Danny Miller reveals tragedy behind his charity (VIDEO)

Former Emmerdale star Danny Miller says the death of his late friend, Emmerdale producer Gavin Blyth, inspired his charity Once Upon A Smile.

Gavin died in 2010, leaving behind his wife and children and Danny set up the charity to help others affected by a sudden loss. He held a charity ball in Manchester on Saturday, which raised more than £20,000.

"All my friends turned up from Emmerdale and Corrie and everyone showed great support," said Danny. "I was really, really appreciative of it."

He continued: "I started the charity up because a friend of mine passed away and left behind a young lovely family and I wanted to know what I could do for more families like the Blyths. I think it's important to give something back. A lot of people in our position can drum a bit of support by the things you do on television and stuff. I think Britain is great at that, Comic Relief is only a small part of that, I think a lot of celebrities behind closed doors do work for charity."

Watch Danny talk about Once Upon a Smile:

CATEGORIES

Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.