ladbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Denise Nickerson: Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory Actor Dies Aged 62

Denise Nickerson: Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory Actor Dies Aged 62

She starred as Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

Denise Nickerson, who starred in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory has died aged 62.

Nickerson died in hospital in Colorado on Wednesday at 10.30pm (local time), with her family at her bedside, according to reports.

A GoFundMe page set up by her family revealed that Nickerson had a 'severe stroke' in June 2018. She had been being looked after by her son and daughter-in-law.

The family were seeking donations to help cover the cost of the specialist care Nickleson needed following the stroke.

On the GoFundMe page Joshua wrote: "But we need help. We cannot afford to pay for death expenses. Although she had the fame and notoriety, there is no inheritance. No life insurance. No end of life nest egg. Just our income which isn't even enough."

He went on to say that Nickleson wished to be 'cremated and her ashes made into a piece of glass art'.

She starred as Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Paramount Pictures

She had reportedly been rushed to hospital earlier this week where she was diagnosed with pneumonia.

Sharing updates on the GoFundMe page, son Joshua and daughter-in-law Jasmine wrote yesterday: "At 3am we decided because the machines and medicines are not helping her but only making her more uncomfortable, that it's okay to stop administering these things to her. We are heartbroken and reliving a grief we've lived every single day since she had the stroke over a year ago."

Today, in a poignant post on Facebook, the family wrote simply: "She's gone."

Nickerson played Violet Beauregarde in the 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory alongside Gene Wilder.

She was just 13 when she appeared in the cult-film as Violet who famously turned blue and spherical after eating some bubble gum that Willy Wonka (Wilder) told her not to.

Nickerson went on to star in The Brady Bunch, Dark Shadows and The Electric Company, before quitting acting and becoming a nurse.

After her death was announced, the post was flooded with comments from people offering their condolences and sympathy to the family; while fellow Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory star Julie Dawn Cole, who played Veruca Salt tweeted to say she was 'very sorry' about her 'dear friends' passing.

Featured Image Credit: GoFundMe