Dawn ‘still reeling’ at loss of beloved co-star Emma
DAWN French yesterday told of her shock and sadness at the early death of co-star Emma Chambers.
The Vicar Of Dibley actress died in February after a suspected heart attack at the age of just 53.
On ITV’s Lorraine show comedienne Ms French said the actress had been far from the simpleton Alice Tinker whom she portrayed in the hit sitcom.
Speaking via video link from Cornwall, she said: “This has been a very shocking and sad loss. Far too young.
“We’re all still reeling. My memories of working with her are my favourite memories of my career.”
She added: “She was very bright, very knowing but she played someone in a different world. She wasn’t a simpleton, she was someone in a different world.”
Gifted
Ms French, 60, also stressed the talent that the actress had possessed.
She explained: “I have to tell you, to play a clown, in a way, it takes a lot of hard work and you have to play things very particularly.”
Having already won many fans for her role in The Vicar Of Dibley, Ms Chambers then starred in the hit comedy film Notting Hill in 1999. She played Honey, the younger sister of Hugh Grant’s character William Thacker.
She died suddenly two months ago, with BBC executive producer Jon Plowman revealing that the cause of death had been a heart attack.
He told Radio 4 at the time: “It’s no age to have a heart attack, as I understand it.” Mr Plowman, who produced The Vicar Of Dibley, added: “Emma was a gifted comic actress who made any part she played look easy. She was adored by the cast and crew.” Ms French also paid tribute at the time, saying: “Emma was a very bright spark and the most loyal and loving friend anyone could wish for. I will miss her very much.”
Born in Doncaster and married to fellow actor Ian Dunn, Ms Chambers first won warm reviews for her portrayal of Charity Pecksniff in the 1994 television adaptation of Charles Dickens’s Martin Chuzzlewit.
She went on to forge a highly successful career, but it was alongside Ms French in The Vicar Of Dibley that she earned national recognition.
Ms Chambers’ dimwitted but loveable character Alice Tinker, who was an unlikely confidante of Ms French’s Rev Geraldine Granger, won her an army of fans over her 13 years in the role.
One of the show’s most successful running gags was Alice’s inability to understand any of the vicar’s jokes that closed each episode.
Such was the popularity of the portrayal, Ms Chambers went on to win a British Comedy Award for Best TV Actress in 1998.