Margaret John had a 50-year career

Gavin and Stacey star Margaret John has died at the age of 84.

The actress, who played Doris in the sitcom towards the end of her 50-year career, died in hospital in her sleep at around 2am this morning.

Co-star James Corden wrote on Twitter: ‘All my thoughts are with the family of Margaret John who played Doris in G and S. A great actress and an incredible lady. She will be missed x'

Rob Brydon added: ‘Just heard the terribly sad news that Margaret John has passed away. What a wonderful person she was, everyone on G&S adored her.’

Filmmaker Peter Watkins-Hughes, who directed her in his 2009 comedy A Bit of Tom Jones?, said: ‘She was the grandmother everyone wanted and a friend to everyone.’

Margaret also appeared David Schwimmer’s 2007 film Run Fatboy Run alongside Simon Pegg, while her credits also include Z-Cars, Blake’s 7 and two Doctor Who stories – 38 years apart. She appeared on stage in Calendar Girls in the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff last summer.

She said of Gavin & Stacey: ‘It’s a lot of fun… there’s a lovely sort of family feeling about it’

Here she is in the show:

Published: 2 Feb 2011