Miriam Karlin OBE

Actor, and distinguised supporter of Humanism, born 1925

Miriam Karlin described herself to the BHA as “a born again atheist” and a “fundamentalist atheist” and says, “The only certainty about life is that it ends in death.”

In July 2006, she wrote the following letter to The Independent:

As a Jew (now a humanist) who lost close relatives in the Holocaust and one who was banned by all Arab states in 1967 because of my known sympathy and work for Israel, Linda Grant's excellent article (18 July) has encouraged me to speak out.

Has Israel learnt nothing from the abortive Bush/Blair "war on terror"? We all know there would be massive recruitment to al-Qa'ida inspired by that obscene exercise. Now, with the totally disproportionate Israeli bombardment of Lebanon, there will be countless Lebanese, hitherto unsympathetic to Hizbollah, who will be queuing to join them.

What will have been achieved by this terrifying cycle of killing? Simply more and more generations growing up with hatred in their hearts.

She is also a patron of Dignity in Dying, and has written:

I fully support the campaign to ensure that all people have, what they consider to be, a good death... sadly for some people palliative care is not enough, and for those few the option of an assisted death at the end of their lives would provide the choice and control we all deserve.

For her “filmography” see http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0439507/