Billie Whitelaw, who has died aged 82, performed regularly at the Oxford Playhouse in the early stages of her career.

But it seems she had doubts at one point whether she would succeed as an actress.

Memory Lane reader Chris Payne, of Turnpike Road, Bicester, writes: “She appeared at the Playhouse in a production entitled The Enchanted with pupils drawn from Wheatley Secondary School in 1953 or 1954.

“My ex-wife, Norma Morris, was one of the pupils and I recall her telling me that Ms Whitelaw confided that the production was a make-or-break moment for her as she was reviewing whether to carry on with a theatrical career. Luckily she did.”

Ms Whitelaw started acting at the age of 11 and at 16, she went into repertory “to keep the home going” after her father died.

She spent a season in the mid-1950s with the Oxford Repertory Players, the resident company at the Playhouse led by director Peter Hall.

She was one of 10 permanent members of the company – six men and four women – who were augmented when required by a ‘reservoir’ of players, mostly former members.

She appeared in a number of Playhouse productions, including The Corn is Green and Saloon Bar, but one critic believed her talents were not best used.

He or she wrote: “One of the faults of the present excellent season has been hasty planning, and it has not always been possible to make the best use of available talent.

“Seeing Billie Whitelaw in a succession of small parts, for instance, has really been a luxury.”

In Saloon Bar, she played a barmaid – and she replicated the role for publicity purposes by posing behind the bar of the Gloucester Arms pub near the theatre during the run.

When the play ended, the makeshift bar on stage was turned into a real bar, with beer and spirits flowing at a party, as several members of the company were leaving.

Ms Whitelaw’s spell in repertory was short, as she was soon in demand for TV and stage work elsewhere.

One of her early TV roles was as Mary, daughter of PC George Dixon, in the popular and long-running BBC police series, Dixon of Dock Green.

There was recognition for her talents when, aged 27 in 1960, she was voted actress of the year by the Guild of Television Producers and Directors.

One commentator said at the time that she had “built up a reputation as a character actress, especially in ‘bad girl’ roles”, and had “sex appeal that sizzles”.

Though widely acclaimed, she appears to have retained her early doubts about the theatre. In later life, she confessed: “I always thought acting was a bit of a flibbertigibbety occupation.”