Cancer claims Lynda at 47

Australian comedian Lynda Gibson has died after a four-year battle with ovarian cancer.

The 47-year-old was little-known in Britain, but was a stalwart of the Melbourne Comedy Festival.

The 2003 show she performed with Judith Lucy and Denise Scottt, Comedy Is Still Not Pretty, won The Age Critics' Award at last year's festival.

At the time, she said: "They just gave it to us 'cos I've got terminal cancer."

She performed a one-woman show about her cancer in 2001, and appeared at the Edinburgh festival as part of the cabaret troupe The Natural Normans.

Gibson also played the part of Matron Connivingbitch in TV series Let The Blood Run Free, which was aired in Britain, with guest roles in a number of other Australian shows.

She leaves a partner of 28 years, composer Alan Mullins.

Published: 4 Jan 2004