Emma Gwynedd Mary Chambers (11 March 1964 – 21 February 2018) was an English actress. She played Alice Tinker in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

comedy ''

The Vicar of Dibley ''The Vicar of Dibley'' is a British sitcom. It consists of three series, which aired on BBC One from 10 November 1994 to 1 January 2000, and several specials, the most recent of which aired on 23 December 2020. It is set in the fictional Oxfor ...

'' and Honey Thacker in the film ''

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a wikt:cosmopolitan, cosmopolitan and multiculturalism, multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting ...

'' (1999). Beginning her career in 1987 on the British stage, Chambers first drew critical attention for her portrayals of teenage characters in the world premieres of two plays by Alan Ayckbourn at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough: Geain in '' Henceforward...'' (1987) and Lucy Baines in '' Invisible Friends'' (1989). She reprised both roles in London's West End; performing the latter role at the

Royal National Theatre The National Theatre (NT), officially the Royal National Theatre and sometimes referred to in international contexts as the National Theatre of Great Britain, is a performing arts venue and associated theatre company located in London, England, ...

Early life

Chambers was born on 11 March 1964, in

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, the daughter of John Chambers, a consultant

obstetrician Obstetrics is the field of study concentrated on pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. As a medical specialty, obstetrics is combined with gynecology under the discipline known as obstetrics and gynecology (OB/GYN), which is a surgi ...

and

gynaecologist Gynaecology or gynecology (see American and British English spelling differences) is the area of medicine concerned with conditions affecting the female reproductive system. It is often paired with the field of obstetrics, which focuses on pre ...

, and his wife Noelle, ''née'' Strange. Her siblings are business owners Sarah Doukas and Simon Chambers, who created the modelling agency Storm Management. She attended St Mary's School and her secondary education was at St Swithun's School, Winchester, Hampshire. She then trained at the

Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art The Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, formerly the Webber Douglas School of Singing and Dramatic Art, was a drama school, and originally a singing school, in London. It was one of the leading drama schools in Britain, and offered comprehen ...

in the 1980s, where she was a classmate of actor Ross Kemp.

Early stage career

Chambers began her career as a stage actress in the late 1980s as a member of the repertory company at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. There she appeared as Geain (pronounced "Jane") in the world premiere of Alan Ayckbourn's '' Henceforward...'' in 1987 with

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. He has played roles on the screen and stage in genres ranging from Shakespearean dramas and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. He is regarded as a British cu ...

and

Jane Asher Jane Asher (born 5 April 1946)''The International Who's Who of Women'', 3rd edition, ed. Elizabeth Sleeman, Europa Publications, 2002, p. 29 is an English actress and author. She achieved early fame as a child actress and through her associatio ...

portraying her character's parents. She reprised the role the following year for her

West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes"West End"in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, ...

debut at the Vaudeville Theatre. One of her other early stage appearances was in the role of Tillie in the world premiere of Paul Doust's ''If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked A Cake'' in May 1988 at The Old Red Lion, Islington. In 1989 Chambers was nominated for a Radio Academy Award in the Best Actress category for her work in the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

programme ''Girl of My Best Friend''. That same year she starred in Giles Cole's ''Suspects'' at the

Swansea Grand Theatre Swansea Grand Theatre is a performing arts venue in the centre of Swansea, Wales. The theatre stages plays, pantomimes and touring theatrical acts visiting Swansea. Swansea Grand Theatre was the base for the UK's only Russian ballet company, ...

with Diana Kent, Roy Boyd, and Ben Onwukwe; and portrayed the central character of Lucy Baines in the world premiere of Alan Ayckbourn's '' Invisible Friends'' at the Stephen Joseph Theatre. She remained with the latter production when it moved to the

in 1991; earning positive critical attention for her portrayal of a teenager who engages with an imaginary friend to escape her troubled home life. In the autumn of 1991 Chambers was a member of Mark Brickman's repertory company at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire where one of her roles was Celia in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

As You Like It ''As You Like It'' is a pastoral Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1599 and first published in the First Folio in 1623. The play's first performance is uncertain, though a performance at Wil ...

''. She returned to the Royal National Theatre in 1993 as Avonia Bunn in Arthur Wing Pinero's '' Trelawny of the 'Wells''' under the direction of John Caird.

Later career in television, film, and theatre

After taking some smaller parts on television productions such as ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'', in November 1994, Chambers portrayed the role of Charity Pecksniff in the television serialisation of the

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

novel ''

Martin Chuzzlewit ''The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit'' (commonly known as ''Martin Chuzzlewit'') is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, considered the last of his picaresque novels. It was originally serialised between January 1843 and July 1 ...

''. From 1994 to 2007, she portrayed the role of Alice Tinker in the BBC comedy ''

''. Chambers appeared in all 20 episodes and four

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

specials until 2007. In 1998, Chambers won the

British Comedy Award The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The British Comedy Awards (1 ...

(BCA) for Best Actress for her performance; having been nominated for a BCA previously for her portrayal of Alice in 1995. Chambers voiced the character of "Belle Stickleback" in two series of the animated television programme ''Pond Life'' (1996 and 2000) and took the role of Helen Yardley in the TV series '' How Do You Want Me?'' (1998) and appeared in the film ''

'' (1999), as Honey, the younger sister of

Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as a charming and vulnerable romantic leading man, and has since transitioned into a character actor. He has received List of awards ...

's character. She was cast as Martha Thompson in '' Take a Girl Like You'' (2000), a made-for-television drama based on the

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social crit ...

novel and a remake of the 1970 film. Chambers worked as a

voice The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound produ ...

performer in the animated made-for-television film ''

The Wind in the Willows ''The Wind in the Willows'' is a children's novel by the British novelist Kenneth Grahame, first published in 1908. It details the story of Mole, Ratty, and Badger as they try to help Mr. Toad, after he becomes obsessed with motorcars and get ...

'' (1995) and provided the voice of Spotty for two episodes in the

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...

series'' Little Robots'' (2003). In 2002, Chambers toured with the

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce ''Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen (play), Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy (play), Democracy''. Frayn's novel ...

play, '' Benefactors'', where she starred opposite Neil Pearson. At the age of 43, Chambers essentially withdrew from public life after making her final acting appearance in a 2007 special Comic Relief episode of ''The Vicar of Dibley''.

Personal life, illness and death

Chambers was married to fellow actor Ian M Dunn. Before their marriage, she lodged with

, whom she regarded as "a sort of father figure". She had a chronic

allergy Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, are various conditions caused by hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include Allergic rhinitis, hay fever, Food allergy, food al ...

to animals as well as

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

. Chambers died of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

on 21 February 2018, aged 53. On 26 February 2018

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

broadcast ''The Vicar of Dibley'' January 1998 episode " Love and Marriage" in Chambers' memory. On 11 March 2018 (on what would have been Chambers' 54th birthday), the

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

channel hosted a ''The Vicar of Dibley'' day in her memory.

Tributes

In December 2020, in a series of short '

lockdown A lockdown () is a restriction policy for people, community or a country to stay where they are, usually due to specific risks that could possibly harm the people if they move and interact freely. The term is used for a prison protocol that us ...

' episodes of ''The Vicar of Dibley'', Chambers' character Alice was written out of the sitcom, it being revealed that the character had died of cancer. The final lockdown episode ended with a tribute just before the closing credits reading, "In loving memory of Liz, John, Emma and Roger", paying tribute to her and three other deceased ''Dibley'' cast members ( Liz Smith, John Bluthal and Roger Lloyd-Pack). In 2025, Chambers appeared on two British

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the ...

issued as part of a special set by

Royal Mail Royal Mail Group Limited, trading as Royal Mail, is a British postal service and courier company. It is owned by International Distribution Services. It operates the brands Royal Mail (letters and parcels) and Parcelforce Worldwide (parcels) ...

, which commemorated the series ''

''.https://shop.royalmail.com/special-stamp-issues/the-vicar-of-dibley/the-vicar-of-dibley-stamp-set

Filmography

References

External links

Emma Chambers
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, Emma 1964 births 2018 deaths 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Doncaster Actresses from Hampshire Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art English film actresses English soap opera actresses English television actresses English voice actresses People educated at Hill House School, South Yorkshire People educated at St Swithun's School, Winchester People from Lymington English women comedians Comedians from Doncaster Comedians from Hampshire Actors from New Forest District