Whitelaw, Billie (1932-2014), a British stage and motion-picture actress, was one of the United Kingdom’s most versatile actresses. She was particularly known for her close association with the writings of the Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, and she became recognized as a leading interpreter of his work. The roles she took in Beckett’s plays required high levels of concentration, and physical and mental effort.
Billie Whitelaw was born on June 6, 1932, in Coventry, England. She began her career at the age of 11, playing children’s parts on radio. She later joined Joan Littlewood’s Theatre Workshop. Whitelaw made her stage debut in 1950. From 1963 to 1965, she was a member of the National Theatre company. In 1965, she appeared in Sir Laurence Olivier’s production of William Shakespeare’s Othello and in the comedy Hobson’s Choice, by the English playwright Harold Brighouse. Whitelaw joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1971 and gave several acclaimed performances, notably as the inefficient librarian in the English dramatist Michael Frayn’s Alphabetical Order (1975).
Whitelaw’s artistic connection with the works of Beckett began in 1964, when she appeared in a National Theatre performance of Play. Their association continued with her performances in Come and Go (1973), Not I (1973), in which she played Mouth, and a 1979 revival of Happy Days at London’s Royal Court Theatre. In 1976, Beckett directed Whitelaw in Footfalls, a play that he had written especially for her. Whitelaw lectured and gave readings of Beckett’s works in the United States from 1992 to 1995.
Whitelaw acted in more than 35 films, including Charlie Bubbles (1968), The Omen (1976), and The Krays (1990). She also made numerous television and radio appearances. In 1995, she published her autobiography, Billie Whitelaw…Who He? Whitelaw died on Dec. 21, 2014.
