Actress and presenter Lynda Bellingham died yesterday in her husband Michael's arms, her agent has said.
The
66-year-old star, best known for her long-running role as a mother in
the Oxo TV adverts, had been battling colon cancer, which later spread
to her lungs and liver, since being diagnosed in July last year.
The actress said she decided to end her treatment in August to limit the amount of suffering her family would witness.
Actress Lynda Bellingham died in her husband's arms yesterday after a battle with cancer
She
said that she wanted to have some control back over the remainder of
her life after being left desperately ill by the gruelling chemo
sessions.
In
a statement on behalf of Bellingham's family, her agent, Sue Latimer,
said this morning: 'Lynda died peacefully in her husband's arms
yesterday at a London hospital.
'Her
family would like to thank the nurses and staff for their tremendous
care and support. Actor, writer and presenter - to the end Lynda was a
consummate professional.'
The
tragic news came just days after the 66-year-old made an emotional
return to TV show Loose Women for one final appearance and told a fellow
presenter: 'Please don't cry... it will be fine.'
Celebrities paid tribute to Lynda on Twitter this morning, with Phillip Schofield tweeting: 'RIP Gorgeous Lynda Bellingham xx'
Actor
Simon Pegg, who starred with the actress in 1990s TV show Faith In The
Future, said: 'Lynda Bellingham, a gorgeous, brassy, funny, generous,
talented human being. My first TV mother figure and a treasured
friend.'
Actress and presenter Amanda Holden wrote: 'So devastated to hear the news about the beautiful Lynda Bellingham.'
Kirstie
Allsopp said: 'Lynda Bellingham, she was an inspiration, she so wanted
to make it to Christmas, if you're working towards that, don't give up
hope.'
Her tragic death came days after she
returned for one final appearance on TV show Loose Women with presenters
Coleen Nolan (left) and Janet Street-Porter (right)
Coleen - whose sister Bernie lost her
battle with breast cancer last year - broke down in tears as she asked
Lynda how she'd like to be remembered. Lynda told her: 'Please don't
cry... it will be fine.'
Her return to the show also brought tears to the eyes of her husband, Michael, who sat in the audience
Lynda's agent said this morning that she died with husband Michael by her side in a London hospital yesterday
Fellow
presenter Ben Shephard said: 'So so sad to hear that the gorgeous Lynda
Bellingham has passed away. She was just wonderful to be around and
will be sorely missed.'
Bellingham's
decision to end her treatment was revealed in a newspaper serialisation
of her forthcoming autobiography. She had said she would like to see
one last Christmas.
Lynda died peacefully in her husband's arms yesterday at a London hospital.
Her family would like to thank the nurses and staff for their tremendous care and support.
Actor, writer and presenter - to the end Lynda was a consummate professional.
Agent Sue Latimer
She
said: 'The decision to give up chemo was a huge relief because I took
back some control of myself. It's there on the table if I want it.
'I don't want the boys or my husband to see me die a little sad old lady. I want to go out there as I am.'
She said she wanted her autobiography to be 'uplifting', adding: 'I wrote the book for everybody out there.
'It's not supposed to be an embarrassing account of me having terminal cancer.
'I
wanted to write it for everybody who is given that curveball and say of
course there are no answers but, if you can, take it and make it
positive and talk about dying.
'If
two people read this book and think "Actually, that's how I feel and
I'm not on my own", then I'll have done something half decent.'
Presenter Kaye Adams, who worked on Loose Women, said Bellingham was 'an incredibly courageous person'.
She
told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: 'She just had such an energy and a
dynamism and you were just always pleased to see her and always felt
she was pleased to see you, which is a fabulous thing to be able to do.
'She always left you feeling better about life.'
Co-stars and celebrities took to Twitter this morning after news of the actress's tragic death emerged
Lynda died
in the arms of her husband Michael (pictured together, left) with whom
she celebrated receiving an OBE, presented by Prince Charles (right)
Lynda was best known as the mother in the Oxo adverts - which appeared on TV screens for two decades
Lynda on the day she was awarded her OBE, with (left to right) sons Michael and Robert, husband Michael and step-son Bradley
She
added: 'I think a lot of people will be thinking of her so fondly this
morning and thinking, God, Lynda, you are incredible.'
Bellingham was asked recently how she would like to be remembered and said she wanted to be thought of as an honest person.
Adams
said: 'That's one of the many ways that she will be remembered. Honest,
generous, kind, courageous, intelligent, thoughtful, all of those
things.'
Bellingham,
who took part in the 2009 series of Strictly Come Dancing, was also a
panellist on ITV show Loose Women in recent years.
In a special farewell episode of the ITV show, which is yet to air, in which she received a standing ovation.
She
also presented a number of other programmes, following an acting career
which saw her star in dramas such as At Home With The Braithwaites and
The Bill.
Lynda's most famous role in the Oxo adverts kept her on British TV screens for almost two decades.
The actress was diagnosed with colon cancer little over a year ago, which later spread to her lungs and liver.
She
fought her cancer in the open - appearing on television and radio
talking about her illness and her decision to stop her treatment.
The
actress and presenter insisted death should be confronted and discussed
and made it her mission to transform it into a 'positive' thing.
Lynda in a 1983 Oxo advert alongside
on-screen daughter Alison Reynolds, on-screen husband Michael Redfern
and on-screen sons Jason Norman and Nicholas Stroud
The 1980s adverts were a huge hit for the stock cube firm and made Lynda a household name
She was born in Canada before moving to Buckinghamshire at a young age and studying drama in London
Lynda
(pictured, left, in 1976 when she appeared in 'Yus My Dear') also took
part in the 2009 series of Strictly Come Dancing (right)
Lynda was born in Montreal on May 31, 1948 but she grew up near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.
She
got her first taste of stage success at school before going on to study
at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London, followed by a
steady succession of roles in theatre, film and television.
Prominent
parts included playing Helen Herriot in All Creatures Great And Small,
and the title role in sitcom Faith In The Future.
On stage, she appeared at the Old Vic and the Royal Court and in the West End production of Calendar Girls.
She married three times and had two sons and was awarded an OBE in 2013 for her charity work.
Bellingham's
Loose Women co-presenter Nadia Sawalha, who also appeared with the
actress in the Oxo adverts, paid tribute to a 'brilliant actress.'
She
told ITV show Lorraine: 'We're just all heartbroken because her real,
her last wish was that she would spend this Christmas with her family.
'Anyone
that knew Lynda and knew her well, knew that she was this absolute live
wire. She would come into a room and light the place up. Everybody
loved her.
'She
got me my first ever job on the Oxo ads... I played her son's
girlfriend in it and then we worked together on (TV series) Second
Thoughts. She played my sister's mum.
'And
we all absolutely adored her because she was, in that true sense of the
word, the actress. She loved it, she had none of that pretending that
she didn't. She'd go, 'Darling, the adoration, I adore it! The
audience!' That was really her, she had no shame with that.
'She was a brilliant actress and she moved me to tears many times. She will be so, so sorely missed by so many of us.'
Lynda talks to Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall talks, at a Barnado's charity reception in May 2010
She studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama before landing a series of roles in theatre, film and TV
She
said that Bellingham told her fellow Loose Women panellists: 'Please
when I'm gone, have a big party for me and have a dance' and that's
Lynda though and through.'
Loose
Women issued a statement on its Twitter feed, saying: 'Our thoughts go
to Lynda Bellingham's family at this incredibly sad time and to all
those whose lives she touched so deeply, as she did ours.'
Belllingham's co-star from All Creatures Great And Small Christopher Timothy said: 'She was a life-force.
'She
was funny, she was loyal, she was talented, that's without doubt. She
was a great mum, she was a real friend and on-set she was 'one of the
boys' really.
'She
was naughty and funny. We've all been expecting it but it's so unjust
that she didn't make her last Christmas as was her intention.'
He
told BBC Breakfast: 'It's extraordinary... because her honesty and her
up-frontness was exactly what one knew and exactly what one expected,
but it made it more painful.
'It's
this thing where people state things as they are rather than trying to
colour it in any way, it's so much more moving and painful.'
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