British actor and director Josephine Melville died on Thursday, October 20, after collapsing backstage on the play wherein she was performing.
According to BBC News, Melville was handled by paramedics and a medically-qualified viewers member on the Nottingham Playhouse in Nottingham, England, however died on the scene. A reason for dying has not been launched.
“We are deeply saddened to announce that last night the actor Josephine Melville passed away backstage at Nottingham Playhouse following the performance of the play Nine Night, in which she was performing,” the theater mentioned in a press release. “Josephine’s family have been informed, and our thoughts and deep condolences are with them.”
The Nottingham Playhouse additionally canceled the remaining performances of the play.
“We send our love and condolences to Jo’s family and friends,” mentioned Stephanie Sirr, the playhouse’s chief govt. “On a deeply tragic and extremely difficult evening, we want to pay tribute to the company of Nine Night and to the whole Nottingham Playhouse team who managed the situation with empathy and professionalism.”
We are deeply saddened that final night time (20 Oct) the actor Josephine Melville, handed away following the efficiency of Nine Night, our co-production with Leeds Playhouse.
Our ideas and deep condolences are together with her household and family members. https://t.co/O9qnBGXqkR pic.twitter.com/h1pCfchXPh— Nottingham Playhouse (@NottmPlayhouse) October 21, 2022
In a 1986 arc on the BBC cleaning soap EastEnders, Melville performed Tessa Parker, a university pal of school pal of Kelvin Carpenter (Paul J. Medford) and Harry Reynolds (Gareth Potter), in response to the Associated Press. She returned to the present in 2005 to play the character Ellie Wright.
Melville additionally appeared within the British TV collection The Bill, Casualty, and Prime Suspect. Last yr, she launched Assistance, a brief movie she directed and produced, and took part in Know Your Roots, a challenge celebrating Black ladies’s hair. Melville’s most up-to-date display credit score was a task on this yr’s music video for Ella Henderson’s track “Brave,” although she additionally has an element within the accomplished sci-fi thriller Slammer.
In Nine Night, a coproduction with Leeds Playhouse, Melville performed the function of Auntie Maggie.
“The entire company and staff at both theaters are in a state of shock,” Nottingham Playhouse’s assertion added. “Josephine was a truly wonderful and well-loved person, a revered and deeply respected performer, director, producer, archivist, and writer, and a tremendous Auntie Maggie in Nine Night.”