Josephine Crawford Melville (12 April 1961 – 20 October 2022) was a British actress, director and writer who was best known for starring in the television soap opera EastEnders.

Melville was born in West Ham, Essex on 12 April 1961.^[1] After first appearing on television in 1983 in Luna,^[2] Essex-born Melville^{[3][4][5][6][7]} portrayed Tessa Parker in eight episodes of EastEnders in 1986, and Ellie Wright in one episode in 2005.^[6] She also had roles on television in The Bill, Prime Suspect, Casualty^[6] and Pie in the Sky, among others,^[2] and in early 2022 she appeared in the music video for Ella Henderson's "Brave".^[4][5][7]

In feature films, she had roles in Empire State in 1987 and in the forthcoming Slammer.^[2] In 2021 she produced and directed Assistance, a short thriller.^[6]

In 2021, Melville held workshops across Essex as part of the Know Your Roots project on preserving the stories of black women's hair.^[6][8] In Southend-on-Sea, where she lived, she founded the South Essex African Caribbean Association^[7] and organised the East Beach Festival.^[3][9]

On 20 October 2022, Melville collapsed backstage after performing in a production of Natasha Gordon's play Nine Night at the Nottingham Playhouse. She was treated by paramedics but died at the scene.^{[10][3][4][5][6][7][2][11]}

• Josephine Melville at IMDb
• Melville; Josephine; Jo at Black Plays Archive