Ronnie Corbett's widow Anne Hart dies at 90- family pay tribute to 'darling' mum

06 November 2023 , 15:43

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Anne Hart, the wife on comedy legend Ronnie Corbett, has died aged 90 (Image: PA)

West End star Anne Hart - the beloved widow of comedy great Ronnie Corbett - has died at her family home, it has been announced.

The talented actress, who was married to legendary funnyman Ronnie for 50 years, passed away “peacefully, surrounded by her family” in the early hours of Sunday morning in Scotland. Singer Anne, 90, was recently treated for a hip fracture in the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh following a fall at the family estate Muirfield Wood in East Lothian.

Her daughter, actress Sophie Corbett, said: “We lost my darling Mum at one o’clock in the morning. She was an amazing woman, and my sister Emma and I, and all four of her grandchildren, Tom, Tilly, Dylan and Billy, will love and miss her for ever. We will be bringing her home to Abingdon, near Croydon, which is where the family lived when my Dad was alive.”

Former West End musical star Anne Hart has died at the age of 90

Anne's death comes eight years after her husband Ronnie died aged 85, leaving his family devastated. The popular comic died in 2016 after being diagnosed with a suspected form of motor neurone disease. The two actors first met during the late 1950s when Anne was working in the late-night revues at Danny La Rue’s club at Hanover Square. Anne was born on April 26, 1933, at St Thomas’ Hospital in Lambeth and was one of six children.

When she was a little girl, she made her West End debut in the Christmas show Where The Rainbow Ends, going on to star in a number of other child roles in operas at Covent Garden. Anne rose to fame on the stage during her 20s, when she was cast as the lead in Clown Jewels and Young In Heart with comedy troupe The Crazy Gang.

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Her death comes eight years after much-loved Ronnie passed away (BBC/Plum Pictures/Guy Levy)

The actress married late husband Ronnie at Brixton registry office in 1965 and the pair went on to be married for 50 years before his death. Anne was previously married to John Padley, a singer in a group called The Four Jones Boys.

She made appearances in West End cabaret clubs including Winston’s, with Danny La Rue and it was there that she first met Ronnie. Six years later, he plucked up the courage to ask Anne for a drink and they fell in love, spending half a century happily married.

After his death, Anne told the Daily Mail: "There has been an empty feeling since Ron has gone ... An emptiness, yes, that’s what it is. But I think and hope that I am slowly emerging from the mist."

Sam Elliott-Gibbs