Here is the person biography:
Jean Vivra Gray, later known as Vivean Gray, was born in Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, England in 1925. She was the eldest of four children to Allan, a fish merchant, and his wife Doris. The family moved to Kingston upon Thames, in south-west London, in the 1930s, but was evacuated back to Cleethorpes in 1941 and finally resettled in New Malden, Surrey, after the second world war in 1945.
As a young woman, Gray worked as a sales assistant, reporter, photographer, and nurse, and during the war, she served in the Women's Land Army. However, she always dreamed of becoming an actor.
In 1952, finding opportunities in Britain limited, Gray decided to emigrate to Australia to pursue her acting ambitions. She adopted the professional name Vivean Gray and appeared in Australian theatre and radio, as well as establishing herself on TV with small roles in cop shows such as Homicide, Division Four, Matlock Police, Solo One, and Bluey.
Gray also appeared in two films directed by Peter Weir, including Picnic at Hanging Rock and The Last Wave. In 1976, she starred as Ida Jessup in The Sullivans, a long-running drama about a Melbourne family and the effect that the war had on their lives.
In 1984, she was cast to play a genteel poisoner, Edna Pearson, in the long-running drama Prisoner Cell Block H. However, after a woman who had been accused of poisoning her husband threatened to sue the show's producers, material involving Gray's character was cut from subsequent episodes.
Gray then joined the Australian soap Neighbours as the local busybody Nell Mangel, a role that made her famous worldwide. She played the character from 1986 to 1988, becoming known for her cantankerous and interfering personality.
After quitting Neighbours, Gray retired from acting and returned to England, settling in Shoreham-by-Sea in West Sussex. She refused requests for interviews or autographs from fans and only made a few public appearances, including being honored with her image on an Australian postage stamp in 1995.
Gray passed away in England in 2018, but her legacy as Mrs Mangel lives on, with her character remaining a beloved and iconic figure in Australian television history.
