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{{short description|English actress (1964–2018)}}{{For|the Hollyoaks character|Emma Chambers (Hollyoaks)}}{{For|the 19th-century English singer|Emma Chambers (soubrette)}}{{EngvarB|date=February 2018}}{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}

factoids

. Retrieved 25 February 2018df=y3|11}}| birth_place = Doncaster, West Riding of Yorkshire, Englanddf=y2196411}}| death_place = Lymington, Hampshire, England| occupation = Actress| yearsactive = 1987–2007Vicar of DibleyNotting Hill (film)>Notting Hill}}Ian Dunn|1991}}}}Emma Gwynedd Mary Chambers (11 March 1964 – 21 February 2018) was an English actress who performed in television, film, and the theatre. She played Alice Tinker in the BBC comedy The Vicar of Dibley and Honey Thacker in the film Notting Hill (1999).WEB,weblink Emma Chambers: From dappy Alice to parasitic Sheila, The Independent, 9 June 2002, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090519222345weblink">weblink 19 May 2009, Beginning her career in 1987 on the British stage, Chambers first drew critical attention for her portrayals of teenage characters in the world premieres of two plays by Alan Ayckbourn at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough: Geain in Henceforward... (1987) and Lucy Baines in Invisible Friends (1989). She reprised both roles in London's West End; performing the latter role at the Royal National Theatre.

Early life

Chambers was born on 11 March 1964, in Doncaster, West Riding of Yorkshire,WEB,weblink Emma Chambers, British Film Institute, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20090504053630weblink">weblink 4 May 2009, dmy-all, the daughter of John Chambers, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, and his wife Noelle, née Strange.Anthony Hayward, "Emma Chambers obituary" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211128022113weblink |date=28 November 2021 }}, The Guardian, 25 February 2018. Retrieved 26 February 2018. Her siblings are business owners Sarah and Simon, who created the modelling agency Storm Management.NEWS,weblink It was either the actress or the cat, Victoria, Lambert, The Daily Telegraph, 22 July 2002, 18 April 2018, 21 January 2019,weblink live, She attended St. Mary's School and her secondary education was at St Swithun's School, Winchester, Hampshire.NEWS, Vicar of Dibley star Emma Chambers dies, aged 53,weblink 25 February 2018, The Bournemouth Echo, 25 February 2018, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180224234216weblink">weblink 24 February 2018, dmy-all, She then trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in the 1980s, where she was a classmate of actor Ross Kemp.NEWS, Price, Karen, The Vicar of Dibley actress Emma Chambers has died at the age of 53,weblink 25 February 2018, Wales Online, 24 February 2018, live,weblink 24 February 2018, dmy-all,

Early stage career

Chambers began her career as a stage actress in the late 1980s as a member of the repertory company at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. There she appeared as Geain (pronounced "Jane") in the world premiere of Alan Ayckbourn's Henceforward... in 1987 with Ian McKellen and Jane Asher portraying her character's parents.JOURNAL, Theatre Week; Henceforward, The Stage and Television Today, 5546, July 30, 1987, 21, She reprised the role the following year for her West End theatre debut at the Vaudeville Theatre.JOURNAL, Play Reviews: Man and machine in disharmony, Paul Chand, The Stage and Television Today, 5616, December 1, 1988, 14, One of her other early stage appearances was in the role of Tillie in the world premiere of Paul Doust's If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked A Cake in May 1988 at The Old Red Lion, Islington.JOURNAL, Play Reviews: If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked A Cake, Hepple, Peter, The Stage and Television Today, 5589, May 26, 1988, 13, In 1989 Chambers was nominated for a Radio Academy Award in the Best Actress category for her work in the BBC Radio 4 programme Girl of My Best Friend.JOURNAL, RADIO: Controversial shows make Sony list, Broadcast (magazine), Broadcast, April 7, 1989, 18, That same year she starred in Giles Cole's Suspects at the Swansea Grand Theatre with Diana Kent, Roy Boyd, and Ben Onwukwe;JOURNAL, PRODUCTION NEWS: The GRAND, Swansea, The Stage and Television Today, 5653, August 17, 1989, 36, and portrayed the central character of Lucy Baines in the world premiere of Alan Ayckbourn's Invisible Friends at the Stephen Joseph Theatre.JOURNAL, Regional Reviews: Invisible Friends, Jeffels, David, The Stage and Television Todayissue=5673, January 4, 1990, 19, She remained with the latter production when it moved to the Royal National Theatre in 1991; earning positive critical attention for her portrayal of a teenager who engages with an imaginary friend to escape her troubled home life.NEWS, Legit: ABROAD - INVISIBLE FRIENDS, Pit, Variety (magazine), Variety, 342, 10, March 18, 1991, 94, In the Fall of 1991 Chambers was a member of Mark Brickman's repertory company at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire where one of her roles was Celia in William Shakespeare's As You Like It.NEWS, Regional Reviews: As You Like It, Andrews, Philip, The Stage and Television Today, 5775, December 19, 1991, 16, She returned to the Royal National Theatre in 1993 as Avonia Bunn in Arthur Wing Pinero's Trelawny of the 'Wells' under the direction of John Caird.JOURNAL, Legit: ABROAD - TRELAWNY OF THE 'WELLS', Wolf, Matt, Variety (magazine), Variety, 350, 6, March 8, 1993, 70,

Later career in television, film, and theatre

After taking some smaller parts on television productions such as The Bill, in November 1994, Chambers portrayed the role of Charity Pecksniff in the television serialisation of the Charles Dickens novel Martin Chuzzlewit.WEB, Warner, Sam, Vicar of Dibley star Emma Chambers dies aged 53,weblink Digital Spy, 25 February 2018, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180225140312weblink">weblink 25 February 2018, dmy-all, 2018-02-24, From 1994 to 2007, she portrayed the role of Alice Tinker in the BBC comedy The Vicar of Dibley. Chambers appeared in all 20 episodes and four Comic Relief specials until 2007.NEWS,weblink BBC News, Actress Emma Chambers dies aged 53, agency confirms, 24 February 2018, 24 February 2018, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180224163310weblink">weblink 24 February 2018, dmy-all, In 1998, Chambers won the British Comedy Award (BCA) for Best Actress for her performance; having been nominated for a BCA previously for her portrayal of Alice in 1995.NEWS, News: Who will win the comedy crown?, Gibby, Phil, The Stage, 5978, November 9, 1995, 5, Chambers voiced the character of "Belle Stickleback" in two series of the animated television programme Pond Life (1996 and 2000)WEB, Caulfield, AJ, Notting Hill actress Emma Chambers dies at 53,weblink Looper, 24 February 2018, 25 February 2018, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180225140312weblink">weblink 25 February 2018, and took the role of Helen Yardley in the TV series How Do You Want Me? (1998)NEWS, Nyren, Erin, 'Notting Hill' Actress Emma Chambers Dies at 53,weblink 25 February 2018, Variety, 24 February 2018, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180224234433weblink">weblink 24 February 2018, dmy-all, and appeared in the film Notting Hill (1999), as Honey, the younger sister of Hugh Grant's character.She was cast as Martha Thompson in Take a Girl Like You (2000), a made-for-television drama based on the Kingsley Amis novel and a remake of the 1970 film.WEB, Take a Girl Like You [Part One] (2000),weblink British Film Institute, 25 February 2018, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180225140312weblink">weblink 25 February 2018, dmy-all, Chambers worked as a voice performer in the animated made-for-television film The Wind in the Willows (1995) and provided the voice of Spotty for two episodes in the CBeebies series Little Robots (2003).In 2002, Chambers toured with the Michael Frayn play, Benefactors, where she starred opposite Neil Pearson.NEWS, Benefactors,weblink 25 February 2018, Variety, 18 July 2002, Matt, Wolf, live,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140824084041weblink">weblink 24 August 2014, dmy-all, At the age of 43, Chambers essentially withdrew from public life after making her final acting appearance in a 2007 special Comic Relief episode of The Vicar of Dibley.

Personal life and death

Chambers was married to fellow actor Ian M Dunn. Before their marriage, she lodged with Ian McKellen, whom she regarded as "a sort of father figure". She had a chronic allergy to animals as well as asthma.Chambers died of a heart attackNEWS, The real reason Vicar of Dibley actress Emma Chambers died,weblink NZ Herald, 27 February 2018, en-NZ, 16 May 2020, 4 March 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180304164218weblink">weblink live, on 21 February 2018, aged 53.On 26 February 2018 BBC One broadcast The Vicar of Dibley January 1998 episode "Love and Marriage" in Chambers' memory.WEB,weblink BBC to repeat classic Vicar of Dibley wedding episode in memory of Emma Chambers, 2018-02-26, Gill, James, 28 February 2018, 28 February 2018,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20180228205514weblink">weblink live, In a similar vein, on 11 March 2018 (on what would have been Chambers' 54th birthday), the Gold channel hosted a The Vicar of Dibley day in her memory.In December 2020, in a series of shorter 'lockdown' episodes of The Vicar of Dibley, Chambers' character Alice was written out of the sitcom, it being revealed that the character had died of cancer.WEB,weblink The Vicar of Dibley - In Lockdown: Episode 2, www.bbc.co.uk, 24 December 2020, 14 December 2020,weblink live, The final lockdown episode ended with a tribute just before the closing credits reading, "In loving memory of Liz, John, Emma and Roger", paying tribute to her and three other late Dibley cast members (Liz Smith, John Bluthal and Roger Lloyd-Pack).

Filmography{| class"wikitable sortable"

! Year! Title! Role! class="unsortable" | Notes| 1988The Rainbow (BBC miniseries)>The Rainbow| Margaret| 2 episodes| 1990| The Bill| Marie Summers| 2 episodes| 1994Martin Chuzzlewit (1994 TV series)>Martin Chuzzlewit| Charity Pecksniff| Regular role, 6 episodes| 1994–2007| The Vicar of Dibley| Alice Tinker| Series regular, 24 episodes, (final appearance)| 1995The Wind in the Willows (1995 film)>The Wind in the Willows| Jailer's daughter| Voice, television film| 1996| Drop the Dead Donkey| Carol| Episode: "What Are Friends For?"| 1996Pond Life (TV series)>Pond Life| Belle| Voice, Series regular| 1998–1999| How Do You Want Me?| Helen Yardley| Regular role, 11 episodes| 1999Notting Hill (film)>Notting Hill| Honey Thacker | | 1999The Clandestine Marriage (film)>The Clandestine Marriage| Betsy|| 2000 Take a Girl Like You (TV series)>Take a Girl Like You| Martha Thompson | 3 episodes| 2003| Little Robots| Spotty | Voice, 2 episodes

References

{{reflist}}

External links

• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20171013062836weblink">Emma Chambers at the British Film Institute
• {{IMDb name|0150324}}

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