View source for Husband of TV actress dies hours after her funeral

{{obit|Mary Tamm}}{{article
| publication = The Times
| file = 2012-08-10 Times.jpg
| px = 800
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| date = 2012-08-10
| author = Simon de Bruxelles
| pages = 23
| language = English 
| type = 
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| text = 
Collapse after eulogy to Doctor Who star

The widower of the Doctor Who actress Mary Tamm collapsed and died while writing thank-you messages to wellwishers hours after delivering the eulogy at her funeral.

Marcus Ringrose is believed to have suffered a heart attack at the couple's home in Battersea, southwest London, shortly after the service.

Tamm, who was 62, died last month after an 18-month battle with cancer. She was probably best known for playing Romana, the Doctor's companion, alongside Tom Baker in the 1978 series.

Her agent, Barry Langford, confirmed that Mr Ringrose, 60, an insurance underwriter, had been at his computer replying to letters of condolence when he collapsed.

Mr Langford told the Daily Mirror. "His heart just gave out. If you can die of a broken heart, then he did. Marcus looked after her through her illness. He was desperately worried about her and was devastated by her death."

The couple had been married for 34 years and leave a daughter, Lauren, and a seven-year-old grandson, Max.

The couple had met when Mr Ringrose visited the BBC, saw Tamm and told a friend: "I'm going to marry that girl."

He engineered a meeting by taking a hairbrush from her handbag and then, having obtained her number, rang her to say he had it. Mr Langford said Mary called him a "cheeky bugger" but agreed to meet him.

In a tribute to his wife after her death on July 26, Mr Ringrose said: "Mary was truly beautiful in every way. She was a very spiritual lady who loved nature and adored all animals. On set and off stage, her earthy northern humour and self-deprecating wit brightened every occasion. She was a consummate actress, and immensely popular in the profession.

"Mary was born in Bradford, the daughter of impoverished refugees, and through sheer talent and hard graft got herself to Rada, starred opposite Jon Voight in The. Odessa File, and found a form of immortality as the Time Lady Romana opposite Tom Baker in Doctor Who. We will miss her every day."

After studying at Rada, Tamm began her acting career in 1971 with the Birmingham Repertory Theatre, working alongside Sir Derek Jacobi, Joan Sims and Ronnie Barker.

Tamm initially turned down the offer to appear in Doctor Who, fearing that the role of Romana would simply be that of a "damsel in distress". She was assured by the producers that her character would be from the same race as the Doctor and would I therefore have a more substantial role than his previous companions. Although she left after one season, having decided that the role was unlikely to develop, she had recently reprised the part in a series of audio episodes recorded with Baker.

Her first cinema role was in Tales That Witness Madness, which starred Kim Novak. As well as The Odessa File, she appeared in the film version of Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? She also appeared in the television series Brookside, In The Blood, Paradise Heights and Jonathan Creek. 


Marcus Ringrose said that his wife Mary Tamm "brightened every occasion". Right, with Tom Baker

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