Haydn Gwynne, a flexible and acclaimed performer on British stage and display screen, has died. She was 66 and had not too long ago been recognized with most cancers.
Gwynne’s agent Alex Irwin mentioned the actress died in a London hospital early Friday, “surrounded by her beloved sons, close family and friends.”
Born in 1957, Gwynne taught English in Italy earlier than changing into an actor. She had her breakout position as a harried tv news producer in Nineties sitcom “Drop the Dead Donkey,” a pointy however affectionate depiction of the world of journalism.
She additionally starred in medical drama “Peak Practice” and was a standout in royal roles, enjoying Queen Camilla in royal satire “The Windsors” and lady-in-waiting Susan Hussey in “The Crown.”
Her many stage roles included Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher reverse Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Audience.”
Mirren paid tribute to Gwynne as “a delight as a person and a consummate dedicated actress.”
“She was each humorous and severe on the similar time, an excellent balancing act that her complete profession exemplified. We will miss her very a lot,” Mirren mentioned.
Gwynne was nominated for each an Olivier Award and a Tony for her efficiency because the supportive dance instructor within the musical “Billy Elliot” in London and New York, and acquired three different Olivier nominations for “The Threepenny Opera,” “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown” and “City of Angels.”
She carried out in a number of performs this yr, together with “The Great British Bake Off Musical,” and was as a result of seem within the musical tribute “Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends” in London’s West End, She withdrew from the production during rehearsals last month due to “sudden personal circumstances.”
The present’s producer, Cameron Mackintosh, mentioned Gwynne was “a truly wonderful person, as well as a phenomenally talented actress and singer.” He mentioned Friday’s efficiency could be devoted to her reminiscence.
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