Actress Mona Hammond has died aged 91.
The Jamaican-British actress was best known for her roles in EastEnders and Desmond’s.
Chair the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Arts (RADA) Marcus Ryder confirmed the news on social media, writing: “It is with sadness that I wake up to the news Mona Hammond has died
“Among her numerous achievements she co-founded Talawa Theatre Company in 1985. She was also a @RADA_London graduate and received an honorary RADA Fellowship in 2019.”
With a career spanning seven decades, and recognised for both her work on stage and screen, she was awarded an OBE for her services to drama in 2005.
For many, Hammond’s defining role was Blossom Jackson in EastEnders – a part that brought her into millions of living rooms several times a week.
She played the matriarch of the Jackson family from 1994 to 1997, briefly returning again in October 2010 to attend her on-screen great-grandson Billie Jackson’s funeral.
It was actually Hammond’s second part in the BBC soap, having previously played the much smaller role of Michelle Fowler’s midwife in 1986.
Celebrities were quick to pay tribute, with Loose Woman and presenter Charlene White hailing Hammond a “trailblazer”.
Red Dwarf star Danny John-Jules praised the actress and those who had helped looked after her in what he called her “Final Curtain”.
Hammond was born Mavis Chin in Jamaica on New Year’s Day in 1931, to a Jamaican mother and Chinese father.
Moving to the UK in 1959 aged 28 on a Jamaican Scholarship, she initially worked for a firm of architects in London during the day and spent the evenings studying at adult education college City Lit.
In 1961, Hammond was awarded a scholarship to RADA, following her dream to perform and graduating in 1964. She spent the rest of her life working as a professional actress.