Actor Brian Wilde, who played lovable ex-corporal Walter 'Foggy' Dewhurst in TV series Last Of The Summer Wine, has died at 80. The small screen star passed away in his sleep at a Hertfordshire nursing home on Wednesday night after suffering a fall seven weeks ago.
Leading the tributes was his 87-year-old co-star Peter Sallis, who portrayed Clegg in the long-running show. "He was great fun to be with and work with," he said. "I'm very sorry to hear the news of his death."
An actor for more than 60 years, Brian had roles in Sixties series' Room At The Bottom and film The Jokers before rising to fame as prison warder Barraclough in Porridge in the Seventies. He joined Last Of The Summer Wine in 1976, and appeared in more than 100 episodes before leaving in 1997.
"He had an enormous warmth to the public when off the set," says Last Of The Summer Wine's producer. "He didn't like to hob-nob with the actors - when there was a break, he preferred to go to a pub round the corner to meet real people.
Brian – who trained at RADA in the Forties - leaves a wife, Eva, and their son and daughter.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
