Luke Westlake was an actor, known for Luther (2010), Dark Heart (2016) and No Offence (2015). He died on 22 June 2020 in the UK. After graduating from ArtsEd drama school, one of the UK’s top drama schools, in 2017, the 26-year-old went on to appear in the fifth series of Luther alongside Idris Elba as Lee Peck, and bagged roles in BBC dramas No Offence and Doctors. Luke tragically commited suicide by hanging on June 18, 2020 during COVID lockdown. Classmates have set up the The Luke Westlake Scholarship, rewarding a student with more than £3,000 worth of artistic and financial support for their final year of training and first years in the industry. They said: ’The scholarship was established when we realised many actors were being priced out of their career once they left training.
‘This year, we have renamed the scholarship in memory of Luke Westlake, a friend and a talented actor. A diligent, fierce, working-class actor, he represents everything the scholarship stands for.’ The BWH Agency, which represented Westlake said it was ‘with extreme sadness we honour our beautiful client Luke Westlake’, adding: ‘Luke was an exceptionally brilliant, instinctive and truly transformative actor whose passing is nothing short of a tragedy.’
