and its people.-Incumbents:*Prince of Wales - Charles, Prince of Wales*Princess of Wales - Diana, Princess of Wales*Secretary of State for Wales - William Hague...
), was a Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
character actress, well known to film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
audiences.
Born in the village of Alltwen
Alltwen
Alltwen – meaning "white wooded slope" – is a village in the county borough of Neath Port Talbot, Wales, near Pontardawe in the Swansea Valley...
, near Pontardawe
Pontardawe
Pontardawe is a town of some 5,000 inhabitants in the Swansea Valley in south Wales...
, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, she appeared in such classic films as The Proud Valley
The Proud Valley
The Proud Valley is a 1940 Ealing Studios film starring the African-American actor Paul Robeson. Filmed on location in the South Wales coalfield the heart of the main coal mining region of Wales, the film tells the story of a Black American miner and singer who gets a job in a mine and joins a male...
(1940) with Paul Robeson
Paul Robeson
Paul Leroy Robeson was an American concert singer , recording artist, actor, athlete, scholar who was an advocate for the Civil Rights Movement in the first half of the twentieth century...
, Blue Scar (1949) and Tiger Bay
Tiger Bay (film)
Tiger Bay is a 1959 British crime drama film directed by J. Lee Thompson and produced and co-written by John Hawkesworth. It stars John Mills as a police superintendent who investigates a murder, his daughter Hayley Mills, in her first major film role, as a girl who witnesses the murder, and Horst...
(1959). In 1943, she appeared as Maria Petrovitch in the Ealing war movie Undercover, an account of the guerrilla resistance movement in Yugoslavia during World War II. In 1954 she was part of the original BBC Radio
BBC Radio
BBC Radio is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company...
cast of Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas
Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...
' radio play Under Milk Wood
Under Milk Wood
Under Milk Wood is a 1954 radio drama by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, adapted later as a stage play. A movie version, Under Milk Wood directed by Andrew Sinclair, was released during 1972....
, playing the roles of Rosie Probert, Mary Ann Sailors, and Mrs. Willy Nilly. She played Mary Ann Sailors in the 1972 film version.
She almost always played the stereotypical Welsh mother (or grandmother in her later years) and appeared on both Welsh-
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
and English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
-language television.
In 1968 she was awarded the OBE for her services to Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
She died two days before her 90th birthday following a fall in her home.