Actor Alex Giannini dies unexpectedly

Actor Alex Giannini has passed away suddenly at the age of 52.

Giannini was performing in the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Mack and Mabel which stars Michael Ball and Rebecca LaChance. He died ahead of Friday's performance at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth, causing the show to be cancelled.

His agent tweeted that Giannini died unexpectedly of natural causes and there has been an outpouring of tributes to him on Twitter.

The Mack and Mabel company tweeted today: 'It is with deepest regret that we can confirm that Alex Giannini, a much loved member of our company, passed away yesterday, Fri 2 Oct.

'All our thoughts and prayers are with Alex's wife and family at this dreadfully sad time.'

Giannini recently appeared in the new film starring Tom Hardy about the Kray twins, Legend. He has also appeared in Dalziel and Pascoe and 2007 film Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

The run of Mack and Mabel continued this evening.