Loose Women's Denise Welch has paid tribute to a former EastEnders actress after she died backstage while performing in a Nottingham play. Josephine Melville, 61, passed away backstage at Nottingham Playhouse following her performance in the play Nine Night on Thursday, October 20.
The actress, who played Tessa Parker in EastEnders during the 1980s, was starring as Maggie in production. Josephine received immediate assistance from Nottingham Playhouse first aiders and a medically qualified member of the Nine Night audience. She was quickly treated by paramedics but sadly passed away at the scene.
The talk show panellist, 64, offered her respects to the actress, tweeting: "So so sad. A wonderful actress." Josephine arrived in Walford as Tessa Parker, a college friend of Kelvin Carpenter, in 1986 and reappeared in the soap in 2005 as Ellie Wright for one episode.
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She appeared in the 1987 film Empire State and starred in The Bill, Pie in the Sky and Prime Suspect. In the 2000s, Josephine starred in Little Miss Jocelyn, L8r and Hold the Sunset. This year she completed filming for the new sci-fi thriller Slammer playing Detective Russell.
All performances of Nine Night at Nottingham Playhouse have been cancelled, with Nottingham Playhouse stating bookers would be contacted. The joint statement said: "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."
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