Sixties star Susannah York dies at age of 72

British actress Susannah York has died at the age of 72 after suffering from cancer. With a sweet-but-sexy screen persona and gamine good looks, York epitomised the swinging Sixties.

She was perhaps best known for her roles in They Shoot Horses Don't They? and Battle of Britain. And it was for They Shoot Horses... that York received her 1970 Oscar nomination for Best Actress.

The honour was overshadowed at the time by her less-than-grateful response. York, who was famed for speaking her mind - and sometimes for her temper - said publicly it was insulting the Academy had announced the nomination without asking if she wanted it. Some observers felt the snub contributed to her failure to win.

York's career later declined as she put her role as a mother first, sometimes agreeing to less-than-worthy projects - appearing as Superman's mother alongside Marlon Brando as his father in the first two Superman films.

York's son, actor Orlando Wells, said yesterday his glamorous mother was down-to-earth: "She was as happy in a pub theatre in Islington as she was in Hollywood."

He added: "She loved nothing more than cooking a good Sunday roast and sitting around a fire of a winter's evening. In some senses, she was quite a home girl.

"Both Sasha [his sister] and I feel incredibly lucky to have her as a mother. She was a fantastic mother and the most extraordinary actress."

Born Susannah Yolande Fletcher in wartime London (she maintained 1942, though 1939 is thought to be more accurate), York moved to Scotland after her upper-middle class parents divorced when she was five.

She trained at RADA in London, winning the Ronson award for most promising student, before landing her big break - a supporting role, with Scottish accent, in 1960s Tunes of Glory, as Alec Guinness's daughter.

York carried on working as an actress, both on stage and screen until near the end of her life - appearing last year in the BBC TV series Doctors.

Wells said his mother had "advanced bone marrow cancer". He added: "Last Thursday, she had a scan and then the descent was fast. In the end, her death was painless and quick.''

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