The family of former child actor William Chapman, who was fatally attacked by a tiger at a Yorkshire zoo, have remembered him as a “bright, warm and engaging” son and revealed that he had lived with “significant mental illness.”
Mr Chapman, 24, died on Saturday after entering a tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster. He was attacked by Altai, a 200kg Siberian tiger.
As the investigation continues, his devastated relatives have urged the public not to share distressing footage showing the final moments of his life.
In a statement issued through police on Tuesday, the family said: “William was a bright, warm and engaging young man whom his family dearly loved – and William loved them back.
“Sadly, William suffered from significant mental illness over a number of years and was consequently prescribed strong medication.
“It will be for the coroner to decide what part this played in his death. We would ask everybody to respect that process.”
The family also described the widespread circulation of footage from the fatal attack on social media as adding to their suffering.
“The family are utterly devastated by their loss and are struggling to come to terms with what has happened,” they said.
“The publication and circulation of deeply offensive media content is causing them severe distress at an exceptionally vulnerable time. We ask people to stop doing this.
“The family are hopeful that the relevant authorities will do their utmost to establish why our amazing son did what he did.”
Mr Chapman’s past as a child actor has since come to light. He appeared alongside Harry Potter star Shirley Henderson in an ITV comedy drama.
William Chapman, 24, died on Saturday after entering a tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster
William Chapman, 24, was fatally attacked by a tiger after entering the big cat enclosure at a Yorkshire zoo
A young William Chapman, far left, appeared in the 2009 ITV comedy May Contain Nuts alongside Shirley Henderson, second from left, who is best known for playing Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films
A young William Chapman at Madame Tussauds in London beside a wax figure of Daniel Craig as James Bond
In 2009, he appeared in the two-part ITV comedy May Contain Nuts, which starred Shirley Henderson, widely recognised for playing Moaning Myrtle in the Harry Potter films.
Mr Chapman played Alfie Chaplin, the son of Henderson’s character Alice Chaplin. In the drama, Alice pretended to be her 11-year-old daughter in order to sit a school entrance examination. Darren Boyd also featured in the acclaimed production.
He later appeared in the BBC series True Stories, which explored the lives of historical figures. In 2012, he portrayed a young Edward Jenner, the English physician and scientist who went on to become known as the father of immunology and a pioneer of vaccination.
Mr Chapman also had a role in Breathless, an ITV period drama broadcast in 2013. The series followed hospital staff who secretly carried out illegal abortions in the 1960s, according to a 2014 blog post written by his mother.
His acting career appeared to largely end during his teenage years. There was no indication that he had undertaken further screen work for many years before his death in the tiger enclosure at Yorkshire Wildlife Park near Doncaster.
The mother revealed her son’s early enthusiasm for acting in her post 12 years ago, saying that he became a pupil at the Jackie Palmer Stage School in High Wycombe, Berkshire, when he was just four years old.
She recalled in her blog how he was aged only around five when he went for an audition for May Contain Nuts.
The 24-year-old was on Tuesday named as the victim of the attack
Describing his time at the stage school, she said: ‘He has learnt a great deal in his time there, and whilst he doesn’t enjoy singing and dancing so much now he’s a teenager, he is passionate about acting and drama.
‘Over the years he has attended many auditions, and I have a few stories to tell there… The most notable one was when he went for the part of Alfie in ‘May Contain Nuts’ the ITV two part drama adaptation of John O’Farrell’s satirical book.’
She went on to describe having her car impounded after she left it on double yellow lines to get him to the audition in central London because she could not find a proper parking space.
The mum wrote: ‘William was only about five then, and unburdened by the nerves he can sometimes suffer from these days. He seemed to relax and thoroughly enjoy himself.
‘We left and went back into the road, and walked to where I parked the car; only there was no car. With my car gone, and the kids in tears, I ran back into the casting agency and became somewhat hysterical.
‘They were brilliant; they called Westminster Council and established where my car had been taken, then called me a taxi to get there.’
The mother told how her son’s other acting work includes roles on radio, commercials, children’s TV, a Snow White panto, as well as filming & photo shoots for Oxford University Press and a part as an extra playing a ‘tribal kid’ in the Warner Bros film Pan in 2015.
Her blog included a passage where Mr Chapman wrote about his experience on Pan, saying: ‘Working as an extra in Pan is amazing; it’s such an awesome experience!
‘But it’s hard work though, ten hour days plus one hour journeys each way to the studios. It was very tiring. I normally had a 6.45am start at the rendezvous, where we travelled by minibus to Cardington Studios in Bedfordshire.
‘Luckily we always had a warm welcome and a warm breakfast to wake us up. Costume fitting and makeup took about an hour, but it was good to admire all the costumes.
Mr Chapman as a child actor playing Edward Jenner in educational BBC series True Stories in 2012
Mr Chapman as a child actor playing Alfie Chaplin in the two-part ITV comedy drama in 2009
‘Once on set we were sheltering from the pirates under the ship’s floorboards and we had to be terrified! Our chief gets shot by Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman), so remember to look out for that scene if you watch the movie.
‘After lunch we just did more tutoring then we went back on set for a retake of the earlier scene, but we were lucky enough to meet and say hi to Hugh Jackman! We gave him a high five, awesome right? Well, that’s my day as an extra.’
His mother added: ‘It was great to collect him at the end of a busy day, and hear him enthuse about a multitude of impressions such as: exploding mud, the energy of being on set, watching the actors practising their sword fighting skills, the delicious meals they had for lunch, meeting other young actors from a few other stage schools, including Levi Miller who plays Peter Pan.
‘It has been a wonderful experience for him. For most of June and some of July he was filming (about 15 days), so I’m hoping it won’t be a case of blink and you’ll miss him when I get to see it! It’s due for release on 26th June 2015, I can’t wait…’
Mr Chapman posted a series of bizarre pictures and footage on social media in the days leading up to his decision to climb into the tiger’s cage on Saturday.
It included a terrifying video of the moment he entered the pen and approached a lone tiger lying on a raised wooden platform. Just minutes later, he was attacked and killed by the animal.
In the background, he can be heard breathing heavily as shocked onlookers cry out ‘oh my God’.
His Instagram account included a selfie taken at the gym, which he uploaded to social media hours before sharing the video of him slowly approaching the big cat.
Another picture shows him holding a bible and a crossbow while wearing the same clothes he had on when he entered the pen at Yorkshire Wildlife Park. In the image, shared on the day of his death, he has a crossbow bolt between his teeth.
Eyewitnesses at the zoo told how Mr Chapman, who was described as vulnerable by police, had been dancing to music and had asked a parkgoer to take a picture of him with the 200kg male Siberian tiger, Altai, in the background.
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The scene at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday
A video, appearing to be filmed in the pen itself, shows Mr Chapman slowly approaching a wooden platform on which one of the tigers is resting
He then began climbing into the enclosure as a woman desperately tried to hold him back, before dropping 12ft to the floor.
When the tiger attacked, Mr Chapman screamed ‘stop’ several times and appeared to make a gesture for ‘bad’ in Makaton – a sign language system generally used by individuals who struggle to communicate.
The horrifying drama unfolded just minutes before emergency services were called at 1.35pm.
It comes as a witness who took the final photograph of the man fought back tears as she pleaded with ‘not very nice’ trolls to think before they post.
Elsewhere on social media, Mr Chapman posted photographs of himself on a visit to the Pantheon in Paris, and of a Greek-style helmet on a stand, while other posts included references to social media influencers.
Visitors to the park on Saturday told how he shouted ‘stop’ several times and told the tiger to ‘stop being naughty’ after it attacked him. Onlookers said he appeared ‘not attached to reality’.
Distressing footage was uploaded to social media and showed the tiger pawing at and toying with the man. Parkgoers said they then saw it jump onto his neck.
Visitors were rapidly evacuated and emergency services, including an air ambulance, rushed to the scene, but the man was confirmed to have died. Mr Chapman’s family are aware and are being supported by specialist officers.
Zookeepers were said to have done ‘everything they could’ to drive tiger Altai off, firing five loud acoustic gun blasts in attempts to scare him.
Two ambulances and a helicopter rushed to the park at 1.35pm, with a ‘black screen’ erected around the enclosure as lifesaving treatment was attempted.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park, which remains closed, confirmed that Altai will not be euthanized in the wake of the incident.
It comes as a woman who took a picture of Mr Chapman just moments before he entered the enclosure appealed for trolls to stop posting about the incident in a tearful video on social media on Monday.
Del Taylor asked people joking about the attack online to ‘think about why maybe he’d do something like this’.
An emotional Ms Taylor said it was ‘upsetting’ to know she had taken the last photograph of him, and hit out at ‘not very nice’ and ‘presumptuous’ comments online.
‘I’ve seen a lot of speculation online about this person, this man, and a lot of it is not very nice, very presumptuous,’ she said in a video posted on TikTok.
‘I just wish people would take a moment to think about why maybe he’d do something like this.
‘Maybe it was a lack of danger, awareness of danger. I just feel if somebody had seen this man like myself and a few other people had that day, and you’d seen him dancing his way up and down the bridge with his AirPods in.
‘He was so happy. And then he’s come and placed himself next to us and he’s passed me his phone, and he’s asked me for his photo, and if you’d have seen him, without saying too much, you would understand why I’m saying what I’m saying.’
Mr Chapman’s social media profile features various photographs of himself as well as the clip from Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday
An air ambulance and police van are seen at Yorkshire Wildlife Park on Saturday afternoon
She continued: ‘It’s so upsetting to think that apart from that awful viral video of him being attacked by the tiger online that the last photo of that man probably alive is the one that I’ve taken on his phone for him.
‘But, I’m just asking people to keep a broader mind on what’s happened.’
Ms Taylor said she was speaking out after her name appeared ‘all over’ social media, after witnesses described the minutes before the fatal attack. The video was later deleted.
Those at the scene described Mr Chapman as having been dancing up and down a walkway above the enclosure before asking Ms Taylor for the picture.
A video clip appeared to show him moments before he entered the enclosure asking fellow parkgoers to take a picture of him with the animal.
He says: ‘Excuse me, can you grab a shot of myself with the tiger?’ while Altai lies in the background under a shaded tree, playing with a fallen branch.
A woman, believed to be Ms Taylor, agrees and takes a photo, before he asks three times for ‘one more’ picture and then says: ‘Thank you, lady.’
An animal ranger at the zoo, Charlotte Pywell, said: ‘I was not there. I don’t know who the guy was or what made him jump.
‘It was not the tiger’s fault at all. It was just something else to play with. The keepers are all distraught. It was not a very nice day.’
In a statement, the park said: ‘Many, many people have contacted us about Altai, the tiger.
‘We can reassure everyone that he is safe and well and will not be euthanized as a result of this incident.
‘We would like to thank everyone who has expressed their concern following yesterday’s [Sunday] tragic incident.’
His former school also released a statement on Tuesday which said: ‘We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of our former student, William Chapman.
‘Our thoughts and heartfelt condolences are with William’s family and friends during this incredibly difficult time.
‘We loved watching William grow, both as a person and as a performer, during his time with us. It was a privilege to be part of his journey, and he will be remembered with great fondness by everyone who had the pleasure of knowing him.
‘William will be truly missed, and he will always hold a special place in our hearts. Rest in peace, William.’
The licensing authority for Yorkshire Wildlife Park, City of Doncaster Council, has now launched a health and safety investigation into the man’s death.
Dan Swaine, executive director of place at City of Doncaster Council, said: ‘As the relevant licensing authority for the Yorkshire Wildlife Park, I can confirm that, in line with our statutory duties, the council has launched a health and safety investigation.
‘We are also working with multiple agencies, including the police and health agencies, and are supporting the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in response to the incident.
‘At this time, we won’t be commenting further on the individual or the investigation and we ask that the privacy of those involved is respected at this difficult time.’
Yorkshire Wildlife Park opened in 2009, with the Land of the Tigers attraction opening in 2011.
The attraction is a purpose-built, two-acre reserve for Amur tigers, an endangered subspecies with around 500 left in the wild.
Photos of the enclosure on the park’s website show a high walkway for visitors and fencing above the section where the tigers can roam.