{"id":3438,"date":"2025-07-16T17:03:09","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T17:03:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/3438\/"},"modified":"2025-07-16T17:03:09","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T17:03:09","slug":"jo-bacon-dead-tributes-pour-in-for-love-actually-and-eastenders-star-after-her-death-aged-72","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/3438\/","title":{"rendered":"Jo Bacon dead: Tributes pour in for Love Actually and EastEnders star after her death aged 72"},"content":{"rendered":"

By KATHERINE LAWTON<\/a> <\/p>\n

Published: 12:32 EDT, 16 July 2025 | Updated: 12:52 EDT, 16 July 2025 <\/p>\n

Actor Jo Bacon who starred in one of the most iconic scenes in Love Actually<\/a> has died aged 72.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘Brilliant’ actor Bacon starred alongside Hugh Grant<\/a> as she played\u00a0Natalie’s mother in the 2003 Christmas<\/a>\u00a0classic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The famous scene shows Natalie, played by Martine\u00a0McCutcheon, coming down the stairs to meet the Prime Minister – her love interest played by Grant – as her family stand at the door in awe.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Bacon was a hugely popular figure in television, theatre, film and ballet and also made appearances in EastEnders<\/a>, Casualty,\u00a0The Bill, Pie in the Sky, Little Britain, A Touch of Frost and New Tricks.<\/p>\n

Her talent was also celebrated in glowing reviews for her performances in Breeders, where she played Jackie, the mother of Paul played by Martin Freeman.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Freeman paid his respects to Bacon, whose funeral took place yesterday following her diagnosis with cancer in January.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Celebrant Jo Moore said: ‘Jo’s talent as an actor was a gift that she shared with the world. On stage and on screen, she brought us joy, laughter, and inspiration, leaving an indelible mark on the lives of everyone she reached.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bacon <\/p>\n

Bacon played Natalie’s mother in Love Actually. Pictured: Martine McCutcheon as Natalie and Hugh Grant as the Prime Minister\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘She was a woman of many talents and facets, and I would like to share with you a description of Jo, given by Gill, one of her lifelong friends: ”Jo’s life was a wonderful, elaborate, kaleidoscope with different sections for each of her passions and only Jo was at the centre and could see and enjoy the whole kaleidoscope. In many ways Jo was a contradiction – a flamboyant extrovert, a superb wit, a natural communicator and yet, at the same time, an introspective loner.<\/p>\n

‘We all thought we knew her so well but, in reality, we each only knew and loved one aspect of her.”<\/p>\n

Following her cancer<\/a>\u00a0diagnosis at the start of this year, Bacon said herself: ‘I have had a brilliant life. I have been so lucky to do the things I have done and to have met the wonderful people I have met. I have no regrets.’\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another good friend Barry Bowen said: ‘The thing I remember and love most about her I suspected in those early local days and it proved true in spades as the years went by\u2026 her unfailing loyalty to her friends.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘If Jo had wanted to be anything other than the humble person we all knew, she was so well equipped to be a name dropper. Sharing stages and studios with the likes of Redgrave, O’Toole, Mirren, Bates, Rickman, Grant, Firth and Freeman were a silent compliment to her.’\u00a0<\/p>\n

Share or comment on this article:
\n Jo Bacon dead: Tributes pour in for Love Actually and EastEnders star after her death aged 72<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By KATHERINE LAWTON Published: 12:32 EDT, 16 July 2025 | Updated: 12:52 EDT, 16 July 2025 Actor Jo…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3439,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[97,1078,96,59,2277,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-3438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-dailymail","tag-eastenders","tag-entertainment","tag-gb","tag-love-actually","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3438","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3438"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3438\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3439"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3438"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3438"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3438"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}