LONDON (AFP) ― Patsy Byrne, who played Nursie in the popular British television comedy “Blackadder,” has died aged 80 ― the second star from the cult 1980s series to die in a fortnight, after Rik Mayall’s sudden death.
Denville Hall, a northwest London care home for elderly actors, said Byrne died on Tuesday. Her death came eight days after that of Mayall, who died aged 56 from a sudden heart failure following a run.
Byrne played Nursie ― Queen Elizabeth I’s bonkers former nanny, whose real name was Bernard ― in “Blackadder II.”
She and Mayall shared a memorable scene during the 1986 second series, which was set in the Tudor era.
Following a grand entrance, Mayall’s sex-obsessed lothario Lord Flashheart barks at Byrne’s plump, middle-aged character: “Nursie! I like it firm and fruity!”
Educated in Kent, southeast England, Byrne joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, and played parts on the London stage.
“Blackadder” was voted Britain’s second-best situation comedy series in a 2004 BBC-organised poll won by “Only Fools and Horses.”
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
