Hywel Bennett 1944-2017

Hywel Bennett, the original and best Ricky Tarr, has died. He wasn't tremendously old (73) but had apparently given up acting a decade ago due to ill health – I don't know the details.
Still, he had a rich career before that. Not many actors can have had one so varied.

He made his theatre debut as a teenager playing Ophelia in Hamlet (in 1959, when boys playing women was still a thing) and trod the boards for several years.

His screen debut was in Dr Who episode The Chase in 1965.

He then made a few films of differing types: comedy The Family Way (1966), thriller Twisted Nerve (1968) and military comedy-drama The Virgin Soldiers (1969).

He became best known for the sitcom(s) Shelley and Return of Shelley which jointly spanned 9 years and were watched by many millions of viewers. It began in 1979, the same year as TTSS aired.
Late in his career he played a gangland boss in the UK's most popular soap Eastenders, as well as more cult drama such as Dennis Potter's Karaoke.

All in all, he was a very versatile and talented actor and one of the last of the TTTS cast still to be alive.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-40814843
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/hywel-bennett-actor-thames-television-shelley-a7874336.html
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0071799/