Natasha Parry

Natasha Parry (2 December 1930 – 22 July 2015) was an English actress of Russian descent, born in London to film director Gordon Parry and his Russian wife, though some sources identify Gordon Parry as her stepfather. Her father was of Anglo-Greek background, and Parry grew up in an environment shaped by the arts and entertainment industry.

Parry began performing at a remarkably young age, making her stage debut at 12 in The Wingless Victory. By 14 she had appeared in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and she subsequently took roles in Big Ben and Bless the Bride. Her Broadway career brought her to New York for The Fighting Cock, which ran during the 1959–1960 season. Later in her career she returned to the London stage, appearing in The Tragedy of Hamlet at the Young Vic.

Her screen career began with Dance Hall in 1950. A number of her subsequent credits were connected to the work of her husband, theatre director Peter Brook, whom she married in 1951 at the Russian Orthodox Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God and All Saints in Ennismore Gardens, Knightsbridge, London. Among those collaborations were a live American television production of King Lear in 1953, in which she appeared opposite Orson Welles, and Jean Anouilh's The Fighting Cock with Rex Harrison. She also appeared in Brook's films Meetings with Remarkable Men and The Cherry Orchard, as well as Happy Days. On television, her credits included a 1961 episode of Sir Francis Drake and the 1964 production of The Count of Monte Cristo, in which she played Mercédès. In 1984 she appeared in Tchin-Tchin at the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord in Paris.

Parry's career was interrupted for a year in 1952 after she contracted tuberculosis. She and Peter Brook remained married until her death and had two children together, Irina Brook and Simon Brook, both of whom became filmmakers. Parry died on 22 July 2015, while on holiday in La Baule, Brittany, France, following a stroke, at the age of 84.