Big break came when she was selected from 2,0000 applicants to star in Brighton Rock (1947).
Daughter of an architect and surveyor.
First wanted to be a singer, but because she could not enter the Academy of Music for a year, she competed for the Anne M. Child scholarship to the Academy's dramatic section. She won the scholarship. A year later, she was invited to join the J. Arthur Rank Company of Youth to train for a screen career.
Prior to an acting career, she studied at a Hammersmith convent in West London and had scarce stage experience.
Spent some time with the Rank Organization's repertory company at Worthing. Her performance as Celia in "As You Like It" won high praise.