Actress. The youngest of two daughters born to senior civil servant Sir John Abraham and his wife, She attended Wentworth School, which she left at the age of 17 , and after studying nursing,  joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment with the British Red Cross where she worked at the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in London. She joined the Webber Douglas Academy where she studied acting and met an Army officer, Garth Adams. After their marrage in 1950 she had 2 children and a 13 year break from the stage, but on her return, had great success in The Importance of Being Ernest, My Mother Said I Never Should, Misalliance, A Case For Question, Three Sisters, Seachange, Caritas, The Crucible, Black Snow, The Happy Breed, Flare Path, Uncle Vanya, Hayfeaver, Salonika, Women Beware Woman, The Mating Game, Abingdon Square, The Fastest Clock In The Universe and Billy Liar. She has worked for the National Theatre and had toured the Middle East and Far East as well as working at The Royal Court and being nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for her role in Billy Liar in 1993. Her TV appearances included  Juliet Bravo, Spring Birthday, Bergerac, Casualty, Living Lies Lately, The Men’s Room, Rides, Resnick, and An Ungentlemanly Act (1992) as Nanny. She also had roles on television in Z Cars, the Sweeney, Shine On Harvey Moon, Tales of the Unexpected, Take Three Girls, Dr Findlay’s Casebook, Softly Softly, London’s Drowning, The Citadel, Leaving, An English Christmas, The Bill, Boon, The Piglet Files and Going Home and she played Councillor Adams in Coronation Street and returned to the series in 1993 as “mother-in-law from hell” Maud Grimes, the role she still played until 1999, appearing in 476 episodes. After leaving Coronation Street she returned to the stage in London’s West End to appear in Lady In The Van, playing opposite Dame Maggie Smith. In 2000 she suffered a stroke and was taken to the Princess Grace Hospital in nearby Monte Carlo, but died on 30 October 2000, aged 78. (bio by: Jeff J)