'Four Weddings' star found dead

LONDON, England -- One of the stars of the hit British comedy film "Four Weddings and a Funeral" has died aged 33 after apparently suffering a massive asthma attack.

Charlotte Coleman was found dead in her flat in Holloway, north London, on Wednesday by her actress mother Ann Beach.

The BAFTA-nominated actress had always suffered from asthma, and had two or three inhalers, but had never experienced a major attack, her father and retired producer Francis Coleman said.

The actress appeared in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" as Scarlett -- Hugh Grant's chaotic and eccentric flatmate -- which became a major international hit.

She won a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts award) nomination for her role in the film, in which she starred alongside Kristen Scott Thomas, Andie MacDowell and John Hannah.

She was taken to Whittington Hospital in north London, but was pronounced dead on arrival, her father said in a statement.

Her parents had last seen their oldest daughter when she had called at their London home to watch a video.

Her father said: "She had been on great form and in good spirits. When she left she said she was feeling a little ill and I told her to stay with us but she wanted to go home.

"The family is devastated. We loved her and she was a rare creature who the camera loved. It has all come as a terrible shock to us all but the family is pulling together."

Her actress sister, Lisa Coleman, told the UK's Daily Mail newspaper: "She was in an upstairs room and her asthma inhaler was found downstairs.

"Apparently it was very clear that she had suffered from extremely inflamed lungs."

Coleman first gained prominence at the age of 11, when she won a role in the British children's programme "Worzel Gummidge."

She later played a lesbian teenager in a 1990 BBC adaptation of the novel "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit."

She once said: "I'm always the kooky girl. I don't think I have ever played someone my age, straight, together, who wears normal clothes and does not turn out to be a murderer."

Geoffrey Perkins, head of BBC comedy, said: "Charlotte was a charming and wonderfully eccentric person. She bought these qualities and more to the roles she played. She will be sadly missed."