Lydia Claire Hannibal White-Spunner

Lydia Claire Hannibal White-Spunner - wife, mother, sister, friend, actor, writer, director, teacher, visual artist - passed away on Saturday July 12, 2025 after a heroic struggle against cancer. Born in New Haven, CT and raised in Los Angeles, Lydia was the beloved daughter of the late Reverend Canon Belfield and Ena Hannibal.

She leaves behind her beloved family; husband, Jon, daughters, Oonagh and Hannah, brothers Preston (the late, LaSandra), Marc (Connie), and Jeffrey (Theresa) and beloved nieces and nephews Anika (Brian), Matt (Betsy), Alexandra, Ben, Eric (Brynna), Kelly (Blake), her first best friend, Stephanie Quarrels, and her family by marriage; brother-in-law David (Val), and sisters-in-law Katie (Will) and Libby (Jeremy) and nieces and nephews in the United States, England, Ireland and Australia.

Lydia was an actor from the age of five. She studied at CAL Arts and The American Conservatory Theatre under the direction of Bill Ball. She was a member of Actors Equity and SAG/AFTRA. Her career spanned film (Ted, Attack of The Killer Tomatoes, Homeboy, Angel of Death), TV (Picket Fences, Dave’s World, Ryan’s Hope), and stage: At BTE, Doubt, Noises Off, Defying Gravity, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, A Christmas Carol and Finding Our Voices. Other theatres Lydia worked at include The American Conservatory Theatre, The Denver Center Theatre, Solvang Theatre Festival, The McCarter Theatre, Cross Roads Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, The Virginia Avenue Project, New Hampshire Theatre Project, Theatre Works, LA Shakespeare Festival, 24th Street Theatre, and The Market Theatre in South Africa.

Lydia was a 2023 graduate of the Theatre Program at Bloomsburg University where she appeared in productions, including Everybody, and A Year With Frog and Toad, and the BTE/BUP Co-productions of Remembered, and Six Characters in Search of an Author.

The family wishes to express thanks to friends far and near, BTE’s Board and Ensemble, and the Meal Train supporters for the incredible support and kindness shown to them throughout her illness, and to the doctors and caregivers at the Knapper Clinic and her hospice nurses who made a hard road more bearable.

A Celebration of Life will be held at the Alvina Krause Theatre, 226 Center Street on Saturday, August 16th at 3pm followed by a reception. Donations in honor of Lydia can be made to BTE or the White-Spunner Family GoFundMe account (https://gofund.me/6781b9a0)