Only Fools and Horses star Roger Lloyd-Pack has died aged 69

This may not mean much to people outside the UK who may have never heard of the long-running BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses (my favourite programme), but Roger Lloyd-Pack, who played the hapless and stupid Trigger in the show, which ran from 1981 to 2003, died yesterday aged 69.

Well-known for his rubbery face and lugubrious delivery, he also appeared as Owen Newitt in The Vicar of Dibley.


Roger Lloyd-Pack as Trigger in a 1990 episode of Only Fools and Horses

Born in Islington, north London in 1944, he was the son of Hammer horror actor Charles Lloyd-Pack and the father of actress Emily Lloyd.

His agent confirmed he died of pancreatic cancer on Wednesday night.

A versatile character actor who was at home with both comedy and drama, Lloyd-Pack studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada) before making his stage debut in Northampton.

After appearances in The Avengers and other TV shows, his screen debut came in 1968 when he played a small part in The Magus.

His breakthrough came in 1981 when he was cast as Colin "Trigger" Ball, the dim but amiable roadsweeper who always called Nicholas Lyndhurst's Rodney character "Dave".

"If it's a girl they're calling her Sigourney after an actress," he said of Del Boy's (Rodney's brother) child-to-be. "And if it's a boy they're naming him Rodney, after Dave."

Lloyd-Pack would go on to call the role "both a blessing and a curse" and express bemusement 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."

In recent years he was seen at the Shakespeare's Globe, appearing alongside Mark Rylance and Stephen Fry in its production of Richard III and Twelfth Night.

Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25762006

 

It's sad, but we will remember him for his brilliant acting. He also had an absolutely lovely singing voice, which he occasionally revealed on The Vicar of Dibley.