Scottish actress
Mary Ure, aged 42, died on 3 April 1975, shortly after the opening
night of her new play "The Exorcism". That night she appeared on
the London stage with Honor Blackman and Brian Blessed in the Don
Taylor play. Mary Ure died from an accidental overdose from a
combination of alcohol and barbiturates. She was found by her husband
Robert Shaw in their Curzon Street, London, home.
Mary Ure was born
in Glasgow as Eileen Mary Ure on 18 February 1933. She was the
daughter of civil engineer Colin McGregor Ure and history teacher
Edith Swinburne. Mary was educated at the city’s Laurel Bank School
and the independent Mount School in York.
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| Mary Ure as Mary Burroughs in "Storm Over the Nile" (1955) |
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| Mary Ure and writer Arthur Miller rehearsing for "View From a Bridge" (theatre, 1956) |
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| Mary Ure as Lee Windom in "Windom's Way" (1957) |
During the Festival
of Britain in 1951 there was a nationwide search for an actress to
appear as Mary in the York Mystery Plays. Mary’s headmistress urged
her to try her luck and she was chosen for the part at the age of
sixteen. E.M. Browne, the producer, was so impressed by her talent
that he advised her to study in London at the Central School of
Speech and Drama, where she enrolled for a teaching course. Shortly
afterwards Ure began performing on the London stage and quickly
developed a reputation for her abilities as a dramatic actress.
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| John Osborne and Mary Ure circa 1957 |
Her first
stage
appearance was in "Simon and Laura" in 1954 at the Opera
House,
Manchester, and she made her London debut as Amanda in the
Jean Anouilh play "Time Remembered" (1954) at the Lyric Theatre. While
playing Alison Porter in John Osborne's 1956 play "Look Back in
Anger", Mary began a relationship with the married playwright, and
after he obtained a divorce they married in 1957. The following year
she earned a Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway
production of "Look Back in Anger". In 1959 she starred with
Richard Burton and Claire Bloom in the film version, and according to
Burton they had an affair. That same year she also had a season with
the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford-upon-Avon Avon, starring
as Desdemona in Othello with Paul Robeson, Albert Finney, Diana Rigg
and Vanessa Redgrave.
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| Richard Burton and Mary Ure in 'Look Back in Anger" (1959) |
In 1959 her
marriage to Osborne was falling apart and she began an affair with
actor Robert Shaw while they co-starred in "The Changeling" at
London's Royal Court Theatre. She became pregnant, and gave birth to
a son, naming him Colin Murray Osborne despite his physical
resemblance to Shaw. After her divorce with Osborne, she married
Robert Shaw on April 13 1963 and he legally adopted Colin, who then
became Colin Murray Shaw. Later, the couple had three more children.
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| Vivien Leigh and Mary Ure in "Dual of Angels" (theatre, 1960) |
In 1960 she played
Clara Dawes in the film "Sons and Lovers" as Clara Dawes, and was
nominated for both a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award for Best
Supporting Actress.
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| Mary Ure with Dean Stockwell in "Sons and Lovers" (1960) |
In 1963, after an
absence of three years, she returned to the big screen in the science
fiction drama "The Mind Benders" with Dirk Bogarde. In 1968, she
made her only blockbuster, "Where Eagles Dare", with Richard
Burton and Clint Eastwood. Her last film was "A Reflection of
Fear" (1973) co-starring her husband.
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| Mary Ure as Mary Ellison in "Where Eagles Dare" |
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| Mary Ure with husband Robert Shaw in "A Reflection of Fear" (1972) |
Mary Ure was buried
at London Road Cemetery in Coventry.
