Bafta-winning actress Anna Massey dies

Anna Massey, the veteran actress whose pursed face of disapproval was often employed in the role of repressed maiden aunt, has died at the age of 73.

Massey won a string of awards for her stage and television roles, including a Bafta for her performance as a lonely spinster in the 1986 adaptation of Hotel du Lac. A character actress often employed in supporting roles as the spurned sister, Massey appeared in period dramas including Tess Of The D'Urbervilles in 2008 and Oliver Twist in 2007.

She recently starred in Poirot and Midsomer Murders and her film roles included Alfred Hitchcock's Frenzy and Possession with Gwyneth Paltrow. In 2006, she played Baroness Thatcher in the TV film, Pinochet In Suburbia. Divorced from the late actor Jeremy Brett, she was alone for 27 years until she met Russian scientist Uri Andres at a dinner party and married him three months later. She had been suffering from cancer.

Massey's agent said in a statement: "Anna Massey CBE passed away peacefully on Sunday 3 July, with her husband and son by her side. She will be remembered as a loving wife and mother, a cherished grandmother, a generous colleague and, always, a consummate professional. She will be greatly missed."

Her final credited screen appearance was in an episode of Jimmy McGovern's Moving On dramas for BBC 1.