Warning: This article contains discussion of assisted dying which some readers may find distressing.
Lord Michael Cashman may be better known to some as Colin Russell from EastEnders – the character who had the first same-sex mouth-to-mouth kiss on a British soap.
And in 2022, he reprised his role on the BBC show for the funeral of Dot Cotton (June Brown).
But before the actor died in real life, she apparently asked Lord Cashman to help her get an assisted death. The actor turned peer was speaking during the debate on assisted dying in the House of Lords as the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill fell this afternoon (24 April).
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Cotton, the iconic chain-smoking launderette worker, was an iconic staple of EastEnders appearing on the soap from 1985 to 1993 and again from 1997 to 2020.
She played a central role in one of the major euthanasia storylines on TV, when she helped her fellow EastEnder Ethel Skinner (Gretchen Franklin) die.
And speaking on Friday, Lord Cashman said: “I also remember my dear friend June Brown, who implored me to get her to a country where she could die with dignity and the death that she wanted.”
The 75-year-old has previously spoken in the House of Lords about having a friend who was suffering and asked him about an assisted death but did not identify them.
“When my dear friend of many, many years suffered for months, she knew there was another way and she implored me to help her, my lords, I did,” Lord Cashman had said.
“I was prepared to break the law as I contacted clinics in the Netherlands and Switzerland. However, it was to come to nothing.”
Brown died at home at the age of 95 in 2022.
During the debate earlier today, the former Labour peer (who is now non-aligned) also spoke about how he had watched his husband of 31 years die a ‘slow and agonising death’ more than a decade ago.
“I deeply regret, my Lords, that we have not passed this necessary and I believe important Bill, we have not fulfilled the humane wishes of those who seek the right to choose how they die,” Lord Cashman said.
The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill, had been making its way through Parliament for the past year and a half, but fell today as peers ran out of time to discuss it. It will not become law unless MPs pick it back up in the House of Commons and propose it again as today was the final day of this parliamentary session.
The Bill had proposed allowing adults in England and Wales, with fewer than six months to live, to apply for an assisted death subject to the approval of two doctors and an expert panel.
For advice, support, and more information, you can contact the nurse-led specialist team at Compassion in Dying via their helpline 0800 999 2434. You can also email them at [email protected].
Additionally, if you're experiencing distressing thoughts and feelings, the Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM) is there to support you. They're open from 5pm–midnight, 365 days a year. Their national number is 0800 58 58 58 and they also have a webchat service if you're not comfortable talking on the phone.
Topics: TV and Film, Celebrity, Politics
Jess Battison