Miriam Margolyes opens up about her failing health: 'I’m probably going to die within the next five or six years'

Miriam Margolyes is an icon. She is funny, blunt and unpredictable. All those traits have enabled the actress to become one of the most well-loved celebrities in Britain.

Even though Margolyes is known for her bluntness, she remains quite a private person. For instance, not much is known about her personal life. Only in 2023, did she reveal that she had been with her partner, Heather Sutherland for over 50 years and that the two had chosen to never live together.

Best known for her role as Madame Sprout in two Harry Potter films, the outspoken actress and writer has opened up about her health recently.

Miriam Margolyes' heartbreaking confession about her death

Giving more information about her health, the 83-year-old revealed that she’s failing physically. Miriam was diagnosed with spinal stenosis – a condition that puts pressure on the spinal cord. Since her diagnosis, Miriam has met many people who have thanked her for ‘being willing to show how she manages her condition in the public eye.’

However, despite all the love and support, the Harry Potter actress revealed in a recent interview with The Telegraph that she’s going to die soon and she even knows when. She shared:

When you know that you haven’t got long to live – and I’m probably going to die within the next five or six years, if not before, I’m loath to leave behind performing. It’s such a joy.

Miriam said the physical constraints of old age are ‘limiting and depressing’ and added:

I yearn to play roles that don’t confine me to wheelchairs, but I’m just not strong enough.

This comes after she initially asked her TV directors and producers to edit her scenes in a way that she doesn’t seem to struggle while filming certain shows, reports Metro.co.uk. She said:

When I started kind of failing physically, I remember saying to directors and producers, please don’t show me clambering out of a car or climbing upstairs on my hands and knees.

I didn’t want people to see that because I was embarrassed to see myself looking so pathetic.

Miriam Margolyes on her heart surgery

This is not the first time Margolyes has sparked worries with her health updates.

On 18 October 2023, on a podcast episode where she was a guest, Miriam revealed that she had to undergo a very serious heart operation. On Jessie and Lennie Ware’s podcast called Table Manners, Miriam revealed that she had undergone a ‘procedure called transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR).’

In pure Miriam Margolyes fashion she said:

I've got a cow's heart now.

Indeed, a TAVR ‘replaces an aortic valve that is not working properly or is diseased with an aortic valve made from animal tissue.’

Miriam gave more details about the operation which is described as ‘minimally invasive.’ She stated:

I'd never heard of that operation. But it saves you from having open heart surgery, which would be infinitely more invasive.

And I don't know how they pull it up but they sort of pull it up with stereos. And then when it comes to the point, when it's in your heart, they pull a little string and it goes pow!

'And lo and behold, your artery or your aortic valve is shoved unceremoniously to the side.'

Miriam Margolyes’ other health scares

On her infamous Vogue cover in June 2023, she mentioned that she had a heart problem and described the health scare as ‘unexpected’ and that it forced her to confront death. She said:

When you're young, you never think about death. You just think about your next f**k basically.

I think about death a lot.

Still in 2023, she had to go to the hospital for a chest infection. On the How To Fail podcast released on 6 September, Margolyes spoke about her diagnosis of spinal stenosis.

The one thing I have not conquered and should have conquered is my weight. (...) It's such a defeat. A cream bun, a chocolate, a helping of chopped liver is more important than your health and aesthetic presentation?

Adding:

It is a major failure and because of that I've got spinal stenosis, I can't walk, I'm going to be in a wheelchair before I'm much older

According to the NHS, spinal stenosis is:

a term used to describe a narrowing of the spinal canal. The narrowing may not cause any symptoms. However, the narrowing may progress to cause squeezing (compression) of the spinal nerves.

Spinal stenosis can cause back pain and/or leg pain. Most often it occurs when you walk. Weakness of the legs may make you feel unsteady. This may affect both legs or just one leg.

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Sources Used:

Metro.co.uk: Miriam Margolyes, 83, reveals she’s ‘failing physically’ and predicts her death date

Mail Online: Miriam Margolyes, 82, confirms she's undergone major heart surgery and shares health update

Express: Miriam Margolyes diagnosed with spinal stenosis - symptoms of the condition to spot

NHS

National Heart, Lung and Blood Institut