Birmingham-born Davis played the sympathetic and witty receptionist Dawn, who was also the love interest of Tim Canterbury, played by Martin Freeman in Ricky Gervais’s TV comedy classic – which last month celebrated its 25th anniversary.
After The Office, Davis went on to feature as Dianne in 2004 comedy-horror film Shaun of the Dead and Etta Candy in 2017’s Wonder Woman, as well as Hilda Spellman in Netflix series The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.
More recently, she played Eva in the Disney Channel’s action comedy series The Villains of Valley View.
In her Instagram post – which was accompanied by a video of her reading a poem while ringing a bell in hospital – she went on to say she intended to keep up her work supporting animal rights, which is “so important to me”.
She went on: “I still would like to keep working. I’m perfectly able to do so, and acting is one of the biggest joys in my life.
“For those of you on a similar journey to mine, I do wish you well. Cancer asks a lot from us, physically and mentally. And we all get to do it however we choose.”
