Who was Claire van Kampen? All about Mark Rylance's wife as she passes away at 71 on his birthday

Claire van Kampen, the wife of actor Sir Mark Rylance, passed away at the age of 71 on Saturday, January 18, 2025. The news was confirmed by her family in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter, which noted that she died "surrounded by her family" in Kassel, Germany, following a battle with cancer.

Saturday also marked her husband's 65th birthday. The statement read:

"We thank her for imbuing our lives with her magic, music, laughter and love. Ring the bell, sound the trumpets reverie, something is done, something is beginning. One of the great wise ones has passed."

Claire van Kampen and Mark Rylance at the 69th Annual Cannes Film Festival (Image via Getty)

Van Kampen was a celebrated theatre director, playwright, and composer from London, England, with a career spanning nearly five decades. The statement described her as one of the funniest and most inspiring women, adding:

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

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Claire van Kampen was the first female musical director at both the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal National Theatre

Claire van Kampen, born on November 3, 1953, in London, England, developed an interest in music at a young age. She studied music theory and piano with a specialization in the performance of 20th-century music at the Royal College of Music in London.

Clair began her career with the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1986 and joined the Royal National Theatre in 1987. This made her the first female to be a musical director with both companies.

As per her profile on Shakespeare's Globe Theatre's website, she served with the former company for two decades as an artistic associate to Sir Mark Rylance (her husband) and later to his successor, Dominic Dromgoole, until 2015. Some of her works include composing music for productions of Hamlet, Days and Nights, and Boeing-Boeing.

Since the opening of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in 1997, she has served as its Director of Theatre Music. She created music for thirty of the company's productions (both period and contemporary), including Macbeth and The Golden A**.

Claire van Kampen also worked on Broadway productions, with True West being her first (provided original score). Other credits include La Bete, Boeing-Boeing, Twelfth Night, and Richard III.

As per her profile on Globe's website, Claire wrote the play Farinelli and the King, which was nominated for six Olivier Awards and five Tony Awards, including Best Play. Her directorial debut was an adaptation of Othello, starring André Holland in the title role and Sir Mark Rylance as Iago.

As reported by People magazine, Claire van Kampen married Rylance in 1989, with him becoming a stepfather to her daughters Juliet and Nataasha from her ex-husband Christopher van Kampen (an architect). Her youngest daughter, Nataasha, died in 2012 following a brain hemorrhage.

More recently. Clair worked as a Tudor music advisor and arranger for the BBC TV show Wolf Hall. In 2024, she composed music for the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Pericles.

According to her profile on Globe's website, van Kampen received the Vero Nihil Verius Award for Distinguished Achievement in the Arts from Concordia University in Oregon, U.S.A., and the 2007 Sam Wanamaker Award for her founding work during the opening ten years at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre. Claire van Kampen also received an honorary doctorate of music from Brunel University in 2019.

Claire van Kampen is survived by her husband Mark Rylance, her eldest daughter Juliet, and "countless beloved friends in England and America."