Vivien Merchant

Vivien Merchant
Portrait of Vivien Merchant by Cecil Beaton
Born	Ada Thompson (1929-07-22)22 July 1929 Manchester, Lancashire, England, UK
Died	3 October 1982(1982-10-03) (aged 53) London, England
Spouse(s)	Harold Pinter (1956–1980)
Children	Daniel Pinter

Vivien Merchant (born Ada Brand Thomson; 22 July 1929 – 3 October 1982) was an English actress. She began her career in 1942 and became known for dramatic roles on stage and in films. In 1956, she married the playwright Harold Pinter and performed in many of his plays.

Merchant achieved considerable success from the 1950s to the 1970s, winning the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress in 1964. For her role in the film Alfie (1966), she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer. In 1967, she starred in the Broadway production of Pinter's The Homecoming and received a Tony Award nomination. Her other films included Accident (1967), The Offence (1972), Frenzy (1972), The Homecoming (1973) and The Maids (1975). Suffering from depression and alcoholism as her marriage ended, she died in 1982, two years after her divorce.

Merchant took her stage name as a composite of the actress Vivien Leigh and her brother, who was a merchant seaman (cited by Michael Billington). She began acting professionally in 1942, with supporting juvenile roles in repertory, progressing to West End roles in such works as Noël Coward's Sigh No More and Ace of Clubs, becoming an established lead in repertory in the early 1950s. Merchant subsequently performed in many stage productions and several films, including Alfie (1966), Accident (1967), Frenzy (1972) and The Offence (also 1972). Her performance in Alfie gained her Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress, and won her the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress.