1. Mary Ure was the second Scottish-born actress to be nominated for an Academy Award, for her role in the 1960 film Sons and Lovers.
18 Facts About Mary Ure
1. 2.
Mary Ure went to the independent Mount School in York, where in 1951 she played the role of the Virgin Mary in the York Cycle of Mystery Plays, revived for the Festival of Britain.
3.
Mary Ure trained for the stage at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, then based at the Royal Albert Hall, London, where her classmates included the actress Wendy Craig.
4.
Mary Ure made her London debut as Amanda in "Time Remembered".
5.
Mary Ure first appeared on screen in Storm Over The Nile playing the love interest of hero Anthony Steel.
6.
Mary Ure was Ophelia in a 1955 stage production of Hamlet starring Paul Scofield that was filmed the following year for television.
7.
Mary Ure appeared in a London stage production of A View from the Bridge.
8.
Mary Ure played a leading role as Alison Porter in John Osborne's new play Look Back in Anger.
9.
Mary Ure did a season at Stratford, appearing in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Othello.
10.
Mary Ure appeared in the film Sons and Lovers as Clara Dawes, earning nominations for both the Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
11.
The success of Sons and Lovers meant for a time Mary Ure was seen as a possible major movie star in America.
12.
Mary Ure appeared several times on screen with then-husband Robert Shaw: A Florentine Tragedy for television, based on a script by Shaw; The Luck of Ginger Coffey ; and Custer of the West, playing Custer's wife.
13.
Mary Ure's growing alcoholism affected her stage career to the point that she was fired from the 1974 pre-Broadway production of Love for Love and was replaced by her understudy, Glenn Close.
14.
Mary Ure returned to the London stage after a 12-year break to appear in The Exorcism.
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In 1956, Mary Ure began an affair with married playwright John Osborne while working on the initial production of his play Look Back in Anger.
16.
Osborne had continued having affairs during the marriage, and Mary Ure started an affair with her co-star Robert Shaw in 1959, while the two were performing in the London stage production of The Changeling.
17.
Mary Ure experienced alcohol dependence and other mental health challenges throughout the early 1970s.
18.
Mary Ure's body was discovered by her husband, Robert Shaw, in their London home.