Actress Margaret Tyzack has died at the age of 79

Actress, Margaret Tyzack has died at the age of 79. She was thought to have had cancer. Her agent said Tyzack, "died peacefully at home" on Saturday (25 June) with her family by her side.

Margaret Tyzack, who was awarded the CBE last year, was prolific on the London stage. Her recent London stage credits include "Phedre" at the Lyttelton, NT in 2009; "The Chalk Garden" at the Donmar Warehouse in 2008; "Southwark Fair" at the Cottesloe, NT in 2006; "As You Desire Me" at the Playhouse in 2005; "His Girl Friday" at the Olivier, Nt in 2003; "Auntie & Me" at the Wyndham's in 2003.

She received an Olivier Award in 1982 for a revival of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and a Tony award in 1991 for the play "Lettice and Lovage", in which she appeared in both the London and Broadway productions opposite Dame Maggie Smith. She won another Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in 2009 for The Chalk Garden at the Donmar Warehouse.

Tyzack recently appeared in BBC One soap opera EastEnders, as Lydia Simmonds, the maternal grandmother of Albert Square regular Janine Butcher. Her other well know Tv appearances include Derek Jacobi's mother 'Antonia' in Roman saga "I, Claudius" in the 1970s and Winifred, Soames's sister, in "The Forsyte Saga" in 1967.