Director Claire van Kampen dies at age 71 on husband's birthday

A showbusiness notable has died on her husband’s birthday.

Claire van Kampen, a famous theater director and the wife of actor Mark Rylance, has died on Rylance’s birthday.

Van Kampen was 71 years old at the time of her passing after losing her battle with cancer.

According to reports, she was “surrounded by family” in Kassel, Germany when she died.

It was Rylance’s 65th birthday.

“Claire Louise van Kampen, Lady Rylance, has died this morning, Saturday the 18th of January at 11:47, in the ancient town of Kassel, Germany, surrounded by her family,” her family announced.

The family did not stop there.

“Claire has died of cancer on Mark Rylance’s 65th Birthday. Her youngest daughter having died in 2012, she leaves her eldest daughter, Juliet Rylance, her two husbands, and countless beloved friends in England and America,” they shared.

Her family went on to call van Kampen “one of the funniest and inspiring women we have ever known.”

“We thank her for imbuing our lives with her magic, music, laughter, and love,” they concluded.

Rylance married van Kampen back in 1989 and immediately became a father figure to van Kampen’s two daughters.

Back in a 2023 interview with The Guardian, Rylance called his late wife “the rock of my life.”

“Claire completely changed my life ... She introduced me to that world of classical and modern music, and it was very much around music that we fell in love,” he said in the interview.

“Claire came to me with two children whom I raised with her and Chris, but we never had children of our own so, to some degree, our projects have been our children. They are incredible,” he continued.

We commend van Kampen for the remarkable life she lived and pray for her husband, along with any friends, family, or other loved ones grieving her tragic passing.