Jill Freud, a British actress who appeared in Love Actually and inspired a character from The Chronicles of Narnia, has passed away. She was 98 years old.
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In an Instagram post, the actress’s daughter, Emma Freud, revealed the news.
“My beautiful 98 year old mum has taken her final bow,” Emma wrote. “After a loving evening – where we knew she was on her way – surrounded by children, grandchildren, and pizza, she eventually told us all to f— off so she could go to sleep. And then she never woke up. Her final words were ‘I love you.'”
Emma further praised her mother, recalling how, as a child, the late actress was evacuated to Oxford during World War II. She ended up living with the author of The Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis, for three years. He based the character Lucy Pevensie on her.
“She became an actress/producer and ran two rep theatre companies in Suffolk for 30 years,” Emma continued. “Employing 100’s of actors who loved her for her passion, her care, her shepherd’s pie, her devotion to regional theatre and her commitment to actor’s rights. Her last film role was as the housekeeper at Downing Street in Love Actually.“
Reflecting on her mother’s lifestyle, Emma wrote that the actress had the same lunch every day: a glass of red wine and a packet of crisps. Her mother, who appeared as housekeeper Pat in Love Actually, would also take part in a tap class every morning with three female family members during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“She was 98, mother of 5, grandmother of 17, great grandmother of 7,” Emma added. “She was feisty, outrageous, kind, loving, and mischievous. Lucky old heaven getting such a dazzling newcomer.”
Jill Freud was preceded in death by her husband, Sir Clement Freud, who died in 2009.
Jill Freud Previously Opened Up About Living With CS Lewis
During a 2014 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Jill Freud reflected on living with C.S. Lewis during World War II.
“At home, he was generosity itself,” she said. “He would let me buy any book I wanted. He would talk to me about things — never make me feel small. If I said anything really silly, he just wouldn’t answer. He was kind, generous, good humored, helpful. I was 16, and it was what you would call a schoolgirl crush.”
Lewis had praised Freud in a sweet letter to her mother, Winifred, in January 1945. “I have never really met anything like her unselfishness and patience and kindness and shall feel deeply in her debt as long as I live.”
Freud further revealed that she didn’t learn until 2004 that she inspired the character in The Chronicles of Narnia. “I was absolutely thrilled,” she said. “It’s like being told you were the real Lady Macbeth!”