(Cover) - EN Showbiz - Hugh Grant has spoken out about his late mothers battle with pancreatic cancer, joking he used to steal her oxygen mask.

The British actor was left devastated when his mother, Fynvola, died from the disease in 2001 aged 66. Hugh wishes there had been more information and help available when Fynvola was diagnosed, so has donated 100,000 to help launch a new section on award-winning charity website Healthtalkonline that gives people the facts about pancreatic cancer.

Fynvola spent long periods of time in hospital before she died and Hugh always tried to lighten her mood by visiting her after a big night out.

I used to kick my mother out of her hospital bed so I could get in with a hangover and have her oxygen mask. Its absolutely true, he teased during an interview with British television show This Morning. She would sit in the corner saying, I dont feel so well. And I would say, Forget it, Im much worse.

Hugh did his best to spend as much time with his mother as he could before she passed away. In fact he even got involved with everyday tasks like maintaining her appearance and claims he discovered new talents.

Whenever he could, he used his comedic gift to raise her spirits and believes he made a difference during her painful health battle.

There was a day just before she died when she wanted her hair washed. I decided to step in and dry her hair for her, he explained. I had never done it before but I fancied myself as a hairdresser, so I did a whole Italian hairdresser routine for her. It was fun, I think she quite enjoyed it and since then it has become a little sideline to my career.

Hugh is passionate about Healthtalkonline and wishes his mother had had access to something which offers so much information and help from a range of people with experience of disease and illness. The star has joked he often worries about his health and he will be using the website whenever he feels under the weather.

Speaking as a hypochondriac, I am a great googler to find out everything that is wrong with me. You never quite know if you can trust the information you are getting and this website is very highly regarded, he added. I thought, Wow this would have been fantastic ten years ago when my mother was diagnosed with this very frightening disease.

She loved health dramas, especially ones about terminal diseases. She loved to be made to cry by people dying in hospital, so she was actually very well suited to having a terminal disease. She used to say, I only like sad, darling.

She didnt like comedies, she didnt really like my films, she preferred something tear jerking. (C) Cover Media