Janet Suzman, a poised and classy actress, seemed destined for Hollywood stardom in the early 1970s. Born in 1939 in South Africa, she was raised in a liberal household during a time when the country was moving towards formal racial discrimination under apartheid.
Suzman studied languages at the multi-racial Witwatersrand University in the late 1950s, where she was an active member of the drama society. She left South Africa during the height of the country's oppression and moved to England in 1959.
Making her professional stage debut with "Billy Liar" in 1962, Suzman quickly joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and received rave notices for her Joan of Arc in "The War of the Roses." She made her official London debut in a production of "A Comedy of Errors" in 1963.
In the ensuing years, Suzman built up an impressive classical resume, portraying most of Shakespeare's illustrious heroines, including Rosalind, Portia, Ophelia, Beatrice, and the shrewish Kate. She also appeared in several BBC-TV versions of the classics.
In 1969, Suzman married director Trevor Nunn, and together they collaborated on some of England's finest stage productions during the early 1970s, including "Antony and Cleopatra" (1972),"Titus Andronicus" (1972),and "Hello and Goodbye" (1973),which won Suzman the Evening Standard award.
She won a second award for her role of Masha in the 1976 production of Chekhov's "The Three Sisters." Suzman and Nunn had a son, Joshua, before they divorced in the 1980s.
Later work included notable roles in "She Stoops to Conquer," "The Good Woman of Setzuan," and her "Hedda Gabler."
