“Gipsy House” was originally written as a novel by Barry Farrell. It was later translated to a screenplay by Robert Anderson and directed by Anthony Harvey and Anthony Page. The screenplay stars Glenda Jackson, Dirk Bogarde, Ken Kercheval, and Jane Merrow. It portrays the biography of actress Patricia Neal, mainly focusing on her relationship with her husband, Roald Dahl. After suffering a massive stroke, Neal’s basic life functions, as well as her relationship with her husband, become strained. Set in England, the title refers to Dahl’s estate there.

Patricia Neal was born in Packard, Kentucky, on January 20, 1926. She is the daughter of William Burdette and Eura Petrey Neal. Neal grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, where she attended Knoxville High School and then continued her studies of acting at Northwestern University. Her first job was on Broadway as an understudy and eventually became a leading lady on the stage. In 1947, Neal won a Tony Award for her role in the Broadway play, Another Part of the Forest. Neal then moved to motion pictures and some of her first roles were in the movies The Voice of the Turtle, The Hasty Heart, and The Fountainhead. Neal won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1963 for her role in the movie Hud starring Neal and Paul Newman. She continued to work until up until her death on August 10, 2010.