Johan Tham, the Swedish-born entrepreneur and hotelier and the husband of Call the Midwife actress Jenny Agutter, has passed away at the age of 81 from cancer. He is most known for transforming the old Cliveden House into one of the most renowned luxury establishments in Britain. Johan Tham was born in 1944 in Nyköping, Sweden. His family moved to England when he was only four years old. Johan was raised along with his sister Christina and twin brothers Sebastian and Peter. He was educated at Heatherdown School before moving on to board at Charterhouse. However, despite the academic route that he was on, Tham eventually resisted the call of the law and decided to take on a path related to property and business.Initially, his work experience was quite unorthodox, ranging from managing a funeral home to that of a petrol station, though these influences would later contribute towards his hands-on business acumen.John Tham's career as a hotelierJohn Tham's most important career started in 1978 when he and his business partner John Lewis co-founded Blakeney Hotels. Together, they bought notable old buildings, such as one on Bath's Royal Crescent, and converted it into an exclusive hotel. His most notable accomplishment occurred in the 1980s when he was appointed managing director of Buckinghamshire's Cliveden House. The Grade I listed estate was delicately renovated and repurposed as a premier luxury hotel under his direction, blending its illustrious history with contemporary hospitality. The sale of Cliveden to real estate developers Ian and Richard Livingstone in 2011 solidified Tham's standing as a forward-thinking hotelier who had a great regard for history.His marriage to Jenny AgutterJohan Tham met Jenny Agutter in 1989 during an arts festival held in Bath. The actress has often spoken about how refreshing it was to meet someone who had no preconceived ideas about her fame. Reflecting on their first encounter, Jenny Agutter spoke about their first meeting, she said that Tham "had no sense of who I was at all, but he wanted to find out," a quality she felt made their relationship work:“One of the things about meeting people and forming relationships as an actor is that others have an idea of who you are before they meet you. That’s hard in any relationship, particularly with men."She added:“When Johan and I met, I did not feel he had any sense of who I was at all, but he wanted to find out, and that made a big difference. I’m still finding out about him 31 years on.”They married at Cliveden House in August 1990 and spent 35 years together. Later that year, the couple had a son, Jonathan, who became a general practitioner. Tham also had one daughter, Johanna, who became a special needs teacher and two stepchildren from a previous marriage to Anna Lallerstedt. He and Anna had divorced in 1989 before he met Jenny Agutter at the Bath Literary Arts Festival.Despite being married to a very famous actress of the time, John Tham stayed away from the spotlight as he preferred a private and quiet life. According to Agutter she described their marriage as "very grounding," citing how becoming a mother relatively late in life brought with it a profound shift in perspective for her.Johan Tham, who passed away last month on 17 November, leaves behind his wife, Jenny Agutter and his kids, Jonathan and Johanna. His legacy in the British hospitality scene will always be remembered. Stay tuned to Soap Central for more information.