Coronation Street star Duggie Brown has died at the age of 82

Coronation Street star Duggie Brown has died at the age of 82.

The comedian’s passing was announced by his manager Lee Morgan on Tuesday, tweeting that he passed away with his ‘wife Jackie by his side’

Duggie, who starred in Coronation Street in three separate unrelated roles, made his most recent appearance on the soap earlier this year as Ted Spear, but was best known for an array of comedy roles in a career that spanned five decades.

Lee tweeted: It is with a heavy heart I share the news the very talented comedian and actor Duggie Brown passed away this morning with his wife Jackie by his side.

‘What an honour it was to work with Duggie. A born entertainer who loved his profession. RIP Duggie Brown. We love and salute you.’

Comedian Tommy Cannon was among those to pay tribute, tweeting: ‘Really sad to hear about the passing of Duggie Brown, Rest in peace pal, what a funny funny man- thinking of all your friends and family.’

Actor Neil Hurst also wrote: ‘Beyond sad to hear that my ol’ pal Duggie Brown has passed away.

‘One of my very first telly jobs was with Duggie back in 1997 and I was lucky to appear in so many shows with him since. Genuinely one of the nicest and funniest guys in the business.’

Russell Grant tweeted: ‘I’m very sad to hear Duggie Brown has left us. I shared many a breakfast sofa with him. His appearances on stage, in tv drama and light entertainment was prolific.

‘A warm, modest, down-to-earth man I was completely bowled over how he could turn his talents from stand-up to acting.’

Born in Rotherham in 1940, one of Duggie’s earliest roles came in Ken Loach’s 1969 classic Kes where he played a milkman alongside his sister Lynne Perrie, who went onto become a huge soap star on Corrie as Ivy Tilsley.

Lynne played Ivy from 1971 to 1994 before leaving the soap, and she died in 2006 at the age of 74. 

Duggie starred in an array of comedy shows throughout his career, including light entertainment programme The Good Old Days from 1971 to 1980, and Granada Television’s The Comedians.

He went onto star as lab technician Phil Strong in detective series The Enigma Files in the 1980s, and appeared in comedy series The Glamour Girls.

Duggie also had roles in shows including All Creatures Great And Small, Heartbeat, Hotel Babylon, EastEnders, Holby City, My Brother’s Keeper, The Glamour Girls, The Good Old Days, House of Cards, and Still Open All Hours. 

In the 1990s Duggie also starred on the comedy panel show Cryer’s Crackers, which was hosted by Barry Cryer, and saw two teams compete to identify news clips that had emerged from the TV archives. 

Duggie also had a number of stage credits, including starring as The Fool in Shakespeare’s King Lear for the Northern Broadsides Theatre Company’s national tour.

Duddie also starred in We Are Three Sisters based on Anton Chekhov’s novel exploring the lives of the Bronte sisters, and also took on the role of Mr Boo in Jim Cartwright’s comedic play The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice.

In 2002 he also appeared opposite Martin Clunes and Keeley Hawes in the thriller A Is For Acid, which was based on the life of serial killer John George Haigh.  

Duggie also played three separate characters on Corrie over the span of 25 years, first playing The Hour Glass bar owner George Freeman in 1997, who became known for rarely visiting the premisis, leaving Liz McDonald to do the work. 

After turning up to the bar one night following ‘business,’ Liz learned George had been meeting recently-released gangster Fraser Henderson, who purchased the bar from him outright.

In 2004 Duggie then returned to the soap as Bernie Cooper, the husband of Honor Blackman’s character Rula Romanoff, a friend of Rita Sullivan (Barbara Knox).

Rita’s friend Norris (Malcolm Hebden) was instantly taken with Rula, and was visibly disappointed to see that she was married, but soon perked up when he and Rita were invited over to her house.

However Rita was horrified when Bernie let himself into her room and climbed into her bed, and she soon realised she and Norris were at a swinger’s party, when she found him pinned to a bed by Rula.

Fleeing the house, the two friends vowed they would never discuss the experience again. 

In January 2022 Duggie then made his third Corrie appearance as elderly Ted Spear, a man who was run over by Faye Windass and Emma Brooker.

Ted quickly got up after being hit and reassured the girls that he was fine, but when they returned to his house the next day, they found him dead in his chair. 

Duggi was also inducted into the Grand Order of Water Rats charitable organisation and in 2020 took on the title King Rat. 

A comedy star who left audiences in hysterics with his stand-up and TV roles before morphing into three characters on the Corrie cobbles – tributes paid as Duggie Brown dies at the age of 82

Soap actor and comedy star Duggie Brown’s death was announced on Tuesday, with his management revealing in a statement that he passed away with his wife Jackie by his side.

Born in Rotherham in 1940, the screen legend was sibling to one of the biggest Corrie star’s of the 20th Century, with his sister Lynne Perrie playing Ivy Tilsey on Coronation Street from 1971 to 1994.

Duggie began acting in his late 20s with one of his earliest roles being in Ken Loach’s film Kes, where he played a milkman.

But it was in the 1970s when his career really took off, making a name for himself as a stand-up comic appearing on Granada Television’s popular series The Comedians.

Throughout the decade he also appeared in Jack Rosenthal’s Another Sunday and Sweet F.A., which was part of Granada Television’s Sunday Night Theatre series, and alongside his sister Lynne Perrie in Colin Welland’s factory drama Leeds United.

In his illustrious comedy career, Brown starred alongside a slew of acting greats, including Doctor Who legend Elisabeth Sladen in the 1979 sitcom Take My Wife, as a northern stand-up and his snooty wife respectively.

Over the span of 50 years Brown built up a vast collection of TV roles, with parts in shows ranging from EastEnders to Heartbeat and Still Open All Hours to The Enigma Files.

In the early 1980s he appeared in the 13-episode comedy series The Glamour Girls, and in the following decade was a regular on the comedy panel series Cryer’s Crackers.

Hosted by Barry Cryer, the show saw two teams compete to identify news clips that had emerged from the TV archives.

Duggie also had a number of stage credits, including starring as The Fool in Shakespeare’s King Lear for the Northern Broadsides Theatre Company’s national tour, and he also starred in We Are Three Sisters based on Anton Chekhov’s novel exploring the lives of the Bronte sisters.

In 2002 he also appeared opposite Martin Clunes and Keeley Hawes in the thriller A Is For Acid, which was based on the life of serial killer John George Haigh. 

Among a collection of soap roles, Duggie also made a trio of appearances on Coronation Street as three different characters.

His first was The Hour Glass bar owner George Freeman in 1997 for one episode, before returning in 2004 to play the surprise swinger Bernie Cooper.

Duggie’s final Corrie appearance aired back in January 2022, when he played elderly Ted Spear, who was found dead in his bed after being accidentally ran over.

He is survived by his wife Jackie.