Beckett actress Billie Whitelaw dies at 82

She was famous for her roles in films including The Omen, playing the nanny, and worked alongside Irish playwright Samuel Beckett.

Whitelaw also starred in the 1990 movie The Krays and appeared in police comedy Hot Fuzz in 2007.

She was made a CBE in 1991.

She died in the early hours of Sunday at a nursing home in London.

Her son, Matthew Muller, said: “She had an incredible career – but first and foremost she was 
my mum – and that’s who I will miss.”

Whitelaw grew up in Bradford and made her radio acting debut at 11. In 1950, she made her stage debut in the city, in Pink String and Sealing Wax.

She won a British Academy Award for best newcomer for her role in Hell is a City. She also won best supporting actress gong for her part in Twisted Nerve.

Whitelaw appeared in a number of TV series, and was a regular as George Dixon’s daughter in Dixon of Dock Green, but said it was her work with Beckett that generated most interest.

She was married to actor Peter Vaughan between 1952 and 1966.

Later, she married German actor and writer Robert Muller.

Billie Honor Whitelaw was born in Coventry on 6 June 1932.

Her family moved to Bradford to escape German bombing. Her father died from lung cancer there when his daughter was just 10.

When the young Billie developed a stutter, her mother enrolled her in a local drama group in an effort to boost her daughter’s confidence.