Vale: Haydn Gwynne

English actress Haydn Gwynne, best known for Drop the Dead Donkey, The Windsors and The Crown, has died aged 66.

Her agent said: “It is with great sadness we are sharing with you that, following her recent diagnosis with cancer, the star of stage and screen Haydn Gwynne died in hospital in the small hours of Friday 20 October, surrounded by her beloved sons, close family and friends.

“We would like to thank the staff and teams at the Royal Marsden and Brompton Hospitals for their wonderful care over the last few weeks.”

Gwynne broke through in TV drama Nice Work in the late 1980s before finding wider fame playing cynical and stoical journalist Alex in topical satire Drop the Dead Donkey.

Two decades later, she featured in comedy series The Windsors, playing Camilla as “clearly the soap opera villainess.”

She portrayed Lady Susan Hussey, who resigned from the royal household following a racism row, in the fifth series of Netflix’s The Crown.

Her other TV parts included Dr Joanna Graham in Peak Practice, Supt Susan Blake in Merseybeat, and Julius Caesar’s wife Calpurnia in Rome.

Writer Jack Thorne said she was “the kindest, loveliest soul and a wonderful performer”, adding: “She gave everything to everything,” while actor Samuel West paid tribute, saying: “This is a terrible loss. One of the nicest and one of the best.”

Language.

Source: BBC