"Dance With a Stranger" was the film of whose life story?

"Dance with a Stranger" is a 1985 British drama film, directed by Mike Newell. Telling the story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain in the 1950's, this moving biographical British film won critical acclaim, and brought particular notice to the careers of both Miranda Richardson and Rupert Everett. The story of Ellis, which this film dramatizes, has very considerable resonance in Britain since it provided part of the background to the long-term national debates which led to the progressive abolition of capital punishment from 1965 on.

A former nude model and prostitute, Ruth is manageress of a London drinking club. In the club she meets David, an immature young man from a well-off family who wants to succeed in motor racing but suffers from lack of money and overuse of alcohol. Ruth falls for his looks and charm, but it is a doomed relationship. Without a job he cannot afford to marry her and his family would never accept her. When he makes a drunken scene in the club, she is fired and made homeless. A wealthy admirer secures a flat for her but she still sees David. When she tells him she is pregnant, he does nothing about it and she miscarries. Distraught, she goes to a house in Hampstead where she believes David is at a party. He comes out and goes with a girl to a pub. Ruth waits outside the pub and, when he emerges, kills him with four shots. She is arrested, tried and hanged.