Notting Hill actress Emma Chambers dies aged 53

Best known for playing Alice Tinker in the popular British sitcom The Vicar of Dibley alongside Dawn French, the actress also featured in Notting Hill alongside Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts.

Her agent said Chambers, who died from natural causes on Wednesday evening, would be 'greatly missed'.

A statement read: 'Emma created a wealth of characters and an immense body of work. She brought laughter and joy to many.'  

Jon Plowman, executive producer of The Vicar of Dibley and former head of comedy at the BBC, said: 'This is a sad day. Emma was a gifted comic actress who made any part she played - no matter how ditzy or other worldly - look easy.

'To create a much loved comic character as she did, you have to be every bit as bright and clever as Emma always was.

'She was great fun to work with and adored by all the cast and crew of Vicar of Dibley. She will be missed and our deepest condolences go out to her family and friends.'

In Notting Hill, Chambers played Honey, Hugh Grant's eccentric younger sister and the romantic interest of Rhys Ifans' character Spike.

Many of Chambers’ celebrity friends shared their condolences via statements and social media.

Dawn French said: 'Emma was a very bright spark and the most loyal & loving friend anyone could wish for. I will miss her very much.'

Hugh Grant also tweeted his condolences.

James Dreyfus, who starred alongside Chambers in Notting Hill also paid tribute on Twitter.

“RIP the wonderful and talented Emma Chambers. Unique & unspeakably funny. Too young. Thoughts with her family.”

Chambers is survived by her husband, fellow actor Ian Dunn.

She tied the knot in 1991 at a low-key ceremony in New Forest and described her marriage as ‘glorious’ in an interview in January this year.

“My wedding was very short. I was playing the lead in an Alan Ayckbourn play and was only given one day off,” she told Hitberry magazine. “My sister, Sarah Doukas, is a model agent and one of her bookers made me a dress which cost £180. I still look at it in my wardrobe and think it is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.”