Elizabeth Banks pays tribute to Brian Wilson’s late wife Melinda Ledbetter, whom she played in Love & Mercy

Elizabeth Banks is paying tribute to Melinda Ledbetter, the late wife of the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, whom she played in 2014’s Love & Mercy.

The Pitch Perfect star penned a touching post to Ledbetter, who died at age 77 on Jan. 29, on Instagram. “What an honor to know her, to be invited into her life with Brian,” Banks wrote. “She was a force. She gave me such great advice - on parenting, which house to buy, being an artist. We laughed. She had a good laugh.”

“I was just thinking of her the other day when I passed the deli we used to visit,” Banks continued. “This is a reminder to reach out to people you enjoy. Tell them. Her family was her world and my heart and prayers are with them.”

Wilson announced the news on social media on Tuesday. “My heart is broken," he wrote. "Melinda, my beloved wife of 28 years, passed away this morning. Our five children and I are just in tears. We are lost."

Wilson went on to praise Ledbetter for her constant support. "Melinda was more than my wife. She was my savior," he wrote. "She gave me the emotional security I needed to have a career. She encouraged me to make the music that was closest to my heart. She was my anchor. She was everything for us. Please say a prayer for her."

Ledbetter first met Wilson in 1986, and helped initiate the chain of events that saw him removed from the care of psychologist Eugene Landy. She married the songwriter in 1995 and served as his manager from 1999 onward. They adopted five children together.

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