Patricia Healey Dies: British Actress And Wife Of Engelbert Humperdinck Was 85

Patricia Healey, who was married to singer Engelbert Humperdinck for 56 years and had a strong UK acting career, has died. She was 85 and died Thursday from complications related to Covid-19.

Humperdinck, 84, announced in a social media post shared Friday that his family was “heartbroken over the loss of my darling wife,” who died “surrounded by our children, Louise, Jason, Brad, with Scott on FaceTime.”

“Her earthly limitations no longer hold her down as she is freely running the glorious gardens of Heaven, reunited with so many loved ones,” Humperdinck wrote. “We prayed as a family, blessed her with the water from Lourdes and off she went … ushered into the arms of Jesus with help from the generous heart filled prayers from all around the world.”

Healey had Alzheimer’s disease for more than a decade, Humperdinck said. On Jan. 26 he revealed that he, Healey, their son Jason and two of their caregivers had tested positive for Covid-19.

“Her longtime caregivers lovingly helped make her transition easier on us all,” Humperdinck wrote, adding his wife’s “battle with Alzheimer’s was brave from the very beginning. She never resisted as we tried to leave no stone unturned.”

He concluded: “We love you beyond words, forever and always. It is slipping now into the minutes of a full day without you. Goodnight my baby.”

Healey worked steadily in the 1960s and 1970s. She appeared in the UK films The White Bus (1964) and Wuthering Heights (1968) and was in the R3 television show from 1963-64. Her last appearance was in the 1994 miniseries Middlemarch.