EastEnders actor Leslie Grantham, best known as the roguish “Dirty” Den Watts in the BBC One soap, has died aged 71.
The actor appeared in EastEnders from 1985 to 1989 and later returned to his signature role from 2003 to 2005.
The announcement follows news earlier this week that Grantham had returned to the UK from Bulgaria to receive medical attention.
A statement from his agent said he died on Friday morning and that a private funeral would be held.
Anita Dobson, who played Den’s first wife Angie, said she was “deeply shocked and saddened”.
“I loved working with Leslie and I will never for get our time together on EastEnders,” she said in a statement.
Grantham shot to fame when he was cast as the landlord of the Queen Vic, the east London public house around which the action in EastEnders revolves.
More than 30 million viewers tuned in to watch a Christmas Day episode in 1986, in which his character handed divorce papers to his on-screen wife Angie.
Grantham’s life was not without controversy. In 1966 he was convicted of murdering a German taxi driver while serving as a soldier.
And in 2004 he was revealed to have taken part in webcam sex sessions from his EastEnders dressing room at Elstree Studios.
Grantham stayed busy after leaving EastEnders, appearing in pantomimes and stage plays, as well as writing a fantasy novel for children.
He was reported to have been living in Bulgaria before his death, having gone there to appear in a TV series called The English Neighbour.
Tributes have been paid to the actor by other EastEnders cast members, among them Michael Cashman and Tracy Ann Oberman.
Cashman, who played Colin Russell in the soap, said Grantham was “a lovely guy“, while Oberman, who played Dirty Den’s second wife Chrissie, called him “a very very good actor”.
Craig Fairbrass, aka Dan Sullivan, said Grantham had been “a strong role model“, while Ricky Norwood – “Fatboy” on the show – hoped he would “rest in peace“.
Other tributes have come glamour model Linda Lusardi, who said he was “such a character“, and the broadcaster Paul Ross, who remembered him as a “talented, kind and very funny man”.
Source: BBC