Rachel Thomas

Rachel Thomas

Rachel Thomas OBE (10 February 1905 - 8 February 1995), was a Welsh character actress. Born in the village of Alltwen, near Pontardawe, Glamorgan, 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 film Undercover, an account of the guerrilla resistance movement in Yugoslavia during the Second World War. 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 in Cardiff.

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