Her career was closely associated in particular with Alan Ayckbourn whom she knew from her early work in Scarborough to being her neighbour in London.[2][4][5]
Bell appeared with English Stage Company at the Royal Court Theatre, the National theatre, the Almeida, the Pleasance, the Bush and in the West End. She appeared in the first season of the dedicated Theatre in the round at Stoke-on-Trent. Bell was also a regular on television and in radio productions. She was a founder member of the Victoria theatre, which is now known as the New Vic.[1][2][5]
Bell went on to become a mentor for Central School students as well as an external examiner for Trinity College London[1]
Awards and criticism
1961 The gold medal and Sybil Thorndike prize, Central School of Speech and Drama, London
To act with, she was a joy. To direct, she was often challenging, forever questioning, not content to accept things purely on face value and, like any good actor, never settling for anything less than dramatic truth. If that makes her sound a tough proposition, then once her questions were answered, doubts reassured, she was fiercely loyal to you and the production.