Jill Freud, the actress whose final film role was in Love Actually, has died at the age of 98. Her daughter, broadcaster Emma Freud, announced the news on social media, revealing that her mother passed away peacefully on Tuesday evening surrounded by family.
In a tribute, Emma wrote: “My beautiful 98 year old mum has taken her final bow. After a loving evening – where we knew she was on her way – surrounded by children, grandchildren and pizza, she 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 also revealed that as a child, Jill was evacuated to Oxford and lived with author C.S. Lewis for three years. Lewis based the character of Lucy Pevensie in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe on her. Jill went on to train at RADA and enjoyed a distinguished career as an actress and producer, running two repertory theatre companies in Suffolk for three decades.
Her last film appearance was as the housekeeper at Downing Street in Love Actually, written and directed by Emma’s partner, Richard Curtis. Emma noted that her mother enjoyed a daily lunch of “a glass of red wine and a packet of crisps” and, during lockdown at age 93, joined a daily tap-dancing class with her daughters.
Jill Freud was born on April 22, 1927, and married Clement Freud, grandson of Sigmund Freud, in 1950. He died in 2009. She is survived by five children, 17 grandchildren, and seven great-grandchildren.
