Fritha Goodey

{{Short description|English actress (1972–2004)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Fritha Goodey | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_name = Fritha Jane Goodey | birth_date = {{Birth date|1972|10|23|df=y}} | birth_place = Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England | death_date = {{Death date and age|2004|9|7|1972|10|23|df=y}} | death_place = Notting Hill, London, England | occupation = Actress | alma_mater = London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art }}

'''Fritha Jane Goodey''' (23 October 1972 – 7 September 2004) was a British stage, radio and film actress known for her performance in the film ''About a Boy'' (2002), in which she played one of Hugh Grant's character's former girlfriends.

==Early life== Goodey was born in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, and trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

==Career== Goodey's stage work, most notably with Max Stafford-Clark's Out of Joint touring company, included Nadia in ''Some Explicit Polaroids'' (1999), Odette in ''Remembrance of Things Past'' (2000), Constance Neville in ''She Stoops to Conquer'' (2002) and Mrs. Garrick in ''A Laughing Matter''. She had recently won a coveted role in a revival staging of Terence Rattigan's ''Man and Boy''.<ref name=obit>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2004/sep/10/guardianobituaries.artsobituaries |title=Fritha Goodey: Classically Beautiful Actor on the Edge of Stardom |department=Obituary |last=Coveney |first=Michael |date=2004-09-10 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |issn=1756-3224}}</ref>

Her radio works include ''The Further Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'' episode ''The Determined Client'' and Helena Justina in the serialisation of the Falco novel ''The Silver Pigs''.

==Death== Having struggled with anorexia for years,<ref name=obit /> on 7 September 2004 Goodey took her own life in Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, by stabbing herself in the chest.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Leitch |first1=Luke |last2=Davenport |first2=Justin |title=Suicide actress 'terrified of failure' |newspaper=Evening Standard|location=London |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/suicide-actress-terrified-of-failure-6957040.html |access-date=2024-08-12 |date=2012-04-13 |issn=2041-4404}}</ref> She was 31 years old.<ref>{{cite news|last=Weaver |first=Clair |title=Actress stabbed herself |newspaper=Evening Standard|location=London |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/actress-stabbed-herself-6967767.html |access-date=2024-08-12 |date=2012-04-13 |issn=2041-4404}}

</ref> Her funeral was at the West London Crematorium, Kensal Green.

==Filmography== *''Bookcruncher'' (2002) *''About a Boy'' (2002) *''She Stoops to Conquer'' (2003)

===Television=== *''Dr Willoughby'' (1999) *''Randall and Hopkirk'' (1 episode, 2000) *''The Red Phone: Manhunt'' (2001) *''Table 12'' (1 episode, 2001) *''Sherlock'' (2002) *''The Lost Prince'' (2003) *''The Red Phone: Checkmate'' (2003) *''When I'm 64'' (2004)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Portal|Biography}} *{{IMDb name|0328883}} * [http://www.accuracyproject.org/cbe-Goodey,Fritha.html ''Internet Accuracy Project'']

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goodey, Fritha}} Category:1972 births Category:2004 deaths Category:Actors from the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Category:Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Category:Deaths from anorexia nervosa Category:English film actresses Category:English radio actresses Category:English stage actresses Category:History of mental health in the United Kingdom Category:Suicides by sharp instrument in England Category:Suicides in Kensington Category:2004 suicides Category:People from Kingston upon Thames