Grange Hill actress Gwyneth Powell dies aged 76: tributes paid to star known for playing Mrs McClusky

Actress Gwyneth Powell, known for playing Mrs McClusky in Grange Hill, has passed away aged 76.

The Manchester-born actress is famous for her role as the headmistress in the BBC series between 1980 and 1991.

Her agent, Matthew Lacey, announced on behalf of her family that "she passed away peacefully, with her husband and niece at her bedside”.

Although not announced until yesterday, the actress died on Thursday, 8 September - the same day as Her Majesty The Queen.

Her death came "after complications following a major operation for a perforated colon".

The Grange Hill Twitter account paid their tribute to the actress after “the very sad news”, and thanked her “for the memories”.

Fellow cast mate Lee MacDonald, who played Zammo in Grange Hill, also paid tribute to the late actress on social media.

The actor, who now plays Terry in BBC’s Eastenders, wrote: “So sad to hear the loss of Gwyneth Powell AKA Mrs McClusky, what a wonderful lady and will be missed by so many, she was a massive part of my childhood, sleep well Gwyneth”.

Gwyneth landed her first television role in 1971, when she played Claire Weston in dystopian drama series The Guardian.

After this, she had a number of TV roles, including Emmerdale and Coronation Street, but her career really took off when she was cast as Bridget McClusky in Grange Hill in 1980.

The BBC children series portrayed Mrs McClusky as a tough-but-fair headmistress, who was given the nickname The Midget.

The series was about life in a comprehensive school - including bullying, learning difficulties, teacher-pupil relationships, conflicts, mental illness, child abuse, death and gun crime.

It became one of the longest running programmes on British television, when it ended in September 2008 after 31 series.

More recently, Gwyneth played Dan Davies’ mum in comedy Man Down for five-years, as well as multiple roles in BBC’s Doctors between 2003 and 2019.

Rik Mayall, who played her husband for one season, died in 2014 following a sudden heartattack after his morning jog, at aged 56.

This year, she even featured in one episode of ITV’s police series Grace.