Known mostly as a stage actress, Gurney shot to worldwide fame playing Lady Marjorie Bellamy on the 1970s British TV drama Upstairs, Downstairs, which was also a massive hit in the U.S. and other countries. Her character was so beloved that fan mail — addressed either to her name or to Lady Marjorie at the fictional house’s address — kept coming for years, but she almost turned down the role.
“I would have much rather played one of the servants,” she once said. “They are much nicer people.” When she decided to leave the series after two seasons, the show duly wrote her out by having Lady Marjorie sail to America on the Titanic. Gurney died this week at age 81.