Torchwood star Murray Melvin has died at the age of 90, with Russell T Davies and John Barrowman leading tributes to the “wonderful” actor.
His death was announced on Friday by a friend, who said Melvin had “never fully recovered” from a fall in December.
The actor was best known for the 1961 film A Taste Of Honey, in which he played a gay textile design student who befriends a pregnant teenage girl.
He also starred in the Doctor Who spin-off series Torchwood, which aired from 2006 to 2011.
The show’s creator Russell T Davies said he was a “wonderful villain” in the series as he highlighted his long and varied career.
He wrote on Instagram: “He lived through a century that saw the understanding of his identity change so profoundly, and he did so with dignity, class and wit.
“His last email to me ended, ‘Take care, we still cannot afford to take chances.’ Oh he was wise. Night, Murray.”
John Barrowman, who played the show’s lead, wrote: “Murray Melvin, he always brought a cheeky warm smile to the Torchwood set and had the power to make us all laugh.”
Melvin’s close friend, creative director Kerry Kyriacos Michael, confirmed the actor died at St Thomas’ Hospital in London on Friday.
Posting a photo on Twitter of Melvin drinking a cup of tea, he wrote that it was with “great sadness” he was announcing the death of the “actor, director and theatre archivist”.
He added: “He was one of my closest friends and will be missed by so many of us who had the privilege to know him.”
Born on 10 August 1932, Melvin had film roles in the 2004 musical film The Phantom Of The Opera and the comedies A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg in the 1970s and Smashing Time in 1960s.
He also starred in several 1970s Ken Russell films including musical comedy The Boy Friend and historical drama The Devils along with Stanley Kubrick’s 1975 period drama Barry Lyndon.
A woman who was charged with selling Friends star Matthew Parry the dose of the drug that killed him has agreed to plead guilty.
Jasveen Sangha, known as the “Ketamine Queen”, is the fifth and final defendant to strike a plea deal with prosecutors, avoiding a trial that was set to take place in September.
The 42-year-old agreed to plead guilty to five federal criminal charges, including providing the Ketamine that led to Perry’s death, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
She agreed to plead guilty to five federal criminal charges, including providing the Ketamine that led to Perry’s death, federal prosecutors said in a statement.
Prosecutors had cast Sangha, a dual US and UK national, as a prolific drug dealer known to her customers as the “Ketamine Queen”, often using the term in court documents and even including it in the official name of the case.
Image: Actor Matthew Perry in 2015. File pic: Reuters
She agreed to plead guilty to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine, and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury.
Sangha will officially change her plea to guilty at an upcoming hearing, where sentencing will be scheduled, prosecutors said.
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Image: Dr. Mark Chavez, a physician from San Diego, who is charged in connection with Matthew Perry’s fatal overdose. Pic: AP
She is facing up to 45 years in prison.
Sangha and a doctor named Salvador Plasencia, who signed his own plea deal in June, had been the primary targets of the investigation.
Three other defendants – Mark Chavez, who it was claimed bought the drug from Sangha, Kenneth Iwamasa, and Erik Flemin – agreed to plead guilty last year in exchange for their cooperation, which included statements implicating Sangha and Plasencia.
Image: Friends became one of the most popular TV shows in the world in the 1990s and 2000s
Prosecutors allege Chavez funnelled ketamine to Plasencia, securing some of the drug from a wholesale distributor through a fraudulent prescription.
In one instance, prosecutors allege that Plasencia “charged Perry $2,000 (£1,500) a vial that cost Dr Chavez approximately $12 (£9)”.
Perry died in his home in October 2023, aged 54, after getting ketamine from his regular doctor for treatment of depression, which is an increasingly common use for the surgical anaesthetic.
The actor was taking ketamine six to eight times a day before he died, according to court documents.
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Sharon Osbourne pays emotional tribute to Ozzy
The BBC reportedthe show would reveal the “extraordinary rollercoaster” of the Osbournes’ lives as Ozzy tries “heroically” to get fit enough to perform again.
It’s said to feature “unique and intimate access” to the family, including Ozzy’s children, Jack and Kelly, who appeared in the reality series that made them household names in the early 2000s.
The Black Sabbath frontman, who had Parkinson’s disease, died last month – just a few weeks after his final all-star gig at Birmingham’s Villa Park.
British actor Terence Stamp – who famously played General Zod in Superman and Superman II – has died at the age of 87.
The Oscar-nominated actor, who was born in London’s East End, also starred in hits such as Theorem, A Season in Hell, and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.
He formed one of Britain’s most glamorous couples with Julie Christie, with whom he starred in “Far From the Madding Crowd” in 1967.
In a statement, his family said: “He leaves behind an extraordinary body of work, both as an actor and as a writer that will continue to touch and inspire people for years to come.”
This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.