Ackland pays tribute to 'plucky' wife

Lethal Weapon 2 actor Joss Ackland paid tribute to his wife after his ‘‘plucky little lady’’ died today at the age of 73.

Rosemary Ackland fought a long battle against motor neurone disease, her husband of 51 years said.

Mrs Ackland had overcome a series of misfortunes, including her disablement in a house fire and the death of one of their seven children.

Born Rosemary Kirkcaldy, she was brought up in Africa and after a stint riding an elephant in a circus she became an actor.

The couple met at a drama festival in the 1950s and struggled to carve out a career in acting while looking after their young family.

But in 1963 she was badly hurt after jumping from an upstairs window while trying to save her children in a house fire.

Ackland, who also starred in the film White Mischief, said: ‘‘It was she alone, and badly burned, who managed to run up the stairs through the flames to rescue the children.

‘‘She flung them down to neighbours but by the time she jumped there was too much smoke to see her and she plunged 25ft to the ground and broke her back.’’

While being treated in hospital afterwards, she refused to take painkillers because she was pregnant with the couple’s fifth child.

Mrs Ackland was paralysed from the waist down, but after 18 months in Stoke Mandeville Hospital she managed to walk again with callipers during a holiday to Venice.

‘‘It was not long before the callipers were discarded and she was back at the helm, a dedicated other and legendary hostess,’’ Mr Ackland said.

However she later needed to have a plate inserted for a broken femur when she was knocked down by a car in Paris.

She subsequently suffered a massive haemorrhage when the plate broke through the skin when she fell during a trip to Slovakia, and had to be flown back to England for a life-saving operation.

She also proved her mental strength after her eldest son died of a drug overdose by getting together drug awareness groups all over the country.

Two years ago Mrs Ackland was found to have motor neurone disease and her condition steadily deteriorated.

Last year the couple celebrated their golden wedding anniversary.

Ackland said: ‘‘Finally, no longer able to speak, move, feed or see properly she gently threw in the towel.

‘‘Someone recently called her a plucky lady. Plucky is a word you rarely hear nowadays - women were plucky, men were courageous.

‘‘Plucky! I have never met a man with the courage this lady has shown. It has been my great pride and privilege to be her husband.’’

Mrs Ackland is survived by her husband and six of her children, while her 30th grandchild and second great-grandchild are expected shortly.