A LEADING Felixstowe thespian who played an active role in the town's theatre productions has died, aged 87.For forty years Marjorie Abraham was a familiar face at the Spa Pavilion theatre.

A LEADING Felixstowe thespian who played an active role in the town's theatre productions has died, aged 87.

For forty years Marjorie Abraham was a familiar face at the Spa Pavilion theatre.

A member of the Felixstowe Amateur Dramatic and Operatic Society and the Felixstowe Musical Theatre, she took leading roles in shows such as Hello Dolly, The Pyjama Game and Oklahoma. She also regularly played the piano for the Christmas pantomime.

Mrs Abraham grew up in North London between the two world wars, which prevented her from following a career on the stage, but she became actively involved with local theatre.

She sang in the Muswell Hill Operatic Society and later joined the Royal Choral Society with who she sang and performed at the Albert Hall.

Mrs Abraham's granddaughter Amy Douthett, 30, said: "There are some people for whom the world truly is a stage, and my grandmother was one of them.

"Music, drama, and dance were such a natural part of her life. It was many years before I realised that not all children were blessed with a grandmother with a large collection of stage make up and wigs, knew the words to every show tune and had starred in nearly every classic musical of the 20th century."

In 1939 Mrs Abraham married her first husband Robert, and moved to Glemsford in Suffolk where she launched herself into village life, joining the amateur dramatics group, singing tenor in the choir, and giving ballroom dancing lessons to local farm labourers.

She moved to Looe Road, Felixstowe, in 1954 with her four daughters, Gill, Valerie, Heather and Sally, and, in 1959, married Marcel Abraham.

Apart from theatre, one of her greatest passions was swimming and she could regularly be found taking a dip in the North Sea, anytime from early April through to November.

She was also a familiar face to visitors to Dr Davenport's surgery where she worked as a receptionist for over 25 years.

Mrs Abraham, who has nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild, left Felixstowe in March to live in a residential home, near her daughters, in London. She died on July 28.

Ms Douthett said: "We will miss her, but we'll treasure the memory of her full and active life."