Only Fools and Horses star Roger Lloyd-Pack dies, aged 69

Only Fools and Horses star Roger Lloyd-Pack has died aged 69, his agent said.

The actor, best known for playing Trigger in the long-running BBC comedy, died at home in London on Wednesday night. Lloyd-Pack was renowned for his deadpan manner and dim-witted characters, such as Owen Newitt in The Vicar of Dibley, but he had a wide and distinguished career on the stage and in film, including Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

The BBC reports Lloyd-Pack saying of Trigger the role was 'both a blessing and a curse' and he was bemused about his popularity with audiences.

'It's extraordinary to me as an actor to find oneself in a sitcom that's been successful and goes on being successful," he said. "I can't go anywhere without anyone going on about it."

Lloyd-Pack was born into an acting family in north London and his father Charles was a regular in Hammer horror films.

Father Ted creator Graham Linehan was among those paying tribute online.

He said: "Very sad news about Roger Lloyd Pack. Trigger was an ancestor to Father Dougal and I'm glad I once had a chance to tell him so."

Lloyd-Pack was also a successful stage actor, appearing regularly at Shakespeare's Globe in central London, but knew he would always be best known as Trigger.

In a 2012 interview with the Guardian, he said: "People will never stop shouting 'Trigger!' at me in the street. The other day I jumped some lights on my bike because someone was hollering at me. A police van pulled me over, and when I stopped they also shouted: "Trigger!". It can be very annoying."

He was also politically active and a prominent campaigner for left-wing causes in the capital.

Lloyd-Pack's daughter Emily shot to fame in the 1987 film Wish You Were Here before stepping back from the celebrity limelight after struggling with health issues.

John Challis, best known as Boycie in Only Fools, said: "I spoke to Roger two days ago. Roger said it was a bit awkward to talk at that particular moment. It is very sad and very distressing.

"My thoughts are with his family. He was a remarkable man and he'll be missed. Roger is irreplaceable. It's a very sorry day."

His agent, Maureen Vincent, said he had pancreatic cancer and had 'died at home surrounded by his family'.

 

Patrick McLennan

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.