Margaret Rawlings (1906-1996), one of the finest tragic actresses on the English stage, first made her mark as Salome at the Gate Theatre in 1931, and amongst her subsequent successes were the roles of Kitty O'Shea in Parnell, Eliza Doolittle, Mrs Dearth in Dear Brutus and, most notably, Vittoria Corombona in The White Devil. She was an actress in the great classical tradition of tragedy, the heiress of Sybil Thorndike. Marriage and motherhood led her to abandon the stage, to which she returned after a twelve year absence to play the Empress Eugenie in a one-woman show. Her performance won rave reviews in London and was seen at over fifty festivals and venues in England and abroad. This was her last role.