Actress Miriam Karlin dies, aged 85

Miriam Karlin has died at the age of 85.

The actress, best known for her roles as Paddy in sitcom The Rag Trade and the cat lady in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, passed away in St John's Hospital, London today after a battle with cancer.

Born Miriam Samuels in 1925, Karlin also featured in The Entertainer and Room at the Top, and more recently appeared in Flashbacks of a Fool and Children of Men. She was also known for her active membership of the Equity union.

Equity spokesman Martin Brown told The Stage: "She was a wonderful actress, an absolutely indefatigable campaigner and a marvellous friend. We will miss her enormously."

Karlin also starred as Golde in the original West End run of Fiddler on the Roof and played roles in episodes of Doctors, The Bill, Casualty and So Haunt Me.