Between 1983 and 1985 she was with the Royal Shakespeare Company at Stratford and the Barbican appearing in Measure for Measure and The Dillon.
Born Margaret Rose Mount, but best known in Britain by her nickname, "Peggy".
In the 1980s she had parts in the popular TV series Inspector Morse and Casualty.
She always wanted to be an actress, but her father died when she was 14, and she had to learn shorthand and typing.
She claimed to have had a very unhappy ,lonely, childhood and felt unloved by her mother.
She ended her career in 1998 when she lost her sight during a performance of Chekhov's "Uncle Vanya."
She was adept at playing formidable mother-in-law roles.
She was awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in 1996 for her services to drama.
Was an accomplished sailor and once owned a motor cruiser on the River Thames aptly named 'The Dragon'.