Emmerdale’s Amy Walsh, beloved by viewers as Tracy Shankley, took to her Instagram this week to mourn the loss of, and pay tribute to her friend, fellow actor Frazer Hammill.
Amy shared a picture of Frazer to her story and captioned it: ‘Rest in peace you wonderful man’.
The John Godber Theatre Company had previously broken to news on their own Instagram feed, sharing an image of Frazer on stage.
They captioned the post: ‘We are deeply saddened to announce the passing of Frazer Hammill.
‘It is impossible to put into words how much he will be missed by all of us who had the absolute joy of working with him. Frazer had a huge loving heart and enormous talent. We are all heartbroken.’
Amy commented on the post, leaving three broken heart emojis followed by: ‘there are no words.’
@jan.townend spoke highly of the actor in her comment: ‘Frazer was a dear friend and past member of our Youth theatre. Such a kind caring soul with immense talent. Last time I saw him he was offering me a lift home from hospital and discussing his future. So much grief. Love Jan’, while @trogram added: ‘A gentle spirit and a huge heart. Love to all’.
@castindoncaster commented: ‘What brilliant person and performer he was! We’re all deeply saddened to hear this!’, while @bethaniegoodlad followed with: ‘I’m so sorry! He taught me at school and was always such an inspiration to me becoming an actor myself, thinking of all his loved ones’.
The post continues to be flooded with comments from people sharing their memories of Frazer, who had previously built an incredibly impressive acting CV.
Frazer played Kev in Abraham’s Point, the titular role in the the Heart of Thomas Hardy, Luke in Shed Convention, Peter in Molehills, a Detective Constable in Happy Valley, Jonathan O’Malley in Last Laugh, with his final on-screen roles coming in the big, box-office Justice League film and appearing as a prison guard in Emmerdale, alongside Amy.
Tracy in Emmerdale
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Tracy arrived in 2014, after having met Sam Dingle (James Hooton) on an adult chat line, though her true motives were revealed when she conned him out of money and fled.
Sam later discovered her living in a barn, stealing money and vodka, and he takes her to the Grange. Val Pollard (Charlie Hardwick) offered her lodgings in exchange for work and took a shine to her, with Tracy reminding her of her own foster daughter, Amy Wyatt (then-Chelsea Halfpenny).
After her past as a performer in adult movies is revealed, Tracy became involved with David Metcalfe (Matthew Wolfenden), later discovering that her roommate, Vanessa Woodfield (Michelle Hardwick), is her half-sister after David brought her dad, Frank Clayton (Michael Praed) to the village.
Her past as a prostitute was later revealed when a former client re-emerged and began to blackmail and harass her. Though he was subsequently jailed, the drama led to the end of her marriage to David after he cheated on her.
Tracy later lost her dad, Frank, in a fire, and got involved in a cover up regarding paedophile Maya Stepney’s (Louisa Clein), though she was later revealed to be alive.
She later got into a relationship with Nate Robinson (Jurell Carter), though their relationship was marred with affairs, first by Nate, and second by Tracy, who got deeply involved with Nate’s uncle, Caleb Miligan (William Ash).
After they reunited, a case of crossed wires put Nate in the crosshairs of sociopathic John Sugden (Oliver Farnworth), who accidentally killed him while trying to engineer a situation to ‘save his life’, his modus operandi.
