Personal details
Born:
- Birthday: 1957-03-21
- Born Place: Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, England, UK
Deathday:
2023-10-20
Haydn Gwynne
Haydn Gwynne (March 21, 1957 – October 20, 2023) was an esteemed English actress of stage and screen, celebrated for her sharp comedic timing and powerful dramatic range. Born in Hurstpierpoint, West Sussex, she was a talented junior tennis player and a university lecturer in Rome before turning to professional acting in her mid-twenties. She first rose to fame in 1990 as the icy, cynical news editor Alex Pates in the satirical sitcom Drop the Dead Donkey, a role that earned her a BAFTA nomination. Throughout her career, she became a fixture of British television, starring as Dr. Joanna Graham in Peak Practice, Superintendent Susan Blake in Merseybeat, and most recently as the villainous, gin-swilling version of Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, in the royal parody The Windsors. Shortly before her passing, she also appeared in the fifth season of The Crown as Lady Susan Hussey. In the 2017 live-action Beauty and the Beast, Gwynne portrayed Clothilde, the village’s resident baker and the wife of Cogsworth. Like the other villagers of Villeneuve, she suffered from the Enchantress's memory-erasing spell, forgetting her husband until the curse was broken at the film's conclusion. While her film roles were notable, Gwynne was a titan of musical theater. She was a five-time Olivier Award nominee, famously originating the role of the dance teacher Mrs. Wilkinson in Billy Elliot the Musical, a performance she reprised on Broadway to earn a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award nomination. Gwynne passed away in October 2023 at the age of 66, just one month after being diagnosed with cancer. In 2024, she was posthumously honored with her first Olivier Award for her final stage performance in When Winston Went to War with the Wireless.
