Patricia Elliott: Actress who won a Tony on her Broadway debut and went on to star with David Bowie in 'Elephant Man'

She also had numerous guest roles on such television series as Kojak, St Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues

Elliott in rehearsal with David Bowie in 'Elephant Man' in New York in 1980 (AP)

Patricia Elliott is best known in her native US for her decades-long portrayal of Renée Divine Buchanan on the soap opera One Life to Live. On this side of the Atlantic she is best known for starring with David Bowie in Elephant Man.

Born in Gunnison, Colorado, she made her Broadway debut as Countess Charlotte Malcolm in the original production of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music, and won the Tony for best featured actress in 1973. She also was nominated for a Tony in 1977 in the original production of The Shadow Box. Her other Broadway credits include A Doll's House, A Month Of Sundays and Hedda Gabler.

Elliott joined the cast of Elephant Man to replace Carole Shelley as Mrs Kendal, an actress who meets the eponymous John Merrick and has to use all her self-control to disguise he disgust at his appearance. When Mrs Kendal meets Merrick, she requires all of her self-control in order to disguise her horror at Merrick's appearance. She mentions Romeo and Juliet, and is amazed by Merrick's thoughtful and sensitive views on Romeo and the nature of love, and later brings her high-society friends to meet him.

Elliott graduated from the University of Colorado in 1960 and worked at the Cleveland Play House, the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis and Arena Stage in Washington DC, among others. She starred in Hay Fever in Los Angeles and played Regina Giddens in The Little Foxes in Philadelphia. She also had numerous guest roles on such television series as Kojak, St Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues. Elliott died of cancer.

Patricia Elliott, actress: born Gunnison, Colorado 21 July 1938; died New York 20 December 2015.