My mother, Elizabeth Kay, who has died aged 97, made her West End debut playing Ismene in Laurence Olivier’s celebrated production of Oedipus Rex at the Old Vic in 1945-46.
Born in Worthing, West Sussex, to Florence (nee Osborn) and Jim Smith, who ran a radio repair business, Elizabeth went to Varndean grammar school, Brighton. When she was small, Jim discovered communism and was an active member of the Brighton branch of the Communist party of Great Britain; when she was old enough, Elizabeth accompanied him on demonstrations. She also developed a passion for acting and won a scholarship to Rada when she was 16. She used her middle name Osman as her stage surname.
At 18, in her final year at Rada, she had an audition for the Old Vic Theatre Company and was asked to meet Olivier at the Ritz for tea. She told me she was so nervous beforehand her knees were knocking together.
While touring in Much Ado About Nothing, she met Earl Kay, a theatre carpenter. They married in 1947. A friend of his, Antony Armstrong-Jones, took some free publicity photos for her. From 1947 to 1957, our family lived in Notting Hill, London, in a rented flat.
Elizabeth was cast as Lady Macbeth at the Gateway theatre, London, when I was four and my brother, Thornton, was two. There was a disastrous rehearsal when she could not find a childminder and our wails interrupted the action; we were hustled out of the theatre.
In 1958, we moved to our own home in Chiswick, west London, and the birth of my sister, Anna, finally ended Elizabeth’s theatrical career; she turned her talents in other directions. She joined the local Methodist church, became a steward and, briefly, a lay preacher.
She was a registered childminder and wrote stories for comic strips in DC Thomson’s Bunty and Judy magazines, including “Anna, Junior Miss” and “Backstage Betty”. She also taught keep fit for seven years, joined the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service (WRVS, now the RVS) and the Women’s Institute (WI), where she became president of the London federation. She was briefed by a committee at the Home Office on their campaign One in Seven, encouraging parents to speak to their children about the dangers of drug abuse.
After Earl died in 2002 she decided to move to Bournemouth to be near Anna. She embraced her new life with enthusiasm, acting in amateur dramatics, giving talks and gardening, but as dementia took hold she moved to a care home in 2023.
Elizabeth is survived by Thornton, Anna and me, and by 10 grandchildren and 20 great-grandchildren.
