Variety reported that the entertainment world is mourning the loss of two significant figures as veteran Korean actor Lee Soon Jae passed away at 91 on the 25th, followed by news that British actress Jill Freud died at 98, drawing global attention because she was the real life inspiration for Lucy Pevensie from The Chronicles of Narnia and appeared as Pat in the romantic comedy Love Actually.
Emma Freud, Jill’s daughter, shared that their 98 year old mother passed peacefully after spending the evening with her children and grandchildren, adding that her final words were I love you.
Freud’s remarkable connection to C S Lewis began when she was 16 and living on the outskirts of Oxford during the London Blitz, where she met Lewis and his adoptive mother, later learning from Lewis’s son that this encounter had inspired the creation of Lucy.
Their relationship grew close enough that Lewis funded her studies at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, adding another layer of history to a life now being remembered with admiration around the world.
After graduating from drama school, Freud built a thriving career on the West End stage as well as in British television and radio. She married Clement Freud in 1950, grandson of Sigmund Freud and future Member of Parliament, becoming Lady Freud. The couple raised five children, among them Matthew Freud, CEO of Freud Communications, and Emma Freud. Freud’s love for theater extended far beyond performance; for thirty years she operated two repertory companies in Suffolk, leaving a lasting influence on the region’s arts community. Emma recalled her mother as a fierce advocate for actors and an avid home cook best known for her shepherds pie. Freud made her final on screen appearance as Pat, the Downing Street housekeeper, in the 2003 romantic comedy Love Actually, directed by her son in law Richard Curtis.
