Actor

Born: February 4,1945;

Died: March 10, 2017

TONY Haygarth, who has died of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia aged 72, was a prolific character actor on stage and screen whose range enabled him to perform across the board in everything from dramas and soaps to comedies and children’s programmes, playing heroes, villains, police officers, grotesques, bumblers and eccentrics.

On television, he was PC Wilmot, best friend and later landlord of Paul Greenwood’s wet-behind-the-ears police constable, in the Roy Clarke-written sitcom Rosie (1977-81), then took the title role in Nigel Kneale’s sci-fi comedy Kinvig (1981) as an electrical repair shop owner visited by an emissary from the planet Mercury.

In Alan Bleasdale’s comedy series Scully (1984), he was “Dracula”, the school caretaker who has constant run-ins with the aspiring teenage footballer of the title and, in scenes of surrealism, is imagined by him as a vampire.

Sinister in a more real sense was Haygarth’s portrayal of Deputy Chief Constable Roy Johnson investigating Metropolitan Police corruption in Peter Flannery’s landmark drama Our Friends in the North (1996). Alongside the story of four friends set over three decades, Johnson retires after seeing his findings buried by his bosses. His character was based on Frank Williamson, the HM Inspector of Constabulary eventually credited with exposing police corruption years after coming up against the same brick walls.

Haygarth enjoyed such drama but was particularly satisfied with his subsequent role as Vic Snow, the dependable paper factory worker and husband supporting his district nurse wife Peggy (played by Pam Ferris), in the first six series (1997-2002) of the feel-good series Where the Heart Is.

He loved its sense of community and likened his character to his own father. “He was a very benign, gentle man,” the actor told me at the time. “He was always the leveller and peacekeeper.”

George Anthony Haygarth was born in Liverpool, the son of Mary (nee Davis) and Stanley, who worked on the buses as a driver, inspector, then traffic controller. At Marlborough College, Liverpool, he developed a love of Shakespeare and, aged 16, began writing verse and reading his poetry at Liverpool Poets movement meetings in clubs and coffee bars.

His early jobs were as a lifeguard in Torquay, a psychiatric nurse in Sefton General Hospital, Liverpool, and an escapologist and fire-breather in a travelling circus. However, his ambition was to act and, after working with amateur companies, he turned professional.

His break came in 1969 at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, when he landed the role of a royalist corresponding with a young female admirer in the Stanley Eveling play Dear Janet Rosenberg, Dear Mr Kooning, which transferred to London’s Royal Court Theatre.

He later played Christy in a Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Devil’s Disciple (Aldwych Theatre, 1976) and went on to appear in many seasons with the National Theatre company (1977-89).

Haygarth received the 1996 Clarence Derwent Award for his role as bookmaker Simms in Simpatico (Royal Court Theatre, 1995) and the TMA Award for his performance as Alfred Doolittle in Pygmalion (Old Vic Theatre, 2009). There were also Olivier Award nominations for his portrayals of Caliban in The Tempest (National Theatre, 1988) and Juror 3 in Harold Pinter’s Twelve Angry Men (Comedy Theatre, 1996).

On television, his other roles included SS Sergeant Heinz Muller in Holocaust (1978), seedy consular chauffeur Fidel Sanchez in Farrington of the FO (1986-7) and farmhand Mick Naylor in Emmerdale (2008-9). He voiced henpecked husband Mr Tweedy in the 2000 animated film Chicken Run and his book of poetry, God Wore Clogs, was published in 2010.

Haygarth was treated for prostate cancer in 2011 and diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia three years later.

Born and brought up a Catholic, he was accepted into the Church of England in 1998, when his children – Katie and Becky – were confirmed. They survive him, along with theatre producer Carole Winter, whose 1985 marriage to him was dissolved in 2013.

ANTHONY HAYWARD