British actress Billie Whitelaw, famous for her roles in films including The Omen and worked alongside Irish playwright Samuel Beckett, died aged 82.

Whitelaw also starred in Alfred Hitchock’s Frenzy (1972); The Krays (1990), the fact-based movie following the life of the twin crime-lords in London’s 1960s underworld; Quills (2000), the story of the Marquis De Sade starring Geoffrey Rush and Kate Winslet; and appeared in police comedy Hot Fuzz in 2007. She was made a CBE in 1991.

Her son, Matthew Muller, told the BBC she died in the early hours of Monday at a London nursing home.

“I could not have asked for a more loving mum,” he said. “She had an incredible career – but first and foremost she was my mum, and that’s who I will miss.”

Whitelaw first appeared on the radio when she was only 11 years old and made her theatrical debut in 1950.

She won a British Academy Award in 1969 for best supporting actress for her roles in Twisted Nerve and Charlie Bubbles. She was also nominated for a most promising newcomer gong in 1961 for Hell is a City.

Whitelaw was married to actor Peter Vaughan from 1952 until 1966 and later married writer Robert Muller.

In an interview with the Independent in 1997 she revealed that she was not overly concerned about dying.

“Oh, no. Death’s not one of those things that frighten the life out of me,” she explained. “Getting up on stage with the curtain going up frightens me more.”

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.