A fine, gracious and talented lady.
I had the pleasure of talking with her for a broadcast only a year ago when she visited my town for a film festival which included a screening of her classic 1964 film Georgy Girl...she told me she enjoyed almost all of her major acting jobs throughout her career. But one exception was a three-season excursion into series television in the United States, which indirectly led to some major positive changes in how Hollywood treats its performers. It was a program called, IIRC, House Calls, a medical comedy on CBS in the late 70s and early 80s. She enjoyed working with co-star Wayne Rogers, but the producers were another story. At the time the show was in production she was a new mother, and her baby came to the set with her. She made a major issue not only of breaks to nurse her new baby, but also provision of day care for not only her child but also the children of the other stars, featured players and crew. These days that's routine for most regular TV series and full length studio films, the studios do it as a matter of course, partly as a result of what she did. But in 1979 it was trailblazing. Her castmates, including Rogers, supported her, but the producers resented it and eventually fired her over it despite solid ratings. IIRC she won a lawsuit against those producers involving breach of contract and wrongful termination...and attitudes about support systems for working parents on the set started to change soon after. Hollywood's a more family-friendly workplace now partly as a result of what she did back then.
Not just for that, but for an outstanding 45 year career in front of the camera, she'll be missed.
