Josephine Melville is dead at age 61. She died at a playhouse just after a performance in Nottingham, England.
The British actress was in a production of Nine Night at Nottingham Playhouse and started feeling ill just after the Thursday, October 20, show. “Josephine received immediate assistance from Nottingham Playhouse first aiders and a medically qualified member of the Nine Night audience,” the venue said in a statement. “The subsequent very swift arrival of paramedics meant she was quickly and expertly treated but sadly she passed away at the scene.”
The statement continued: “The entire company, and staff at both theatres are in a state of shock. 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. We are offering our full support to her family, our onstage and production crew and all staff at this awful time.”
Remaining performances of the play have been canceled.
Melville was best known for her role as Tessa Parker on EastEnders, a U.K. soap opera, in the 1980s. She had a career of over 40 years that expanded far beyond acting. She was a writer, director, archivist and producer.
She is one of the cofounders of The BiBi Crew, who wrote, produced and created their own comedy material and plays. It was considered the first British comedy troupe to consist entirely of Black actresses.
Fellow founding BiBi Crew member Judith Jacob shared a tribute to her colleague via Twitter, writing: “My beautiful friend. I cannot believe I will no longer hear her laugh or share her optimism. This truly hurts our Bibi Crew sister. 😪😪😪💔💔😪.”
Melville was a cofounder of both Aarawak Moon Productions and of Eye 2 Eye Promotions, which create interactive workshops for educational and corporate organizations. She was also founder of the charitable organization South Essex African Caribbean Association (SEACA), which aims to build, promote and share African and Caribbean culture in Essex.
She opened up about her passion for being a community organizer during a June 2021 appearance on “The Edge with Seema Anand.”
“It wasn’t just about the African Caribbean families in the area,” Melville explained at the time. “It was also about breaking down those cultural barriers because I really do believe that the area is changing. It’s much more diverse now and it’s so important for us to open up and break down those cultural barriers. That’s where the community cohesion is and we can build that support network, and we can learn about different cultures and they can learn about us. It’s important.”
No cause of death has been announced yet.
