Orson Welles and Natasha Parry in “King Lear.”
Natasha Parry, who played Cordelia opposite Orson Welles in a 1953 television production of King Lear, has died. She was 84.
Parry, an accomplished British stage actress, was married to Peter Brook, who staged the live Omnibus production of King Lear. Preserved on kinescope, the Omnibus production of King Lear is available on DVD.
Brook and Parry were close friends of Welles and his third wife, Paola Mori.
Parry made her acting debut on the London stage in 1943 at the age of 12. Her film work included Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet (1968), Knave of Hearts (1954) and Oh! What a Lovely War (1969).
She starred opposite Michel Piccoli in the French film “The Taste of Blueberries” last year.
She made her last stage appearance in 2001 as Gertrude in Brook’s production of The Tragedy of Hamlet at London’s Young Vic.
Parry, who has made her home in France since the 1970s, died on July 22 after suffering a stroke on vacation in La Baule, on the Brittany coast.
She is survived by Brook, her husband of 64 years, and two children.
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