Not to be confused with the late actress Mary Millar.
Mary was the daughter of George Spinks, a port, fish and sanitary inspector, and his wife, Edith (nee Moore).
During the Second World War she was evacuated to Nottinghamshire, where she attended Retford High School before returning home in 1944 to study at the Phyllis Adams School of Dancing in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk.
A founding member of the National Theatre Company in 1963 in its inaugural season under artistic director Sir Laurence Olivier.