Oldham-born Warren Clarke, stalwart of British TV drama since the 1970s, has died aged 67, his agent confirmed this afternoon.
Best known for his TV role in Dalziel and Pascoe, Clarke’s career took off in the 1970s with parts in various TV dramas including The Avengers, Callan, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, and Stanley Kubrick’s controversial 1971 film, A Clockwork Orange.
He also appeared in Blackadder The Third, and as Oliver Cromwell in a special Comic Relief episode of the series in 1988.
Continuing to be popular on-screen into the 1990s, his credits include A Respectable Trade, Giving Tongue, The Locksmith and Sleepers, in which he starred alongside Nigel Havers as they played undercover Soviet Agents.
Clarke became a firm British TV favourite when he secured the lead role of Detective Superintendent Andy Dalziel in the BBC crime drama Dalziel and Pascoe. Based on the books by British writer Reginald Hill, the series has proved popular with its crime-loving audience since its debut in 1996.
In an interview with the Mirror back in 1997, he claimed to be nothing like his alcoholic alter-ego Dalziel.
“The man’s a chauvinist pig whose idea of a good night out is swilling back ten pints in the pub with his supper waiting for him and the little woman tucked up in bed with a welcoming smile.
“I like going to the pub but my wife goes with me, too. Blokes like Dalziel just see women as sex objects.”
He recently appeared in BBC One dramas Call the Midwife and Down to Earth.
The actor had been due to appear in a remake of Poldark, which is currently filming and due to be screened next year.
Born in Oldham in 1947 but living in Buckinghamshire, he leaves behind his second wife, Michelle, and teenage daughter, Georgia.
Image courtesy of BBC via YouTube, with thanks
