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{{short description|English actress, broadcaster, and author (1948–2014)}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Lynda Bellingham
| honorific_suffix   = [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]]
| image              = Lynda Bellingham.gif
| caption            = Lynda Bellingham circa  2010
| birth_name         = Meredith Lee Hughes
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|df=yes|1948|5|31}}
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|df=yes|2014|10|19|1948|5|31|}}
| death_place        = [[Westminster]], [[London]], England
| birth_place        = [[Montreal]], [[Quebec]], Canada
| occupation         = Broadcaster, actress, author
| years_active       = 1971{{ndash}}2014
| children           = 2
| spouse             = {{marriage|[[Greg Smith (film producer)|Greg Smith]]|1975|1976|end=divorced}} <br/> {{marriage|Nunzio Peluzo|1981|1996|end=divorced}} <br/> {{marriage|Michael Pattemore<br>|2008}}
| website            = 
}}
'''Lynda Bellingham''', [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|b|ɛ|l|ɪ|ŋ|ə|m}} {{respell|BEL|in-gəm}}; 31 May 1948{{spaced ndash}}19 October 2014)<ref name=teleg-obit>{{cite web |url= https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11173681/Lynda-Bellingham-obituary.html |title= Lynda Bellingham – obituary |date= 20 October 2014 |work= [[The Daily Telegraph]] |access-date= 13 February 2017}}</ref> was an English actress, broadcaster and author. She acted in television series such as ''[[All Creatures Great and Small (1978 TV series)|All Creatures Great and Small]]'', ''[[Doctor Who]]'', ''[[Second Thoughts (TV series)|Second Thoughts]]'' and ''[[Faith in the Future]]''. She was also known for her appearances as the mother in the long-running series of "[[Oxo Family]]" British TV advertisements between 1983 and 1999, and as a panellist on the ITV lunchtime chat show ''[[Loose Women]]'' between 2007 and 2011.

==Early life==
Bellingham was born Meredith Hughes in [[Montreal]] to a single mother, but was given up for adoption because she was born out of wedlock in a strict church-going family. She was adopted at four months of age.<ref>Anna Pukas, [http://www.express.co.uk/expressyourself/162783/Lynda-Bellingham-I-found-my-real-mum-at-last-but-still-can-t-respect-her-for-giving-me-aw "Lynda Bellingham: I found my real mum at last but still can't respect her for giving me away"], ''Daily Express'', 13 March 2010.</ref> Bellingham was educated at [[Aylesbury High School]] and trained at the [[Central School of Speech and Drama]].<ref name="teleg-obit"/>

==Film and television==
{{unreferenced section|date=September 2015}}

===Acting===
Bellingham made her television début as a nurse in an [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] afternoon soap opera of the 1970s, ''[[General Hospital (British TV series)|General Hospital]]''. Her early film credits included roles in ''[[Confessions of a Driving Instructor]]'' (1976), ''[[Stand Up, Virgin Soldiers]]'' (1977) and ''[[Riding High (1981 film)|Riding High]]'' (1981) with [[Eddie Kidd]]. She also appeared in the comedy short ''The Waterloo Bridge Handicap'' (1978) with [[Leonard Rossiter]]. Prior to her brief role in ''[[Sweeney!]]'' (1977), the first big-screen adaptation of the TV police drama series ''[[The Sweeney]]'', she had appeared in the ''Sweeney'' episode "Trojan Bus" (1975) in which she played Nancy King, accomplice to two Australian robbers. In 1981, she appeared in the ITV comedy-drama ''[[Funny Man (TV series)|Funny Man]]'' set in the [[music hall]] of the late 1920s.

Her other roles included Helen Herriot in the [[James Herriot]] drama ''[[All Creatures Great and Small (1978 TV series)|All Creatures Great and Small]]'' (in which she was the second actress to play the role on television, replacing [[Carol Drinkwater]]), the 1980 [[Andrea Newman]] drama series ''Mackenzie'', ''[[Blake's 7]]'' (1981) and the situation comedy ''[[Second Thoughts (TV series)|Second Thoughts]]'' and its sequel, ''[[Faith in the Future]]''. With her [[Oxo Family]] co-star, [[Michael Redfern]] she appeared in an episode of ''[[Filthy Rich & Catflap|Filthy Rich and Catflap]]''.

Bellingham appeared as the Inquisitor in the 14-part ''[[Doctor Who]]'' serial ''[[The Trial of a Time Lord]]'' in 1986.<ref>{{cite news|title=Obituary: Lynda Bellingham|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29403392|work=BBC News|date=20 October 2014|access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref> She reprised the character for the [[Big Finish Productions]] audio series ''[[Gallifrey (audio series)|Gallifrey]]'', and in the [[Big Finish Productions]] audio drama ''[[Trial of the Valeyard]],'' (which she recorded only a few months before announcing her cancer). She starred as Emily Marlowe in the film ''The Scarlet Tunic'' in 1998, and appeared in [[Gleb Panfilov]]'s ''[[The Romanovs: A Crowned Family]]'' as [[Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse)|Empress Alexandra]] the following year.  She was in ''[[Waking the Dead (TV series)|Waking the Dead]] A Simple Sacrifice'' (2001) parts one and two playing Mary Mantel.

From 2000 to 2003, Bellingham played Pauline Farnell, the compassionate accountant in ''[[At Home with the Braithwaites]]'' with [[Amanda Redman]] and former ''All Creatures Great and Small'' colleague [[Peter Davison]]. She had a recurring role in ''[[The Bill]]'' as villainess Irene Radford for several months in 2004, and appeared as Marlene in ''[[Devil's Gate (2004 film)|Devil's Gate]]'' the same year. She also appeared in Midsomer Murders “The Fisher King” as Jane Willows. She had a role in the ITV comedy ''[[Bonkers (2007 TV series)|Bonkers]]'' playing Mrs Wadlow, a man-eating suburban housewife who seduces her neighbour's teenage son and turns him into her [[gigolo]]. Later that year, she filmed guest appearances in episodes of ''[[Love Soup]]'' and ''[[Robin Hood (2006 TV series)|Robin Hood]]''.  She played DCI Karen Hardwick in a 2007 episode of ''[[New Tricks]]'' (S4:E1).

===Television commercials===
Bellingham played the central character in the long-running "[[Oxo Family]]" series of TV commercials, starting in 1983, playing a mother who binds her family together by cooking them meals featuring [[Oxo (food)|Oxo]] products. The advertisements typically featured the family sitting down to a meal at which Oxo gravy would be served. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the family was seen to grow older. When the campaign was retired in 1999, the family moved out of the house.

===Television presenting===
On 17 December 2010, Bellingham guest-presented the ITV programme ''[[Lorraine (TV programme)|Lorraine]]''.

In 2012, she presented her own cookery series called ''[[My Tasty Travels with Lynda Bellingham]]''. The following year, she presented the ITV programme ''[[Country House Sunday]]''.

===''Loose Women''===
Bellingham joined ''[[Loose Women]]'' on 10 April 2007, appearing alongside [[Carol McGiffin]] and [[Coleen Nolan]], and continued as a regular on the show until 2011. In all, Bellingham made more than 300 appearances on the show, including a special appearance in 2014 shortly before her death. Two editions of ''Loose Women'' were dedicated to Bellingham after her death.

===''Strictly Come Dancing''===
{{main|Strictly Come Dancing}}
In 2009, Bellingham was one of the contestants in the [[Strictly Come Dancing (series 7)|seventh series]] of ''[[Strictly Come Dancing]]'', where she was partnered with [[Darren Bennett (dancer)|Darren Bennett]]. However, she was voted out by the judges in the fourth week.

{| class="wikitable" style="margin:auto;"
|-  style="text-align:Center; background:#ccc;"
| rowspan="2"|'''Week #'''
| rowspan="2"|'''Dance'''/'''Song'''
| colspan="5"|'''Judges' scores'''
| rowspan="2"|'''Result'''
|-  style="text-align:center; background:#ccc;"
|  style="width:10%; "|[[Craig Revel Horwood]]
|  style="width:10%; "|[[Alesha Dixon]]
|  style="width:10%; "|[[Len Goodman]]
|  style="width:10%; "|[[Bruno Tonioli]]
|  style="width:10%; "|Total
|-  style="text-align:center; background:#faf6f6;"
||1
||Tango / "[[Under Pressure]]"
||3
||6
||7
||5
||21
||Safe
|-  style="text-align:center; background:#faf6f6;"
||2
||Cha-Cha-Cha / "[[Don't Go Breaking My Heart]]"
||5
||6
||6
||6
||23
||Safe
|-  style="text-align:center; background:#faf6f6;"
||3
||Paso Doble / "[[Devil Woman (Cliff Richard song)|Devil Woman]]"
||5
||7
||7
||6
||25
||Bottom Two
|-  style="text-align:center; background:#faf6f6;"
||4
||Foxtrot / "[[Calendar Girl (song)|Calendar Girl]]"
||5
||7
||6
||6
||24
||Eliminated
|}


===Other appearances===
In 1993, Bellingham was the subject of ''[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]]'' when she was surprised by [[Michael Aspel]] on the set of ''[[Second Thoughts (TV series)|Second Thoughts]]''.<ref>{{cite episode |season =33 |series=[[This Is Your Life (British TV series)|This Is Your Life]] |title=Linda Bellingham |year=1993 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Z5Q6b7JACk&t=607s}}</ref>

In February 1999, she was part of the ''Heated Rollers'' comedy team alongside Gwyneth Strong and Joanna Monro, with the ''Heated Rollers'' programme being the first all-women sketch show broadcast on BBC Radio 2.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jwzw | title=BBC Radio 4 Extra - Heated Rollers, Episode 1 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00czjlm | title=BBC Radio 4 Extra - Heated Rollers }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007r4ys | title=BBC Radio 4 Extra - Heated Rollers, Episode 4 }}</ref>
 
In 2010, Bellingham was the voice-over for British rap band [[N-Dubz]]'s reality show on [[Channel 4]].

In 2011, Bellingham featured in a short film entitled ''Too Close for Comfort'', playing the character of a mother to her real-life son, actor and celebrity butler Michael Peluso (from ITV's fly-on-the-wall documentary series ''[[Savoy Hotel|The Savoy]]'').<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.itv.com/loosewomen/articles/lynda-bellingham-son-michael-peluso-emotional-tribute-loose-women | title=Lynda Bellingham's son Michael Peluso joins the Loose Women to pay an emotional tribute to his late mum }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.itv.com/hub/the-savoy/2a7996?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIqfGby6DJ-QIVTOvtCh2Qxw6OEAAYASAAEgL7iPD_BwE | title=The Savoy - Watch episodes }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.itv.com/hub/the-savoy/2a7996a0006 | title=The Savoy - Welcome Back }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.itv.com/hub/the-savoy/2a7996a0007 | title=The Savoy - Five Star Standards }}</ref>  Bellingham and Peluso reprised their roles for the follow-up web series of the same name in 2014. Mirroring Bellingham's personal life, her character had developed cancer.

Bellingham also appeared as a contestant on the TV show ''[[Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (British game show)|Celebrity Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?]]''

==Live performances==
Twice in the 1960s, Bellingham appeared in the [[Pendley Open Air Shakespeare Festival]].

In January 2005, she appeared in a play entitled ''[[Losing Louis]]'' at [[Hampstead Theatre]] before transferring to the [[Trafalgar Studios]] in London. Her performance received critical acclaim, especially from Michael Billington.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/jan/25/theatre/ The Guardian, Michael Billington]</ref>

In October 2007, she appeared in the play ''[[Vincent River (play)|Vincent River]]'' at the [[Trafalgar Studios]] in London.

From September 2008 to July 2009, Bellingham played the role of Chris Harper in the stage version of the hit film ''[[Calendar Girls (play)|Calendar Girls]]'' on tour and at the [[Noël Coward Theatre]] in the West End. She returned to the show for further tours in 2010, 2011 and 2012.

Over the Christmas/New Year period of 2011/12, she played the Fairy Godmother in the pantomime ''[[Cinderella]]'' at the [[Birmingham Hippodrome]]. She played the role again at the [[Alhambra Theatre, Bradford]] over the Christmas/New Year period of 2012/13.

Bellingham was due to star in [[Kay Mellor]]'s play ''[[A Passionate Woman]]'' at the [[Sheffield Crucible]], followed by a national tour, however, it was announced in July 2013 that the show had to be postponed owing to Bellingham's cancer treatment.

==Filmography==

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1971
| [[The Misfit (TV series)|The Misfit]]
| Wee Jeanie 
| 1 Episode 
|-
| 1971 
| [[ITV Sunday Night Theatre]]
| Nurse Mary Tiller 
| 1 Episode 
|-
| 1971 
| [[Kate (TV series)|Kate]]
| Hattie 
| Recurring Role (2 Episodes) 
|- 
| 1971 
| [[A Family at War]]
| Chrissie 
| Recurring Role (3 Episodes) 
|-
| 1972 
| [[The Fenn Street Gang]]
| Liza 
| 1 Episode 
|- 
| 1972-1973
| [[General Hospital]]
| Nurse Hilda Price 
| Regular Role (27 Episodes) 
|-
| 1972
| All Star Comedy Carnaval 
| Nurse Hilda Price 
| ‘Christmas with Wogan’
|-
| 1973 
| Tell Tarby 
| Nurse Norma Snockers
| Regular Role (6 Episodes) 
|-
| 1974
| [[A Little Bit of Wisdom]]
| Gwen Morgan
| 1 Episode
|- 
| 1974
| [[Billy Liar (TV series)|Billy Liar]]
| Alison 
| 1 Episode
|- 
| 1974-1975 
| [[Z-Cars]]
| Irene Tyson
| Recurring Role (4 Episodes) 
|- 
| 1975
| [[Within These Walls]]
| Yvonne Melton 
| 1 Episode 
|- 
| 1975
| [[The Sweeney]] 
| Nancy King 
| 1 Episode
|- 
| 1976
| Couples
| Jack 
| Regular Role (6 Episodes)
|- 
| 1976 
| [[Yus My Dear]]
| Carole 
| 1 Episode 
|-
| 1977 
| [[Doctor on the Go]]
| Eleanor Wilcox 
| 1 Episode 
|- 
| 1977 
| The Fuzz
| WPC Pamela ‘Purrfect’ Purvis 
| Regular Role (7 Episodes)
|-
| 1979 
| Don’t Forget to Write!
| Angela 
| 1 Episode
|-
| 1979
| [[Hazell (TV series)|Hazell]]
| Vanessa 
| 1 Episode
|-
| 1980
| [[The Professionals (TV series)|The Professionals]]
| Betty Hope 
| 1 Episode
|-
| 1981 
| [[Funny Man (TV series)|Funny Man]]
| Gwen
| Regular Role (11 Episodes) 
|- 
| 1982
| Murphy’s Mob
| Elaine Murphy 
| Regular Role (12 Episodes) 
|-
| 1982 
| [[Angels (TV series)|Angels]]
| Kathy Stone 
| Recurring Role (5 Episodes)
|- 
| 1984
| [[The Gentle Touch]]
| Alison Fairbrother 
| Recurring Role (2 Episodes) 
|- 
| 1986 
| [[Doctor Who]]
| The Inquisitor 
| Regular Role (14 Episodes) 
|-
| 1987
| [[Filthy Rich & Catflap]]
| Ms Tomkins 
| 1 Episode 
|- 
| 1988-1990
| [[All Creatures Great and Small (1978 TV series)|All Creatures Great and Small]]
| Helen Herriot 
| Regular Role (47 Episodes) 
|- 
| 1990-1993
| [[Jackanory]]
| Storyteller 
| Recurring Role (9 Episodes) 
|- 
| 1991-1994
| [[Second Thoughts (TV series)|Second Thoughts]]
| Faith Greyshott 
| Regular Role (49 Episodes)
|- 
| 1995
| [[Martin Chuzzlewit]]
| Mrs. Lupin 
| Regular Role (5 Episodes) 
|- 
| 1995-1998 
| [[Faith in the Future]]
| Faith Greyshott
| Regular Role (22 Episodes) 
|- 
| 1998
| [[Casualty (TV series)|Casualty]]
| Steph Yates 
| 1 Episode 
|-
| 2000
| Reach for the Moon 
| Penny Martin 
| Regular Role (6 Episodes)
|-
| 2000-2003
| [[At Home with the Braithwaites]]
| Pauline Farnell 
| Regular Role (19 Episodes) 
|- 
| 2001
| [[Waking the Dead (TV series)|Waking the Dead]]
| Mary Mantel
| Recurring Role (2 Episodes)
|- 
| 2004 
| [[Midsomer Murders]]
| Jane Willows 
| 1 Episode 
|- 
| 2004
| [[Dalziel and Pascoe]]
| Jess Pitman 
| 1 Episode 
|- 
| 2004 
| [[The Bill]]
| Irene Radford 
| Recurring Role (19 Episodes) 
|- 
| 2006 
| [[Holby City]]
| Caitlin Lucas 
| 1 Episode
|- 
| 2007
| [[New Tricks]]
| DS. Karen Hardwick 
| 1 Episode 
|- 
| 2007-2011
| [[Loose Women]]
| Herself 
| Regular Panellist
|-
| 2014-2015
| [[Too Close for Comfort]]
| Mary 
| Regular Role (4 Episodes) 
|}

==Stage==
{| class="wikitable sortable"

|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
| 1969
| A Man for All Seasons 
| Margaret More 
| Lyceum Theatre, Crewe
|-
| 1969-1970
| [[Doctor in the House]]
| Monica 
| Lyceum Theatre, Crewe
|-
| rowspan=2|1970
| The Wheel of Fortune 
| Amy 
| Lyceum Theatre, Crewe 
|-
| Toad of Toad Hall
| Ratty 
| Lyceum Theatre, Crewe
|-
| 1974
| Bordello 
| Rachel 
| [[Sondheim Theatre]]
|-
| rowspan=2|1975
| Norman, Is that You?
| Mary 
| [[Phoenix Theatre, London|Phoenix Theatre]]
|-
| My Fat Friend 
| Vicky 
| [[Theatre Royal, Windsor]]
|- 
| 1977
| Castle in the Air 
| Boss Trent
| [[Theatre Royal, Windsor]]
|-
| 1978
| The Flip Side 
| Sharon 
| Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Croydon 
|- 
| 1985
| Strippers 
| Stripper 
| [[Phoenix Theatre, London|Phoenix Theatre]]
|-
| 1985-1986
| Look, No Hans! 
| Monica 
| [[Novello Theatre]]
|- 
| 2002
| Marry Me You Idiot
| Elinor Waugh 
| Jermyn Theatre, London 
|- 
| 2005 
| [[Losing Louis]]
| Elizabeth 
| [[Hampstead Theatre]],[[Trafalgar Studios]] 
|-
| 2006
| Sugar Mummies
| Maggie 
| [[Royal Court Theatre]]
|-
| 2007 
| [[Vincent River (play)|Vincent River]] 
| Anita
| [[Trafalgar Studios]]
|- 
| 2008-2009 
| [[Calendar Girls]]
| Chris 
| Nöel Coward Theatre
|- 
| 2010-2012 
| [[Calendar Girls]] 
| Chris 
| UK Tour 
|-
| 2011-2012
| [[Cinderella]]
| Fairy Godmother 
| [[Birmingham Hippodrome]] 
|-
| 2012-2013 
| [[Cinderella]] 
| Fairy Godmother 
| Alahmbra Theatre, Bradford
|}

==Writing==
In 2010, Bellingham launched her book ''Lost and Found'', a story of her life and career and toured the country for private readings.<ref name=teleg-obit/> Her novel ''Tell Me Tomorrow'' was published in 2013. In 2014, Bellingham's autobiography, ''There's Something I'm Dying to Tell You'', was issued shortly before her death.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/oct/22/lynda-bellingham-christmas-interview-died-cancer |first=Caroline |last=Davies |title=Lynda Bellingham's last interview screened just days after her death |work=The Guardian |date=22 October 2014 |access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref> Her final story, ''The Boy I Love'' was published posthumously in November 2014.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The boy I love|last=Lynda|first=Bellingham|date=20 November 2014|isbn=9781471148972|location=London|oclc=894273350}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Bellingham was married three times, first in 1975 to film and theatre producer [[Greg Smith (film producer)|Greg Smith]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Simon |last=Sheridan |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/greg-smith-producer-of-the-confessions-films-1677081.html |title=Greg Smith: Producer of the 'Confessions' films |work=The Independent |date=1 May 2009}}</ref> According to Bellingham in her 2010 autobiography, the marriage was one driven primarily by sex, with Smith later admitting to numerous affairs with other actresses, including some who sent nude photos to their home.

Her second marriage (1981–96) was to restaurateur<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/dec/24/martinwainwright | title=Oxo mum's life of domestic violence | website=[[TheGuardian.com]] | date=24 December 1999 }}</ref> Nunzio Peluso, with whom she had two sons, Michael and Robbie. The couple were introduced to each other at the Italian restaurant La Famiglia in Chelsea, London in the early 1980s by friend and fellow actor [[Christopher Biggins]]. After a whirlwind courtship and romance, the couple married but the relationship was marred by Peluso's jealousy of Bellingham's former lovers leading to a series of altercations, fights and ongoing domestic abuse towards her. Around the same time as Bellingham was being abused by Peluso, she was starring in the Oxo adverts and felt bound to hide the truth about her marriage for fear of spoiling her image in the commercials. As Bellingham revealed in her 2010 autobiography ''Lost & Found: My Story'': "maybe if my private life had been happier I would have enjoyed doing it more. As it was, I felt I was living a lie. Being the nation's favourite mum on screen and going home to an abusive relationship was heartbreaking [...] the irony was horrific. Here I was, the Oxo mum, hiding behind closed doors, isolated from her friends and family." The couple divorced in 1996, Bellingham giving her former husband half of everything she owned, although he continued to intimidate her. A restraining order was granted in 2000 to keep Peluso away from his former wife.

On 31 May 2008, Bellingham married her boyfriend, Spain-based timeshare salesman, Michael Pattemore (known on ''Loose Women'' as "Mr Spain"), at [[St Stephen Walbrook]] on her 60th birthday.{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Bellingham was appointed [[Officer of the Order of the British Empire]] (OBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for voluntary service to charitable giving.<ref>{{London Gazette|issue=60728 |supp=y|page=10|date=31 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Matthew |last=Weaver|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/oct/20/lynda-bellingham-dies-cancer-actor-presenter |title=Lynda Bellingham, actor and presenter, dies aged 66|work=The Guardian |date=20 October 2014 |access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref>

===Illness and death===
On 16 July 2013, it was announced that Bellingham had been diagnosed with [[colorectal cancer]]. She released a statement saying she was "not going to die."<ref>Alistair Foster, [https://www.standard.co.uk/news/celebritynews/lynda-bellingham-i-will-deal-with-this-cancer-im-not-going-to-die-8710269.html "Lynda Bellingham: 'I will deal with this cancer, I’m not going to die'"], ''London Evening Standard'', 16 July 2013.</ref>

In September 2014, Bellingham confirmed that her cancer had [[metastasised]] to her lungs and liver and that she had "months to live". She announced that she had made the choice in August 2014<ref name=Sky>[http://news.sky.com/story/1343613/tv-actress-bellingham-may-have-months-to-live "Lynda Bellingham may have months to live"], Sky News, 28 September 2014.</ref> to stop her [[chemotherapy]] in November, so that she could have "one last Christmas" with her family<ref name=DR>[http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/ex-loose-women-star-lynda-bellingham-4337358 "Ex-Loose Women star Lynda Bellingham: My cancer is terminal and I only have months to live"], ''Daily Record'', 28 September 2014.</ref><ref>Hannah Stephenson, [http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/celebrity/ex-loose-women-star-lynda-bellingham-4342673 "Ex-Loose Women star Lynda Bellingham: I want one last Christmas with my family before saying goodbye and going to sleep"], ''Daily Record'', 29 September 2014.</ref> and die in January 2015.<ref name=Sky/> However, Bellingham died in a London hospital on 19 October 2014 with her husband Michael by her side.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-29685903|title=Lynda Bellingham: Tributes paid after actress dies at 66|work=BBC News|date=20 October 2014|access-date=23 October 2014}}</ref>

A few weeks before her death, Bellingham's official website was taken down, with the message: "We're very sorry; at the request of Lynda and Michael we have temporarily taken the website offline."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lyndabellingham.com |title=Homepage |work=lyndabellingham.com |access-date=3 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141109070111/http://www.lyndabellingham.com/ |archive-date=9 November 2014 |url-status=dead  }}</ref>

On 3 November 2014, her funeral took place at [[Church of St Bartholomew, Crewkerne|St Bartholomew's Church]] in [[Crewkerne]]. Afterwards, Bellingham was buried in Crewkerne [[Townsend Cemetery, Crewkerne|Townsend Cemetery]]. Her headstone names her as Lynda Bellingham-Pattemore.<ref>[I just found Lynda Bellingham's memorial] at FindAGrave</ref>

==Further reading==
* Lynda Bellingham, ''Lost and Found: My Story'' (Ebury Press, 2010) {{ISBN|978-0091936419}}
* Lynda Bellingham, ''Tell Me Tomorrow'' (Simon & Schuster Ltd, 2014) {{ISBN|978-1471102813}} 
* Lynda Bellingham, ''There's Something I've Been Dying to Tell You'' (Coronet, 2014) {{ISBN|978-1473608566}}
* Lynda Bellingham, "tell me tomorrow" (Simon & Schuster Ltd, 2013) {{ISBN |978-0750539531}}

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140817171230/http://www.lyndabellingham.com/ Official website] (2014 snapshot from [[Internet Archive]])
*{{IMDb name|0069019}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2021}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bellingham, Lynda}}
[[Category:1948 births]]
[[Category:2014 deaths]]
[[Category:Actresses from Montreal]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama]]
[[Category:Anglophone Quebec people]]
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[[Category:Deaths from cancer in England]]
[[Category:Deaths from colorectal cancer]]
[[Category:English stage actresses]]
[[Category:English television actresses]]
[[Category:English film actresses]]
[[Category:English television presenters]]
[[Category:English women writers]]
[[Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:People educated at Aylesbury High School]]
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[[Category:English people of French-Canadian descent]]
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