Actor Terence Rigby has died

Popular and much respected actor Terence Rigby has died at 71, his spokesman has announced.

The actor’s spokesman Peter Charlesworth said: “He will be sorely missed. There are not so many like him anymore. He was a very powerful character actor, able to play villains and nice roles with ease. He was particularly good at playing Pinter roles, which were very difficult.”

Rigby reached millions in several television series including two major parts, firstly as PC Snow in BBC TV’s police series Softly Softly in the sixties and seventies. In the 1980s he took over the lead in ATV-Central series Crossroads as motel owner Tommy ‘Bomber’ Lancaster seeing the show through to its Kings Oak revamp and unexpected axing in 1988. He more recently returned to the Midlands with a guest role in BBC daytime saga, Doctors.

Other broadcasting work includes Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Our Friends in the North, Holby City, The Beiderbecke Affair and Heartbeat. Movie credits include James Bond thriller Tomorrow Never Dies, cult classic Get Carter, period drama Scandal and more recently Mona Lisa Smile to name only a few of many.

The actor was also at home on the stage, becoming the toast of numerous National Theatre productions, including No Man’s Land, directed by Harold Pinter.

Catherine Sparks, Rigby’s sister, told the BBC: “We are so proud of Terry and are going to miss him terribly. He was true to his art and respected by all the industry – he was the actor’s actor.”

Rigby died from lung cancer at his London home aged 71.