Actress Haydn Gwynne dies aged 66

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Haydn Gwynne won a Tony Award for playing Billy Elliot's dance teacher in the West End and on Broadway

English actress Haydn Gwynne, known for roles in TV shows including Drop the Dead Donkey, Peak Practice, Merseybeat and The Windsors, has died aged 66.

She also had an acclaimed stage career, being nominated for both Tony and Olivier awards in the West End and on Broadway for Billy Elliot the Musical.

She was Queen Camilla in The Windsors on Channel 4, and played ex-PM Margaret Thatcher on stage in The Audience.

But she pulled out of a play last month after being diagnosed with cancer.

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Gwynne with the young cast of Billy Elliot the Musical at London's Victoria Palace Theatre in 2006

In a statement on Friday, her agent said: "It is with great sadness we are sharing with you that, following her recent diagnosis with cancer, the star of stage and screen Haydn Gwynne died in hospital in the small hours of Friday 20 October, surrounded by her beloved sons, close family and friends.

"We would like to thank the staff and teams at the Royal Marsden and Brompton Hospitals for their wonderful care over the last few weeks."

Gwynne broke through in TV drama Nice Work in the late 1980s before finding wider fame and a Bafta nomination for playing cynical and stoical journalist Alex in topical satire Drop the Dead Donkey.

Gwynne (second left) also appeared in the BBC's Silent Witness

Her other TV parts included Dr Joanna Graham in Peak Practice, Supt Susan Blake in Merseybeat, and Julius Caesar's wife Calpurnia in the BBC's Rome.

She also portrayed former royal aide Lady Susan Hussey, who resigned from the royal household following a racism row, in the fifth series of Netflix's The Crown.

On stage, she received further Olivier nominations for her performances in City of Angels in 1994, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown in 2015, and The Threepenny Opera in 2017.

She was due to appear in a new London production of Stephen Sondheim's Old Friends, but withdrew in early September because of what were described at the time as "sudden personal circumstances".

Fellow writer Jack Thorne said she was "the kindest, loveliest soul and a wonderful performer", adding: "She gave everything to everything," while actor Samuel West paid tribute, saying: "This is a terrible loss. One of the nicest and one of the best."