An Appreciation: Katrin Cartledge

‘We have lost a great actor’

[September, 2002 The Guardian]
Katrin Cartlidge

“But the depth, scope, range and sheer electricity of Katrin’s acting was phenomenal. Had she continued, she would most certainly have become, over the next 40 years or so, one of the true greats. Her tastes and sensibilities were both classical and yet alert to the contemporary pulse. And her acting was always informed by her compassion, her courage, her humility, her gravity, her humour, her sexuality, her sense of justice, her acute observation, and her deep-seated suspicion of all forms of woolly thinking and received ideas….”

“I still find it impossible to believe she is gone, that I will never again meet her for lunch and have that special free-flowing Katrin conversation, at once profound and hilarious. But the hardest thing of all is to face the unbearable truth that Katrin Cartlidge will never again make her magical contribution to my films. This devastating fact leaves me very sad indeed. It is a terrible loss.” – Mike Leigh
Source https://www.theguardian.com/film/2002/sep/13/artsfeatures.gender