Vivien Merchant

However, Merchant never got over the dissolution of her marriage, and her premature death was brought about by alcoholism.
. Merchant went public about her distress, and famously told the press that Pinter had not taken many clothes with him; but, she quipped, if he didn't have any shoes to wear, he could always borrow Fraser's: "she has very big feet, you know". She is the daughter of the late teen pop idol, Ricky Nelson, and sister to the Nelson twins, Matthew and Gunnar Nelson of the brotherly rock duo, Nelson. Their marriage began disintegrating in the mid-1960s and Pinter left Merchant suddenly in 1977 to live with historian Lady Antonia Fraser. Tracy Nelson is best known for playing the part of 'Sister Stevie' (the sidekick of Father Dowling in the tv show of "Father Dowling Mysteries") that starred Tom Bosley of "Happy Days" fame and the late Mary Wickes. Despite her great talent and many film appearances - including Alfie (1966) and Frenzy (1972), she is probably best known as the first wife of the playwright, Harold Pinter, whom she married in 1956. She appeared in many of his works, notably The Homecoming (1973).

Vivien Merchant (1929-1983) was a British actress, born Ada Thompson.