Actor Leslie Grantham, who played ‘Dirty Den’ Watts in EastEnders, has died aged 71, his agent announced today.
The TV star had recently returned to the UK for treatment from Bulgaria, having moved abroad following the breakdown of his marriage.
A statement from his representative said: ‘We formally announce the loss of Leslie Grantham, who passed away at 10.20am on the morning of Friday 15th June 2018.
‘His ex-wife and sons have asked for their privacy to be respected at this difficult time.’
Grantham had been visited by close friends from TV in the weeks before his death and some said he had terminal cancer, but his spokesman declined to confirm the claims.
Poignantly, Anita Dobson, the actress who played his on-screen wife for many years, learned of the news while she was at a service in memory of another of her friends, Professor Stephen Hawking.
Leslie Grantham, pictured earlier this year filming in north London, has died aged 71
Grantham was best known for playing Den Watts alongside his on-screen wife Anita Dobson, who played Angie. He is pictured, right, with his ex-wife Jane Lawrie. They divorced in 2013
Anita Dobson, who played Grantham’s on-screen wife in EastEnders, was seen at Professor Stephen Hawking’s Service of Thanksgiving today
Grantham shares three children, Spike, 31, Jake, 29, and Daniel, 23, with his ex-wife, Jane Laurie, who he was married to for 31 years.
The spokesman continued: ‘There will be a private funeral which will be attended by close family and friends only.’
Showbiz friends have paid tribute to the veteran actor online today.
Blue singer Antony Costa, who starred alongside Grantham in Dunstable’s Cinderella pantomime in 2015, said: ‘Just heard the news my friend and ex panto colleague £LeslieGrantham has passed.
‘RIP big man…loved working with ya in panto…you made me laugh and I learnt a lot from you too..absolutely gutted. You was West Ham…I am spurs but that didn’t matter. x’
Citizen Khan star Adil Ray tweeted a tribute to Grantham, sharing a Twitter exchange they once had.
He wrote: ‘What a life Leslie Grantham led. Brilliant character in EE. He was proof of how you can turn your life around.
‘He was kind enough to give me some nutrition advice last summer too! Rest in peace. Thoughts with Leslie’s family and friends.’
Ray also posted a screengrab, which showed Grantham advising him to ‘always eat a hearty breakfast’ because ‘it sets you up for the day’.
Grantham moved to Bulgaria, where he is pictured in a show called The English Neighbour in 2011, following the break-up of his marriage. He had recently flown back to the UK
Grantham had looked frail when he was last seen in public in February filming for The Krays: Dead Man Walking, which is set for release in December.
Friends of the actor said he was ‘gaunt and grey’ in recent weeks and had been living alone in London.
He is understood to have been single, having said in 2016 that he didn’t want to ‘mess up someone else’s life’.
He told an interviewer: ‘I’ve messed up so many people’s lives, why mess up someone else’s?’.
‘I don’t get lonely because I have friends. And when I’m writing, that’s the world I live in.’
Grantham shot to fame playing Watts in EastEnders, originally from 1985 to 1989.
Grantham told an interviewer in 2016 that he had remained single since splitting from his wife
In an unlikely comeback, he returned to EastEnders in 2003 before leaving for good in 2005
A 1986 Christmas Day episode drew an audience of more than 30 million viewers, who watched as Watts handed over divorce papers to on-screen wife Angie.
His character was apparently killed off in 1989 but made a shock return to Albert Square in 2003.
Grantham had originally been a soldier, having enlisted in the British Army in 1965 and being sent to West Germany with the Royal Fusiliers.
In 1966, however, he was involved in a struggle with a taxi driver he was attempting to rob in Osnabruck, Lower Saxony.
The driver, Felix Reese, was shot in the head and died and, in 1967, Grantham was convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
It was during his time behind bars – he spent ten years in British jails – that he first took to acting.
Speaking about his past in 2016, Grantham said: ‘Life isn’t a straight line. It’s like travelling the motorway. Every now and then, you have to take a diversion. Unfortunately, some of my diversions have been quite catastrophic. But I’m safe in the knowledge that what I do now is good.
‘Of course I have regrets, but you can’t go round wearing a hair shirt all your life, otherwise you’ll never get out of bed in the morning. I f***** up, now I’m going to move on.’
In 2004, Grantham was exposed by a Sunday newspaper after he took part in webcam chats while masturbating and sucking his finger in his dressing room.
He apologised to his family for the embarrassment but later said he was ‘set up’.
Grantham said he was so devastated after the scandal that he attempted suicide.