Mark Rylance: Oscar winner’s wife dies

Actor Mark Rylance (65) mourned his wife Claire van Kampen (1953-2025) on his 65th birthday. As the Oscar winner and her daughter Juliet (45) confirmed, she died on Saturday morning (January 18th) in Kassel. The music director died in the Hesse city at the age of 71. In her final moments she was “surrounded by her family.” Van Kampen had previously received a cancer diagnosis.

In addition to her daughter, her husband and ex-husband Christopher van Kampen, the composer leaves behind “countless beloved friends in England and America.” Mark Rylance and Juliet described her as “one of the funniest and most inspiring women we have ever known”. According to People, they also thanked her for “filling our lives with her magic, her music, her laughter and her love.”

Claire van Kampen was born on November 3, 1953 in London, where she later studied piano and music theory at the Royal College of Music. She began her theater career in 1986 when she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company. She was also the first female music director at the Royal National Theater. Most recently she worked at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, among other places. There she composed the music for a production of Hamlet in 1989. Rylance was also involved in the play.

According to People, Rylance met her at the Royal National Theater. When they married in 1989, the actor became stepfather to their daughters Nataasha (1984-2012) and Juliet. Her children come from her first marriage to the architect Christopher van Kampen. The actress lost her younger daughter Nataasha in 2012 after she suffered a brain hemorrhage at the age of 28. Rylance and van Kampen’s marriage remained childless.