Rachel Gurney
| Rachel Gurney | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | 5 March 1920 Buckinghamshire, England |
| Died | 24 September 2001 (aged 81) Norfolk, England |
| Cause of death | Pneumonia |
| Residence | Norfolk, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Education | Challoner School |
| Alma mater | Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1949–1995 |
| Employer | ITV |
| Home town | London, England |
| Television | Upstairs, Downstairs |
| Spouse(s) |
Denys Rhodes (1946–1950); (divorced) |
| Children | 1 daughter, Sharon Gurney |
| Relatives |
Michael Gough (In-Law) |
Rachel Gurney (5 March 1920 – 24 November 2001) was an English actress. She began her career in the theatre towards the end of World War II and then expanded into television and film in the 1950s. She remained active, mostly in television and theatre work, into the early 1990s. She was best known for playing the elegant Lady Marjorie Bellamy in the ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs.
Rachel Gurney was born in Buckinghamshire, England in 1920. Her father, Samuel Gurney Lubbock, was a housemaster at Eton and her mother, Irene Scharrer, was a concert pianist. Due to her father's occupation, Gurney grew up in a large house with 42 boys that was often host to visiting artists and musicians. As a teenager she attended the Dr Challoner's High School in Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire.
In 1938 Gurney entered the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art to study acting. World War II postponed her acting career, and she did not make her stage debut until 1945 with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, working under director Barry Jackson. At the close of the war she quickly became a regular presence on the West End, making her debut in 1946 as Lynne Hartley in Warren Chetham-Strode's The Guinea Pig at the Criterion Theatre. In the same year she married novelist Denys Rhodes but their marriage ended in 1950 in divorce. They had one daughter together, actress Sharon Gurney (a daughter-in-law of Michael Gough). Her other stage credits during this time include Lady Katherine in The Sleeping Clergyman at the Criterion Theatre in 1947, the fiancée in Peter Watling's Rain on the Just at the Old Vic in 1948, and Thea in Black Chiffon at the Westminster Theatre in 1949.
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