Peter Martin has died at the age of 82.
The actor, best known for playing Len Reynolds in Emmerdale and Joe Carroll on The Royle Family, died on Wednesday morning, with a friend confirming the news on Facebook.
‘My friend, drinking partner, fishing buddy past away on Wednesday morning, very sad, many of you will know him from TV, RIP Peter Martin, we had some great laughs.
Peter began his career in acting back in the 1960s, appearing in a number of films in small parts over the subsequent decade, including Pretty Polly and The Bronte Sisters.
He appeared in a number of TV ads for Jewson’s hardware chain during the eighties, before landing his biggest and longest role in The Royle Family, playing Joe Carrol over a 14-year period.
Amid his stints in the popular BBC comedy series, Peter also played Leonard ‘Len’ Reynolds on Emmerdale between 2001 and 2007.
Len was a fan-favourite with viewer of the ITV soap, arriving in the eponymous village shortly after the death of his wife, with the character often seen getting up to no good with best mate Jarvis Skelton.
He developed feelings for Edna Birch, which Jarvis picked up on, encouraging him to tell Edna the truth, in scenes which screened just last week on ITV3 as part of the daily classic repeats of the popular soap.
Len, however, would eventually find love again with Pearl Ladderbanks, who was something of a newcomer at the time, but would go on to become one of the soap’s most recognisable characters. A number of years later, Len suffered a heart attack and died in his chair, leaving Pearl utterly devastated.
This is a breaking news story more to follow.
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