Rag Trade star Miriam Karlin dies

http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/entertainment-arts-13639043

Version 0 of 3.

Actress Miriam Karlin, known to many for her role as shop steward Paddy in TV sitcom The Rag Trade, has died in London aged 85.

The actress, who became an OBE in 1975, had cancer and died in hospital.

Born Miriam Samuels in 1925, Karlin was one of Malcolm McDowell's victims in A Clockwork Orange and also had roles in The Entertainer and Room at the Top.

She had been a patron of Dignity in Dying, a body that campaigns for a change to the laws on assisted dying.

Raised as an orthodox Jew in London, Karlin was a well-known political activist and an active member of the actors' union Equity.

The actress frequently played formidable Jewish matriarchs, among them Golde in the original West End production of Fiddler on the Roof.

West End theatre producer David Pugh was a friend of Karlin's and remembered her as "a wonderful woman."

Equity spokesman Martin Brown has also paid tribute, remembering her in <a href="http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/newsstory.php/32408/rag-trade-actress-miriam-karlin-dies" >The Stage</a> as "an absolutely indefatigable campaigner and a marvellous friend".