Morton: 'I suffered a stroke'

Updated 07.33 Mon Mar 10 2008

Keywords: actress, stroke, Morton, Samantha

British actress Samantha Morton has revealed she suffered a stroke that kept her out of the limelight for 18 months.

The Minority Report star said she managed to keep her illness a secret with the help of friends and family.

The actress, who had to learn to walk again after the stroke, made a full recovery and gave birth to her second daughter, Edie, in January

The Nottingham-born star, who had to learn to walk again after the stroke, made a full recovery and gave birth to her second daughter, Edie, in January.

She told a newspaper that she suffered the stroke a few days after receiving head injuries when part of the ceiling in her home fell down on her in 2006.

At the time, it was revealed Morton had pulled out of a film called Transsiberian because of the ceiling accident. But the stroke and her battle to recover was kept private.

Morton said she was helped back to health by Spiritualized singer Jason Pierce - who had just got over pneumonia - and his girlfriend Juliette Larche.

"Their friendship knows no bounds," she said. "He was the only person I knew who understood what that was like, being near to death."

Morton has since appeared on cinema screens in Elizabeth: The Golden Age and as the wife of singer Ian Curtis in Control.