Adrienne Corri

Adrienne Corri, born Adrienne Riccoboni on 13 November 1931 in Glasgow, Scotland, was a Scottish actress whose career spanned stage, film, and television across several decades. Her father, Luigi Riccoboni, was Italian and operated the Crown Hotel in Callander, Stirling during the 1930s, while her mother, Olive Smethurst, was English. Corri had one brother. She died on 13 March 2016 at her London home from coronary artery disease, at the age of 84.

Corri made her film debut in The Romantic Age in 1949, followed by Jean Renoir's The River in 1951. Her screen work encompassed a wide range of genres, from horror and suspense to prestige drama. Among her notable film appearances were the role of Lara's mother in David Lean's Dr. Zhivago and Dorothy in Otto Preminger's Bunny Lake Is Missing, both released in 1965. Earlier genre credits included Devil Girl from Mars in 1954 and The Tell-Tale Heart in 1960, with later entries including A Study in Terror in 1965 and Vampire Circus in 1972. She played Therese Duval in Revenge of the Pink Panther in 1978 and also appeared in the science fiction film Moon Zero Two in 1969.

One of her most discussed screen roles came in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange in 1971, in which she played Mary Alexander, the wife of writer Frank Alexander, portrayed by Patrick Magee. Corri had not been the original choice for the part, stepping in after two other actresses had withdrawn from the production. She earned Kubrick's respect through her willingness to endure an exhausting shooting process; one scene was filmed 39 times before her co-star Malcolm McDowell declared he could no longer continue. Corri and Kubrick maintained a friendly relationship after the film's completion, an association that included an exchange in which he complained about losing socks in the wash and she responded by giving him a pair of bright red socks as a Christmas gift, a reference to her character's costume in the film.

Her television work was equally varied. Credits included the role of Angelica in Sword of Freedom in 1958, a guest appearance in The Invisible Man episode "Crisis in the Desert" that same year, and a starring role as the Countess Olivia in a 1970 television production of Twelfth Night directed by John Sichel, in which she appeared opposite Sir Alec Guinness as Malvolio. She guest-starred as Liz Newton in the UFO episode "The Square Triangle" in 1970 and held regular roles in both A Family at War and You're Only Young Twice in 1971, the latter a series created by Jack Trevor Story. Later television work included the role of Mena in the Doctor Who story "The Leisure Hive" in 1980 and Veronica in Love in a Cold Climate the same year. She also appeared as Lady Fidget in a BBC Play of the Month production of William Wycherley's The Country Wife in 1977, alongside Helen Mirren.

On stage, Corri performed regularly in London and in provincial theatres throughout her career. In 1968 she appeared in one of the first English performances of Samuel Beckett's one-act work Come and Go at the Royal Festival Hall, directed by Deryk Mendel, alongside Marie Kean and Billie Whitelaw. The evening was sponsored by the National Council for Civil Liberties and the Defence of Literature and the Arts Society and was compèred by George Melly. Her Broadway career extended from 1952 to 1963 and included appearances in The Choir Rehearsal and Jane.

In her personal life, Corri had two children, Patrick and Sarah Filmer-Sankey, from a relationship with film producer Patrick Filmer-Sankey in the 1950s. She was married to actor Daniel Massey from 1961 until their divorce in 1967, a union Massey described as marked by both intense physical attraction and deep incompatibility. During the marriage Corri stepped back from her acting career, resuming it after a six-year break. She was acquainted with a number of prominent figures in British theatre and culture, including Joe Orton, who noted in his diaries that he sought her counsel on a personal matter, and John Wodehouse, the 4th Earl of Kimberley.

Beyond her performing career, Corri pursued a scholarly interest in the painter Thomas Gainsborough. She authored The Search for Gainsborough, a book written in diary form documenting her efforts to establish the provenance of a portrait of David Garrick she believed to be an early work by Gainsborough. She also published a related article in The Burlington Magazine. Her research drew on archival records held by the Bank of England, and in May 1990 the painting was awarded to her through an out-of-court settlement with the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham following a dispute over its valuation and attribution. Her findings were subsequently discussed in the catalogue of a 2009 exhibition at Philip Mould Ltd, with text by Lindsay Stainton and Bendor Grosvenor.