Mrs Merton star Caroline Aherne dies at age of 52
ACTRESS Caroline Aherne has died at the age of 52 after a battle with cancer.
The star was best known for her work in The Royle Family, and The Mrs Merton Show.
The Bafta award-winning writer and comedy actor died at her home in Timperley, Greater Manchester.
Aherne, who was the narrator of hit Channel 4 show Gogglebox, had been battling lung cancer and had previously been treated for bladder and eye cancer.
She had been a smoker and had struggled with health problems for years.
Neil Reading, her publicist, said: “Caroline Aherne has sadly passed away, after a brave battle with cancer.”
Aherne fought depression and drink problems during her life and spent time in the Priory clinic following a suicide attempt, before moving to Australia to avoid the glare of publicity.
In interviews, she admitted alcohol was an attempt to block out her problems.
The writer was married to former New Order guitarist Peter Hook.
They separated and she went on to have a romance with TV researcher Matt Bowers who died from cancer at the age of 28 after they had split.
Aherne was born to Irish parents in London, but grew up in Wythenshawe in Manchester.
She was diagnosed with a rare cancer of the retina as a child and was left with severely impaired sight in one eye.
An extremely bright child, she got nine straight As in O-levels from her convent school and had an IQ of 176.
She studied drama at Liverpool Polytechnic before securing a job as a BBC secretary in Manchester.
Her break into TV comedy came when she played the Checkout Girl in The Fast Show, although it was her stint as wisecracking granny Mrs Merton in The Mrs Merton Show that made her a household name after it first aired in 1995.
In 1996 she was voted best female performer at the British Comedy Awards but gave a rambling and slurred acceptance speech.
She went on to star in The Royle Family, which she cowrote along with friend Craig Cash.
The comedy, which came after she attempted suicide, won four awards, including best actress for Aherne, at the British Comedy Awards in 1999.
Comedians took to social media yesterday to pay tribute to the star.
David Baddiel wrote: “The talent, you all knew about. But she was a really lovely woman. Vulnerable and complex and damaged but...lovely.”
Britain’s Got Talent judge David Walliams added: “Absolutely devastating news about Caroline Aherne. A true comedy genius, her work was equally funny & touching.”