Emma Chambers

Emma Gwynedd Mary Chambers (11 March 1964 – 21 February 2018) was an English actress who performed in television, film, and the theatre. She played Alice Tinker in the BBC comedy The Vicar of Dibley and Honey Thacker in the film Notting Hill (1999). Beginning her career in 1987 on the British stage, Chambers first drew critical attention for her portrayals of teenage characters in the world premieres of two plays by Alan Ayckbourn at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough: Geain in Henceforward... (1987) and Lucy Baines in Invisible Friends (1989). She reprised both roles in London's West End; performing the latter role at the Royal National Theatre. Early life Chambers was born on 11 March 1964, in Doncaster, West Riding of Yorkshire, the daughter of John Chambers, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist, and his wife Noelle, née Strange. Her siblings are business owners Sarah and Simon, who created the modelling agency Storm Management. She attended St. Mary's School and her secondary education was at St Swithun's School, Winchester, Hampshire. She then trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in the 1980s, where she was a classmate of actor Ross Kemp. Early stage career Chambers began her career as a stage actress in the late 1980s as a member of the repertory company at the Stephen Joseph Theatre in Scarborough. There she appeared as Geain (pronounced "Jane") in the world premiere of Alan Ayckbourn's Henceforward... in 1987 with Ian McKellen and Jane Asher portraying her character's parents. She reprised the role the following year for her West End theatre debut at the Vaudeville Theatre. One of her other early stage appearances was in the role of Tillie in the world premiere of Paul Doust's If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked A Cake in May 1988 at The Old Red Lion, Islington.