The widow of actor Patrick Allen, the couple met when when he was in a play called "The Ark". They wed six months later and had two sons, Stephen and Stuart.
The daughter of a master mariner, she had a sister and a brother, who was killed in action on a submarine during World War II.
Always wanted to be an actress. At age 16, she enrolled at the Webber-Douglas Drama School. Six years later, she was contracted to The Rank Organisation.