Actress. She shall be remembered as a longtime stalwart of British stage and television. Raised in London, she studied at the Douglas-Webber School of Singing and Dramatic Arts and made her 1942 professional bow in the troop-entertainment production "The Patsy". Burrell made her West End debut in 1944 with "The Rest is Silence" and refined her craft at large and small venues before gaining her first major notice in 1949's fantasy "Dark of the Moon" in which she played Barbara Allen, a young girl raped in a church. She was to be a longtime member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and with time a valued character actress in such television features as "The Avengers", "Crown Court", and "Holby City". In 1963's "The Severed Head" she became the first English actress to bare her breasts on the stage; Burrell made her silver screen bow in the 1949 "Men in Black" and was seen in the media several times, most memorably as Aunt Ada Doom in the 1995 "Cold Comfort Farm". She was to continue her career well into advanced age, appearing in commercials in her final years. Burrell suffered a stroke in 2009 and died following an extended illness.
Actress. She shall be remembered as a longtime stalwart of British stage and television. Raised in London, she studied at the Douglas-Webber School of Singing and Dramatic Arts and made her 1942 professional bow in the troop-entertainment production "The Patsy". Burrell made her West End debut in 1944 with "The Rest is Silence" and refined her craft at large and small venues before gaining her first major notice in 1949's fantasy "Dark of the Moon" in which she played Barbara Allen, a young girl raped in a church. She was to be a longtime member of the Royal Shakespeare Company and with time a valued character actress in such television features as "The Avengers", "Crown Court", and "Holby City". In 1963's "The Severed Head" she became the first English actress to bare her breasts on the stage; Burrell made her silver screen bow in the 1949 "Men in Black" and was seen in the media several times, most memorably as Aunt Ada Doom in the 1995 "Cold Comfort Farm". She was to continue her career well into advanced age, appearing in commercials in her final years. Burrell suffered a stroke in 2009 and died following an extended illness.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
Advertisement
See more Burrell memorials in:
Records on Ancestry
Advertisement
