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Vale: Dennis Waterman

Dennis Waterman best known for Minder, The Sweeney and New Tricks, has died.

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UK actor Dennis Waterman best known for Minder, The Sweeney and New Tricks, has died aged 74.

A statement from Waterman’s family said: “We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved Dennis passed away very peacefully in hospital in Spain, on Sunday afternoon, with [his wife] Pam by his side. The family kindly ask that our privacy is respected at this very difficult time.”

Waterman (pictured right) had a showbiz career that spanned 60 years. Born in London in 1948, Waterman began his showbiz career at a young age. He was invited to join the Royal Shakespeare Company at the age of 12 after a role for the Children’s Film Foundation.

He first found fame playing the tough cop George Carter in The Sweeney, before his role as the bodyguard Terry McCann in Minder. He later starred as Gerry Standing, a retired police officer brought back as part of a cold case unit, in New Tricks.

He also had TV roles in Where The Heart Is, The Canterbury Tales and Moses Jones. His last film role was in Never Too Late in 2020, filmed in Australia.

Waterman was also known for singing the theme songs to many of his shows, caricatured by David Walliams in Little Britain. He had a keen interest in music and had chart success in Australia, New Zealand and Britain.

Matt Lucas tweeted, “I grew up watching Dennis Waterman’s iconic performances in The Sweeney and Minder. His guest appearance in our Little Britain Live show at Hammersmith Apollo – in which he hilariously duetted with David’s absurd impersonation of him – remains the absolute highlight of my career.”

Actor and writer Reece Shearsmith said: “RIP Dennis Waterman. When I worked with him on New Tricks he made me the best cups of tea. And of course I just spent the time grilling him about Scars of Dracula.”

Waterman also performed regularly in British theatre.

“On television in Britain, I’m sort of the cheeky chappie, everybody’s mate, but I’ve never played anything like that in the theatre,” he once said.

“It’s strange that you get cast as different things in different parts of the media.”

Source: The Guardian

8 Responses

  1. I really enjoyed watching Dennis in Minder, he and George Cole were a classic Cockney double act that has not been matched. R.I.P. Dennis.

  2. I read the BBC article on his passing, it had a picture of his performing as William in the aforementioned children’s TV show- he looked really cheeky as a boy as well!

  3. He also played Tony Armstrong in the 90’s situational BBC comedy ‘On the Up’ which screened on the ABC. I would have seen in on a rerun and in my early teens but I found it quite endearing. Much like ‘As Time Goes By’.

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