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Vivien Merchant (born Ada Brand Thomson;〔http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=100647&back=〕 22 July 1929 – 3 October 1982) was an English actress. She began her career in 1942 and became known for dramatic roles on stage and in films. In 1956, she married the playwright Harold Pinter and performed in many of his plays. Merchant achieved considerable success from the 1950s to the 1970s, winning the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress in 1964. For her role in the film ''Alfie'' (1966), she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and won the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer. In 1967, she starred in the Broadway production of Pinter's ''The Homecoming'' and received a Tony Award nomination. Her other films included ''Accident'' (1967), ''The Offence'' (1972), ''Frenzy'' (1972), ''The Homecoming'' (1973) and ''The Maids'' (1975). Suffering from depression and alcoholism as her marriage ended, she died in 1982, two years after her divorce. ==Career== Merchant took her stage name as a composite of the actress Vivien Leigh and her brother, who was a merchant seaman (cited by Michael Billington). She began acting professionally in 1942, with supporting juvenile roles in repertory, progressing to West End roles in such works as Noël Coward's ''Sigh No More'' and ''Ace of Clubs'', becoming an established lead in repertory in the early 1950s. Merchant subsequently performed in many stage productions and several films, including ''Alfie'' (1966), ''Accident'' (1967), ''Frenzy'' (1972) and ''The Offence'' (also 1972). Her performance in ''Alfie'' gained her Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actress, and won her the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer and the National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress. After Merchant married the playwright Harold Pinter in 1956, she appeared in many of his plays, including the 1960 revival of his first play, ''The Room'' at the Hampstead Theatre, ''A Slight Ache'', ''A Night Out'', ''The Collection'' and ''The Lover''; the last was also a celebrated television production partnering Alan Badel at Associated Rediffusion, for which she was given an Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Newcomer and the BAFTA Award for Best Actress, both in 1963. Merchant subsequently appeared as Wendy in ''Tea Party'' opposite Leo McKern in 1965. She starred as Ruth in ''The Homecoming'' (1964) on stage in both London in 1965 and New York in 1967, receiving a Tony Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play. She went on to star in the film version in 1973. The last of his plays in which she performed on stage was ''Old Times'' (1971) as Anna. She played Lady Macbeth to Paul Scofield's Macbeth for the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1967, directed by Sir Peter Hall. Merchant took the role of Madame in the Greenwich Theatre revival of Jean Genet's ''The Maids'' partnering Glenda Jackson and Susannah York: this was filmed in 1974 by Christopher Miles. In 1975, Merchant and Timothy Dalton headed the cast of a revival of Noël Coward's ''The Vortex'' at the Greenwich Theatre.〔("''The Vortex'' (1975–1976)" ), ''Timothy Dalton – Shakespearean James Bond'', accessed 28 June 2012〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Vivien Merchant」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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