Marc Pilcher, Emmy-Winning ‘Bridgerton’ Stylist, Dies of COVID at 53

Marc Pilcher, an Oscar-nominated hair and makeup designer who most recently worked on Netflix’s hit Bridgerton, has died of COVID. His agency, Curtis Brown, confirmed the news to Variety today, saying that Pilcher passed away on Sunday (Oct. 3). He was 53.

The news comes just three weeks after Pilcher, who was double vaccinated with no underlying health conditions, won a Creative Emmy award for his work on Bridgerton. While he was in transit to receive the Emmy in Los Angeles, the U.K.-based stylist took multiple COVID tests, receiving negative results while traveling across the Atlantic. But after his return, Pilcher fell ill.

“It is with the deepest of hearts we confirm that Marc Elliot Pilcher, Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winning hair and makeup designer/stylist, passed away after a battle with COVID-19 on Sunday 3rd October 2021,” his family and friends told Variety in a statement.

Pilcher was known for his work across an array of West End TV programs and films. Along with his win for Bridgerton, Pilcher has also received nominations for his work on recent films like Beauty and the Beast and Downton Abbey.

In 2019, Pilcher was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling on Mary Queen of Scots. The 2018 biopic stars Saoirse Ronan and Margot Robbie as Mary Stuart and Queen Elizabeth I, respectively.

“Marc entered the industry via the theater, working on shows such as ‘Company,’ ‘Sunset Boulevard’ and ‘Aspects of Love.’ As for many, it was his training ground and for 15 years he worked in London’s West End and around the U.K. on major stage plays and musicals.”

In over two decades of working in the industry, Pilcher has worked with stars like Dame Judi Dench, Dame Maggie Smith, Shirley MacLaine, Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Michael Gambon, Madonna, Helena Bonham Carter, Emily Blunt, Michelle Williams, Kristen Scott Thomas, Sir Ian McKellen, and more.

Folks from the Bridgerton family took to social media to remember the designer. “So heartbroken by the loss of Marc Pilcher, the brilliant and visionary hair and makeup designer for ‘Bridgerton’ Season One,” Nicola Coughlan, who played Penelope Featherington on the show, wrote on Instagram. “Marc was so passionate about his work and so tremendously talented. Not even a month ago he won his first Emmy award. It’s a tragedy that he’s been taken so young when he had so much yet to do. Please also use this as a reminder that COVID is still a very real and present danger, please get vaccinated and mask up to protect yourself and others.”

Phoebe Dynevor, who starred as lead Daphne Bridgerton on the show, reshared Coughlan’s Instagram post, adding “At a loss for words.”