British actress Joanna Bacon, best known for her small but pivotal role in the hit film Love Actually and in TV series including The Bill, has died. She was 72.

Her death was announced in a statement by England’s Harlow Theatre Company more than a month after her death on June 14 following a “short and brave battle with cancer”.

Bacon was best known for playing the mother of Martine McCutcheon’s character Natalie – who has caught the eye of the British Prime Minister (Hugh Grant) – in the 2003 film Love, Actually.

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She was part of a short but pivotal scene in the movie when Grant comes to the front door on Christmas Eve looking for Natalie, who is about to leave for her brother’s musical performance.

“It’s the school Christmas concert, you see, David. It’s the first time all the local schools have joined together, even St Basil’s,” she says, before Natalie cuts her off.

Her character then explains her son’s octopus costume took her months to make.

“Eight is a lot of legs, David,” she said.

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Bacon enjoyed a more than 30-year career on screen. Her first credited role was in a 1991 episode of the comedy TV series Perfect Scoundrels. 

She guest starred in more than a dozen TV shows in the 90s including EastEnders.

After her role as ‘Natalie’s mum’ in Love Actually, she appeared in Little Britain and filmed 10 episodes of long-running police drama The Bill, then won roles in more than 20 movies and TV shows, including the 2016 film A Quiet Passion with Sex and the City star Cynthia Nixon as poet Emily Dickinson.

Most recently, she appeared in six episodes of the 2024 TV series Moonflower Murders, and prior to that filmed 30 episodes of the dark comedy Breeders.

In announcing her death, Harlow Theatre Company said, “It is with much sadness that we inform our HTC members past and present of the passing of Jo Bacon on June 14 following a short and brave battle against cancer.

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The statement said she had been part of the Essex-based institution since its inception in 1978, and had appeared in many iconic roles, including Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Maddie in Dirty Linen and Beverly in Abigail’s Party, along with reviews, musicals and pantomimes, all at the Harlow Playhouse.

“After training as an actor, she left her job at a publishing house ”to venture into the world of professional acting with considerable success”, first in the theatre, which she continued to go back to, even appearing on stage in London’s National Theatre, the statement said.

“An early film appearance was as Natalie’s mum in Love Actually. She popped up on our televisions many times in various drama series.

“She continued to support HTC, attending many of our productions. She would settle herself in the front row with a notebook and watch with a critical eye, and her passion for theatre. She never forgot to praise our work.

“Jo will be sadly missed and fondly remembered.”

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