THEATRE legend and Poirot star Richard Howard has died aged 79.
The veteran stage actor, who also featured in Emmerdale, died from a “short illness”.
His death was announced this evening by his talent representatives, the Scott Marshall Partners, who shared the news with “great sadness”.
They wrote: “It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our beloved client, Richard Howard, at the age of 79, after a short illness.
“He is survived by his son, three stepdaughters and nine grandchildren.”
Howard had a hugely celebrated career – largely spent on stage – and appeared in several Olivier-nominated productions, including the original Shakespeare In Love.
His other theatre work included tours of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Macbeth and Romeo And Juliet across America, Europe and Asia.
On screen, he made frequent appearances in Emmerdale between 1979 and 1981, playing vicar Bob Jerome.
Howard also appeared in an episode of Poirot, titled Four And Twenty Blackbirds, and BBC Radio 4 play The People’s Princess about George IV’s wife Caroline of Brunswick.
For many seasons, Howard acted and directed with the Jill Freud Theatre Company and was a member of the London Shakespeare Group.
The actor was also part of the Stables Theatre Club in Manchester, and Brian Friel and Stephen Rea’s theatre company Field Day.
In later years, he taught at the highly-respected Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
