70s rock legend with Christmas No 1 hit critically ill in hospital with brain damage after suffering cardiac arrest
The 81-year-old, who had a 1970 Xmas No1 hit with I Hear You Knocking, is said to have died before being revived.
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His wife of 40 years, Cici, said: 'He died in my arms while I desperately tried to keep him alive.'
She said a nurse performed 'heavy CPR' on him at their home in Rockfield, Monmouthshire.
Cici said the nurse was "pumping away really hard performing heavy CPR" but told her 'Cici I'm gonna stop. Dave is gone. He is dead."
Cici said she "refused to give up" Edmunds was taken to hospital where doctors intubated him.
She said: "I'm still in shock and I believe I have PTSD from the horrific experience.
"My brilliant talented funny and special Dave could really use as many peoples prayers and good wishes so to speak.
The Cardiff-born rocker is now in hospital with brain damage and severe memory loss.
He formed Love Sculpture before going solo and has worked with stars including Sir Paul McCartney and Nick Lowe.
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' Like House of the Dragon, his latest series, Mudtown, is — to Cullen's delight — one of many projects now filming in Wales. He plays Pete Burton, a saturnine Newport gangster whose scramble to recoup money lost in a warehouse fire brings him into conflict with a local magistrate (Erin Richards, a long-time friend who introduced Cullen and Sudol). 'Mudtown is about what happens to someone depending on their socioeconomic background and the way the world treats them,' Cullen says. 'Pete's a smart guy. He could have been a banker or something, but grew up in an area without a lot of opportunities.' Pete was a figure Cullen recognised from a youth spent working and DJing in bars owned by 'nefarious Cardiff characters'. 'You knew they were dangerous and you couldn't cross them, but there was a warmth to them as well. I remember as a student I couldn't afford to pay my phone bill. One of them found out, came down one day and paid it. It was a weird moment, but very kind.' 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Maybe I was afraid of doing something I really wanted and failing.' After graduating from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in 2009, Cullen and his fellow actor Alexander Vlahos (of Versailles fame) founded Undeb Theatre ('union' in Welsh), putting on plays in pubs and attracting mates with no interest in theatre and national press attention. Then came the film audition that changed his life. Weekend, Andrew Haigh's gorgeous 2011 debut about two men, Russell (Cullen) and Glen (Chris New), falling in love, set the creative bar impossibly high. 'Absolutely. In many ways, I've been chasing that experience ever since.' Given the debate over lived experience, would Cullen feel comfortable playing a gay character again? His answer is thoughtful, lengthy, contradictory and careful: first yes, then no, then maybe. Eventually, he follows up over email. 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8 hours ago
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