Polly Williams was born in Sussex, England on 5th January 1950. She was the third child of the actor and dramatist Hugh Williams from his second marriage to the Australian-born actress and dramatist Margaret Vyner. She was educated at Cobham Hall in Kent and at finishing school in Madrid, Spain. She had a career as an actress and model. Her brothers were the poet Hugo Williams and the actor Simon Williams. She died in the London Clinic, following a long battle with cancer on 24th June 2004, aged 54. She is survived by her widower the actor Nigel Havers, two sons from her first marriage and a stepdaughter from her second.