The death has been reported of Sandy Ratcliff, one of the original members of the cast of EastEnders, who has passed away at the age of 70.
British tabloid The Sun reports that Ratcliff, who played Sue Osman in EastEnders from 1985 to 1989, died at the weekend and had been in poor health for a number of years.
Ratcliff was with EastEnders when it began on BBC One in February 1985 and was at the centre of one of the soap's big early storylines when her character Sue and husband Ali lost their infant son to cot death. In the years that followed viewers of the soap saw Sue struggle with mental health issues.
Away from EastEnders, Ratcliff's other screen credits included the Ken Loach film Family Life and on television The Sweeney, Maigret, Minder and Play for Today.
In 1991, Ratcliff provided an alibi for then-boyfriend Michael Shorey during his trial at London's Old Bailey for the murders of his ex-girlfriend and her friend. He was found guilty of the murders and received two life sentences. Ratcliff subsequently disappeared from the public eye. She had battled heroin addiction during her life and it is reported that she later retrained as a counsellor.
Actor Nejdet Salih, who played on-screen husband Ali in EastEnders, said: "It's very sad. I remember the first time I auditioned for the show, we had this instant chemistry and banter.
"I was a young actor and she helped me develop so much. We had a lot of fun on the show and had some really good storylines. Obviously, the cot death storyline was massive and really important. We wanted to do the best job we could."
"She would try to take younger actors under her wing and had a great sense of humour," he continued. "At the end of the show, I think she had had enough, there was a lot of pressure on us back then. I think she just wanted to go."
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