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Director, composer and playwright Claire van Kampen, the wife of actor Sir Mark Rylance, has died aged 71 after being diagnosed with cancer.
Van Kampen died Saturday (January 18), which also marked her husband’s 65th birthday, in the German town of Kassel surrounded by her family, a statement shared on behalf of Rylance and her daughter Juliet said.
Originally trained as a concert pianist, van Kampen worked in various roles at Shakespeare’s Globe for around 20 years.
Her family described her as “one of the funniest and [most] inspiring women we have ever known.”
They added: “We thank her for imbuing our lives with her magic, music, laughter, and love.
“Ring the bell, sound the trumpets reverie, something is done, something is beginning. One of the great wise ones has passed.”
Her theater credits include composing the music for the 1989 Royal Shakespeare Company production of Hamlet starring Rylance, whom she married that same year.
Later in her career, she created original scores for Broadway productions of 2000’s True West, 2008’s Boeing-Boeing and 2010 comedy La Bete, as well as adaptations of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night and Richard III.
Van Kampen also wrote the play Farinelli And The King, which saw Sir Mark star as King Philippe V of Spain and was nominated for several Olivier Awards including best new play, and a number of Tony Awards.
After training at the Royal College of Music in London, she went on to have a career as a composer and performer, writing and playing for theatre, radio, television and film soundtracks and the concert hall.
In 1986, she began her theater career with the Royal Shakespeare Company and with the Royal National Theatre the following year.
She served as artistic associate at Shakespeare’s Globe from 1996 to 2006 when Sir Mark was the artistic director.
Van Kampen later acted as a musical consultant and resident composer to the subsequent artistic director Dominic Dromgoole from 2007 to 2015.
She was also a creative associate of the prestigious Old Vic theatre in London.
Van Kampen was previously married to architect Christopher van Kampen, with whom she had two daughters, Juliet and Nataasha.
Her youngest daughter Nataasha, a filmmaker, died aged 28 in 2012 after suffering a brain haemorrhage.
Rylance is an acclaimed stage and screen star who won the Bafta TV Award for best actor for his in 2005 drama The Government Inspector and for playing Thomas Cromwell in the 2015 BBC Two mini-series Wolf Hall.
In the world of film, he picked up a best supporting actor Bafta and Oscar for his role in the 2015 historical drama Bridge Of Spies.
Rylance, who has also garnered Olivier and Tony awards for his theatre work, was knighted for services to theatre in the 2017 New Year Honours list.
Additional reporting from the Press Association
