Nyree Dawn Porter

Nyree Dawn Porter
Born	Ngaire Porter 22 January 1936 or 1940 Napier, New Zealand
Died	10 April 2001 (aged 61/65) London, England, UK
Occupation	actress
Spouse	Byron O'Leary (1959–1970; his death) Robin Bernard Halstead (1975–1987; 1 child)

Nyree Dawn Porter OBE (22 January 1936/1940^[1] – 10 April 2001), born Ngaire Porter ("Nyree" is the phonetic spelling of her name), was a New Zealand-born actress of stage, film and television.

Early life and career

Porter was born in Napier, New Zealand. Her first professional work was touring with the New Zealand Players Trust. She was acclaimed for such roles as Jessica in The Merchant of Venice and Juliet in Romanoff and Juliet. She also performed in revues and musicals, including Love from Judy and The Solid Gold Cadillac.

Porter moved to Britain in 1958 after winning a Miss Cinema talent competition for young actresses organised by Rank, with the prize of a round-the-world trip and a film test in London. Although the test was probably little more than a publicity stunt, she decided to stay and was soon acting in the theatre. Look Who's Here at the Fortune Theatre in Drury Lane was her first West End appearance.

She followed this with the role of Connie in Neil Simon's first West End play, Come Blow Your Horn, and a string of other appearances including those in The Duel^{[disambiguation needed ]}, The Dragon Variation, Murder in Mind, Anastasia and Deadly Nightcap. Porter also had two roles in Stephen Sondheim's Sunday in the Park with George, at the National Theatre in 1990 and played Olivia in Twelfth Night at the Shaw Theatre, and Rosalind in As You Like It at the Ludlow Festival. She also toured in Australia, in Jeffrey Archer's Beyond Reasonable Doubt and later, in The King and I.

Television

Her film appearances include The Cracksman, Two Left Feet, Live Now - Pay Later, Jane Eyre and The Martian Chronicles among others. She appeared in several television productions and is probably best remembered for her roles in The Forsyte Saga and The Protectors. She had already appeared in Madame Bovary and Judy Paris, when in 1967, she was cast as Irene in the BBC's 26-part serial The Forsyte Saga. The story of Soames Forsyte's marriage - including the harm to his wife - gripped the attention of British viewers and later audiences around the world. Porter became an overnight star as the tragic Victorian woman trapped in a loveless marriage and won a BAFTA award for her performance. Later, she did a stage tour of the programme, which had won her so many admirers.

In 1970, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).

Riding high on her success, she starred in the 1968 comedy series Never a Cross Word, and five years later alongside actor Robert Vaughn in puppet master Gerry Anderson's live-action series The Protectors. She appeared in Doctor in Charge, Anne of Green Gables and the BBC serial David Copperfield as the mother of Copperfield's best friend - James Steerforth.

Porter played the title role in the 26-part daytime serial For Maddie With Love, as a woman with only a few months left to live. Her screen husband was played by Ian Hendry. The programme ran for two series, in 1980 and 1981. She also appeared as a dotty games mistress in a Dick Emery sketch and was the subject of This is Your Life.

She also guest-starred in an early episode of The Avengers entitled "Death on The Slipway".

Personal life

Her first husband, Byron O'Leary, died in 1970 after an accidental drug overdose. In 1975, the actress married actor Robin Bernard Halstead, after giving birth to a daughter, Natalya Francesca Halstead; the couple divorced in 1987.^{[citation needed]}

Death

She died in Wandsworth,^[2] London, in 2001 from leukemia. She was cremated at Putney Vale Crematorium and her ashes buried in the cemetery there.

Filmography

Film

• Sentenced For Life (1960) - Betty Martin
• Identity Unknown (1960) - Pam
• The Edgar Wallace Mystery Theatre (1961) - Mary Greer
• Part-Time Wife (1961) - Jenny
• Operation Snatch (1962) - W.R.A.C. Officer
• Live Now - Pay Later (1962) - Marjorie Mason
• Two Left Feet (1963) - Eileen
• The Cracksman (1963) - Muriel
• Morir... dormir... tal vez soñar (1976)
• Hilary and Jackie (1998) - Dame Margot

Television

• Man From Interpol (1960) - Mary, Signora
• Deadline Midnight (1960) - Julie Sykes
• Danger Man (1961) - Stewardess
• The Avengers (1961) - Liz Wells
• Armchair Mystery Theatre (1961–1968) - Mildred, Lisa, Barbara
• Corrigan Blake (1963) - Francesca
• Madame Bovary (1964) - Emma Bovary
• Ghost Squad (1964) - Yvette
• Judith Paris (1964) - Judith Paris
• The Indian Tales of Rudyard Kipling (1964) - Janoo
• The Saint (1964) - Patsy Butler
• Public Eye (1965) - Sheila Reynolds
• Sherlock Holmes (1965) - Lady Brackenstall
• The Liars (1966)
• The Forsyte Saga (1967) - Irene Forsyte née Heron
• Never a Cross Word (1968) - Deidre Baldock
• Jane Eyre (1970) - Blanche Ingram
• Hassan (1971)
• The House That Dripped Blood (1971) - Ann Norton
• From Beyond the Grave (1973) - Susan Warren
• Thriller (1974) - Laura
• The Protectors (1972–1974) - Contessa Caroline di Contini
• Softly, Softly (1976) - Jane Rawlings
• The Martian Chronicles (1980) - Alice Hathaway
• For Maddie With Love (1980)
• The Mind of David Berglas (1986)

References

1. ^ Date of birth given variously as either 1936 or 1940 in film reference books and obituaries. Obituary The Guardian[1], obituary The Independent [2]
2. ^ Deaths England and Wales 1984-2006

External links

• Obituary in The Guardian
• Nyree Dawn Porter at the Internet Movie Database
• Nyree Dawn Porter at Find a Grave

Persondata
Name	Porter, Nyreedawn
Alternative names	Porter, Ngaire
Short description	Actress
Date of birth	22 January 1936 or 1940
Place of birth	Napier, New Zealand
Date of death	10 April 2001
Place of death	London, England, UK