Sir Mark Rylance mourns grave loss

Sir Mark Rylance's wife, Claire van Kampen passed away.

As per Variety, the BFG star’s beloved partner died at the age of 71, in Kassel, Germany, heartbreakingly on the actor’s 65th birthday.

She lost her battle to cancer and was “surrounded by family’ when she breathed her last, with her daughter, Juliet, whom she had with former partner, Christopher van Kampen, called the now-deceased theatre icon as "one of the funniest and (most) inspiring women we have ever known."

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

"Ring the bell, sound the trumpets reverie, something is done, something is beginning. One of the great wise ones has passed," the statement concluded.

Claire joined the Royal National Theatre in 1987 and became artistic associate to her actor husband, whom she married in 1989, at Shakespeare's Globe theatre from 1996 to 2006.

Even after he left theatre, Claire stayed back as a musical consultant and resident composer to his successor, Dominic Dromgoole, from 2007 to 2015.

Prominently, Claire van Kampen has composed music for the RSC's production of Hamlet, in which the Ready Player One actor also made an appearance in.

She also crafted original scores for a number of Broadway productions, that included True West, Boeing-Boeing and La Bete.