She seems in a relaxed mood now, as though she were relieved by the dearth of Rex Harrison questions. Rachel pours herself another glass of wine and settles back on the couch. In my country, so many actors play Hamlet, and you aren't always thinking of how Olivier played the part.” Really, one must put thoughts of comparison out of one's mind and think, ‘What can I offer?’ There is no definitive playing of a part. One must not bring anything but one's own interpretation. But hon estly, one doesn't have time to think of such things. Lynrr Fontanne is one of your greatest actresses. Obviously, there are going to be comparisons among the older generation.
“I flew over and went right into rehearsals and costume fittings-both designers were very good girls, I mean, women-and wig fittings. “I just didn't have any time to think about it,” she says. I'm much more like Francine, and it is lovely to hear laughter in theĪlthough Lynn Fontanne played Clara in a powerful 1958 production of “The Visit,” Rachel says that she was not at all intimidated by that fact.
Even though Francine has a lot of running around and fast costume changes, I'm more tired after Clara. Francine says the first thing that comes into her head, which is what French farce is. The fanaticism she's got has to be held in check, except for specific moments.
The part of Clara is probably the most exhausting. “I honestly can't state a preference, darling,” Rachel says, in her husky voice. It asked me if I were interested in doing ‘The Visit’ and a Feydeau farce, and Lindsay said, ‘Do it.’ I said, ‘I don't know if I want to-I haven't read either play.’ Lindsay said, ‘You both want to and can.’ So I wired Hal and said, ‘Delighted to accept.’” One night the ‘O Lucky Man!’ crowd was having dinner at this little village and Rex Reed brought me Prince's note. But I wasn't staying at the Carlton, I was in a little village nearby, St. Hal Prince, director of ‘The Visit,’ left me a note at the Carlton, where every body stays, He'd seen me in ‘Alpha Beta’ last year. “I was only there for eight days, I think. “I went to Cannes last summer to help Lindsay Anderson promote a film I was in, ‘O Lucky Man!’,” she says. Rachel moves to a fur‐covered couch, uncorks a bottle of Chianti, and explains how she, a British actress, got two such plum parts with an American rep company. “it's the best view I've ever had,” Rachel says, as she stands on the terrace, the lights of distant Fifth Avenue and Central Park South glittering like diamonds in some murky tiara. The Gielgud apartment is of the drop dead/House Beautiful genre, with several paintings that all say “LOVE” on the walls and a breathtaking view of Manhattan. It's the people you play to if you're any kind of artist.” I suppose Broadway is good for the ego, but it's not your ego that counts. But one thinks of Broadway in terms of show biz, and I don't exactly like show biz. One can't decry the enthusiasm we had, especially in Boston, where we packed them in for two weeks. Before we came here, we were six weeks touring America-on a bus. “I'm not particularly bedazzled,” she says evenly. In fact, she lias an honest‐togoodness noticeable stomach, not some concave pit. (“Oh, everybody says that.”) She is wearing a brown sweater and brown suede pants, and unlike many women in her profession, she has not starved herself into a bony skeleton. Her blonde hair is cropped short, and her upturned nose and Dick Tracy jaw make her strongly resemble her friend, Tammy Grime. “Hello, luv,” she says, cheerfully, as she strides out of her dressing room on a recent Saturday night, a bit hoarse after her matinee and evening performances. Now people are asking Rachel Roberts about Rachel Roberts again. And especially not after her current triumph in two wildly contrasting roles with The New Phoenix Repertory Company, one in the tragic “The Visit,” the other in the comic “Chemin de Fer.” Not after her smash hit on the London stage last year, “Alpha Beta,”, in which she played Albert Finney's shrewish wife. Rex Harrison, and after the divorce, the exMrs.
For 10 very important years in her life, from the age of 34 to 44, her main claim to fame was the fact that she was Mrs. THERE'S really no reason to ask Rachel Roberts about Rex Harrison, not any more. Evidently, he was quite a monster.”-A friend of Rachel Roberts. “Please, whatever you do, don't ask Rachel about Rex Harrison.
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