OBITUARY: Clare Cathcart, 1965-2014


Ulster-born actress Clare Cathcart did not make it to the status of being a household name.
However, she was watched by TV viewers across the land during her appearances in a string of shows from the early 1990s onwards.
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Hide AdBorn on October 2, 1965 in the village of Bellanaleck, Co Fermanagh, she was the daughter of restaurateurs Doreen and Arthur Cathcart.


She went to Jones Memorial Primary School then later to Enniskillen College, and her fondness for drama was clear from an early age.
She took part in musical productions while at the college, before moving to London to study English and Drama at Royal Holloway.
She returned to Northern Ireland to visit and to work during the years, but remained in England more-or-less throughout the remainder of her life.
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Hide AdFriend and fellow actress Julie Graham first saw her at the Donmar Warehouse theatre when Clare was in her early 20s, performing the Brian Friel play Translations.


“She was one of those actresses that always worked consistently,” said Julie.
“I never think she got the recognition as an actress she deserved. She was incredibly versatile”.
She had lacked a “big break” on the small screen, said Julie, although her principal passion was for theatre.
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Hide AdShe performed with the RSC and at The National theatre, and among her stage characters was Gail, a north Belfast UDA woman in the Gary Mitchell play “Loyal Women” which ran at the Royal Court in London – said to be her favourite venue.


In any case, added Julie, while working as a support actress can be a “much maligned” profession, many of the characters are more interesting than the leads.
While roles over the years had included bit-parts in TV series including Father Ted, Doctors, The Bill and Call the Midwife, she also had more substantive roles such as in Channel 4 series Psychos, set in a Glaswegian mental hospital.
As well as landing parts herself, she also taught at a drama school called ACT in Brighton, West Sussex, after relocating there from London.
A gifted singer, she was a member of three choirs.
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She never married, but had two children with fellow actor John Marquez – Elsie (13) and Jeanie (8).
She was out in Brighton town with the younger of the two when she began to suffer what Julie described as a “catastrophic asthma attack”.
She had experience of the condition and had appeared to have it under control, but this attack was said to have been completely unexpected.
She was taken to hospital, where she died on September 4.
Among those expressing their shock at her death was Miranda Hart, who wrote on social media: “Reeling from closer to home news of Clare Cathcart.
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Hide Ad“Had the privilege of some serious laughing with her on Call the Midwife. A ball of joy.”
Her funeral was a private one, held in Brighton on September 11.
She was cremated and there are plans to bring some of her ashes back to Fermanagh.
A poetry group in Enniskillen held a series of readings dedicated to her on Thursday night, on what would have been her 49th birthday.
She is survived by her daughters, parents and by younger brother Adrian.