Liz Edmiston

Published Tuesday 13 May 2008 at 11:00 by Barry Burnett

Actress Liz Edmiston died, aged 63, on board the ship Oriana while acting in Ray Cooney’s It Runs in the Family.

She was appearing opposite her husband Eric Carte, whom she married in 1978. They made many appearances together in such plays as Butley opposite John Nettles and M. Butterfly with George Chakiris.

Born in 1945, Liz trained at the Royal Ballet School before appearing in Funny Girl and Little Me in the West End. She scored a great success in Mr & Mrs at the Palace Theatre and Anne of Green Gables at the Albery.

Equally at home with Shakespeare, farce or musicals on stage, her many television appearances included Now Take My Wife playing the daughter of Sheila Hancock and Donald Houston as well as Keeping Up Appearances and The Bill. She also played June Brown’s daughter in the film The 14. She was very popular in South Africa, where she starred in Gigi and Alice in Wonderland.

Liz was a fine actress who never achieved her full potential because of ill health, but friends like Ray Cooney and Sally Hughes at the Mill at Sonning were always there when Liz felt ready to work.

On a personal level, Liz was a client and close friend since I started as an agent and never once did she complain about her situation. She was one of the funniest and kindest people on Earth, and how fitting she should leave us while doing what she loved, acting in a play and surrounded by friends. Had her health been better, there is no doubt that Liz would have been one of this country’s leading actors.

She died on April 10.