Heal was born in
Vobster, Somerset, and educated at
Bath High School and later the
Old Vic School. She made her first professional appearance as Mrs Terence in
Emlyn Williams' psycho-thriller
Night Must Fall in 1940 at the Garden Theatre, Bideford, after which she was in the chorus of a
revue at the
Saville Theatre, London. Her first prominent role in revue was at the
Cambridge Theatre in
Sauce Tartare in 1949. The show transferred to the
Globe Theatre in the
West End, and was followed by a sequel in 1952. After further revue work, Heal was cast in the leading role of Virginia Jones in a new British musical
Grab Me a Gondola, which became, in the words of
The Times "a huge and completely unexpected success". Heal played at the
Bristol Old Vic in 1959 as Katherina in
The Taming of the Shrew. ==References==