‘She had a heart as big as the ocean and a smile overflowing with warmth’... mourners hear emotional tributes at funeral of tragic NI actress Julie Maxwell
THE grieving husband of actress Julie Maxwell Lewis paid a moving tribute to his “beautiful wife” at her funeral yesterday.
The 36-year-old from north Belfast died suddenly, with her husband Rhodri Lewis by her side, during a night out in the city centre last weekend.
In true theatrical tradition, hundreds of mourners gave a standing ovation, rousing cheers and a sustained round of applause at the service.
It was one of the biggest ceremonies that Roselawn crematorium’s church has seen in recent years, with many people having to stand outside in the rain as speakers paid homage.
Many of her friends wore specially produced badges with the words ‘Sausage roll’ on them because that was one of Julie’s favourite snacks.
Julie, who appeared in the TV series Soft Border Patrol, should have been preparing yesterday for the opening night of Shirley Valentine, the play she was working on as assistant director with one of her best friends, Derry Girls star Tara Lynne O’Neill, in the lead role.
Instead of their final rehearsals, the Shirley Valentine team were among a who’s who of theatre professionals who came to pay their respects to Julie, who was a busy actress and writer as well as a director.
The preview performances of Shirley Valentine have been cancelled, along with a short tour to Londonderry.
Julie’s friends and fellow actresses Caroline Curran and Christina Nelson and playwright Marie Jones were among the mourners yesterday, along with former Coronation Street actor Paddy Wallace, who flew in from London. He said Julie and her husband were among his firmest friends.
Peaky Blinders star Packy Lee and West End stalwart Sean Kearns were also at Roselawn to honour Julie.
The ceremony was conducted by an independent family celebrant, Julie Antonette, who knew Julie and said she brought love, life and joy to her friends and family.
“She had a heart as big as the ocean, a smile overflowing with warmth and fun and a joie de vivre that few of us will ever achieve,” she added.
She said Julie was born to be an entertainer and used to go to church and Sunday school services up to five times in any one day just so that she would be able to sing at them all.
Ms Antonette said Julie studied drama in Coleraine and in Wales, where the first person she met was Rhodri, another aspiring actor, who went on to become her husband after a long distance relationship, before he came to live in Belfast.
Ms Antonette said that Julie’s family and Rhodri were everything to her — her anchors.
She added that Julie lived life to the full and Rhodri said he would miss his “beautiful wife” and her sparkling “light, life and devilment”.
He said one of Julie’s many traits was her capacity for empathy.
“She had a sixth sense for how people were feeling and the downside of that was a lot of crying,” added Rhodri.
He revealed that on their honeymoon in New Orleans, when the temperature was minus 3, Julie paid for overnight accommodation for a homeless person she had seen on the street. He thanked Julie for marrying him and teaching him how to love and to realise that “arguing for no reason is pointless, but arguing for what’s right is important”.
Talking about his move to Ireland to be with Julie, Rhodri said: “Wherever I was, as long as I was with Julie, I was home.”
Julie’s sister Stacey said she was her best friend who held her hand and wiped away her tears during difficult days and made “the hard times easier”. But she added that there were “crazy times” too, like the day they flew over the Grand Canyon in America in a helicopter but didn’t actually see one of the wonders of the world because they were “so drunk from the night before”.
Stacey added that although life had been “cruel” her family would never forget Julie or their pride in seeing her on stage and appreciating her writing, which she described as “creative, witty and funny”.