Theatre News

John Sessions has died aged 67

The actor was known for his variety of comedy roles

John Sessions
John Sessions
© Dan Wooller for WhatsOnStage

Actor and comedian John Sessions has died aged 67.

Sessions, a TV comedy legend, has appeared on the likes of Have I Got News For You? and QI. He is said to have suffered a heart attack at his south London home yesterday.

Born in 1953, the actor studied alongside Kenneth Branagh at RADA before working on cult comedy shows such as Spitting Image and Stella Street. His one-man stage show Napoleon ran in the West End for a number of years in the 1980s, while his TV show John Sessions was filmed at the Donmar Warehouse in 1989.

More recently, he starred opposite Iain Glen and Tamsin Greig in Longing at the Hampstead Theatre in 2013, and before that had played the role of Daniel in My Night With Reg both at the Royal Court and in the West End, as well as taking on the titular role in Peter Hall's Tartuffe.

Other venues Sessions has performed at include Chichester Festival Theatre, the Lyric Hammersmith, the Almeida, the Bush Theatre, Liverpool Everyman and the Royal Exchange.

He also appeared in a variety of Kenneth Branagh's Shakespeare films, including Henry V.

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