Anna Scher dies: Natalie Cassidy and Adam Deacon pay tribute

Anna Scher who was made an MBE in 2013, championed young, working-class actors

EastEnders' Natalie Cassidy is among stars paying tribute to drama school founder Anna Scher, who has died at 78, having taught names including Daniel Kaluuya, Kathy Burke and Gary Kemp.

Scher was widely known for championing young, working-class actors, and founded her school in London in 1968.

"She was amazing, I wouldn't be where I am now if it wasn't for Anna," Cassidy told BBC Radio 4's Woman's Hour.

Pauline Quirke, Linda Robson and Patsy Palmer also attended Scher's school.

It has also seen the likes of Naomie Harris, Adam Deacon and Joe Swash go through its doors.

Natalie Cassidy: "I learned more from Anna than any school teacher that I ever had"

Talent agency Nic Night Management confirmed Scher's death, calling her "the best and kindest drama teacher in the UK for the last 50 years", adding she was "joining her husband, Charles, in a better place to rest".

"She will be missed but never forgotten."

Cassidy, who was taught by Scher and has roles including Sonia Fowler in BBC One soap EastEnders, called it a "sad day".

"I feel very, very proud to have been one of Anna's people," she said. "I started at the theatre. I went along with my best friend when I was nine, you wandered up the road. You paid £1.50 and got two hours of the best teaching you could ever have.

Scher is pictured outside her school with pupils in 1977

"And Anna's was not just about the drama side of it. I learned more from Anna than any school teacher that I ever had.

"I learned about diversity, equality. I learned about words. I found my love for poetry, there was improvisation. It was about respect, and it was about being individual."

Cassidy added that one of her favourite memories was "a wonderful saying Anna used to say to us, which was. 'Keep your eye on the ball - I am the ball'."

A host of stars said Scher had changed the course of their lives, and how much they valued her teaching and guidance.

Actor and director Burke, whose films include Tinker Tailor Solder Spy and Elizabeth, tweeted: "We thank you and love you."

Kaluuya, who won an Oscar for Judas and the Black Messiah in 2021 and whose films include Black Panther and Get Out , paid tribute to Scher in his Bafta Rising Star award speech in 2018 speech. The Guardian reported at the time that "her mention was greeted with a whoop and a round of applause".

Former EastEnders actor Jake Wood also said how proud he was to have had his start in drama with her.

"To this amazing irrepressible shining light Anna Scher, thank you will never be enough. I will always be proud to have been one of 'Annas'. So so lucky to have met you," he said.

'A kind of therapy'

Spandau Ballet musician and actor Gary Kemp said Scher's theatre "changed my life".

"She gave so many local Islington kids an opportunity not just to act in TV, film and theatre, but to discover what was great about themselves.

"Her method was praise framed by good ethics, professionalism and punctuality. Children bereft of compliments and self-belief were changed, lifted by her belief in the poetry of the arts and the power of goodwill.

"Her improvisational classes not only taught us to be quick on our feet creatively but were a kind of therapy for all of us.

"What did I do with the money I initially made from child acting? I bought my first electric guitar and amp of course! Thank you Anna. You're forever in my heart."

His brother, fellow Spandau Ballet member, former EastEnders star and Gogglebox regular Martin Kemp, added: "Thank you so much for showing me how much fun we could get out of life."

Actress and anti-knife crime campaigner Brooke Kinsella said: "No one believed in us working class children more. She changed the course of so many lives.

"More scared of her than my mum and dad combined, I owe everything to her. What a remarkable woman."

'Real hardcore training'

Kidulthood and Adulthood star and rapper Adam Deacon added: "She helped me and so many other working class kids coming from a bad start to not only get a chance to have a shot in the acting industry and change our lives, but also grounded us and gave us the skills and the tools we needed to get by in life.

"Thank you for everything Anna. For all the wisdom and resilience you installed in us. You always had the warmest heart and the strongest of morals.

"You were never judgmental and would always go out of your way to help anyone. You're a legend and will always be remembered."

Palmer, who played Bianca Jackson in EastEnders, said Scher's death was "a big one for me".

In a long post on Instagram, she called her teacher "extraordinary", saying: "Most of us kids would've never had the opportunity to be actors or writers or had a career in entertainment. She gave us that, but with real hardcore training in so many thing, it wasn't just the acting, it was the discipline, the patience, the dealing with rejection.

Anna Scher, pictured with Kathy Burke, won at The Sky Women In Film & Television Awards in 2011

"She had no place for racism or homophobia and if the kids expressed any of this you were out, no chances and believe me after waiting two years on a waiting list it taught even the naughtiest kids (there were plenty until they got there).

"Her approach was gentle but firm, kind but quirky."

Scher was born in Cork, Ireland and moved to London as a teenager with her family. She trained as an English and drama teacher and founded a lunchtime drama club at the school where she worked in Islington.

She told Islington Faces in 2016 that two of the children who tuned up were Quirke and Robson, who went on to star in BBC comedy series Birds of a Feather.

Scher was inspired to found her theatre school, and by 1975 she had 1,000 pupils and 5,000 on the waiting list.

Its other alumni include Phil Daniels, Dexter Fletcher, James Alexandrou, Gillian Taylforth, Reggie Yates, Susan Tully and Dizzie Rascal.