Emmerdale’s Zak Dingle actor Steve Halliwell dies aged 77

Actor was best known for playing flat cap-wearing head of the Dingle clan in ITV soap

Emmerdale actor Steve Halliwell, who starred in the soap as Zak Dingle, has died aged 77.

The actor played the brawny character known for his flat cap in more than 2,300 episodes over 29 years, having made his debut appearance in October 1994.

News of Halliwell’s death was announced by his family via a statement issued by ITV, the channel that airs the Yorkshire soap.

They said the actor died “peacefully with his loved ones around him”, stating: “He was making us laugh to the end, the most amazing father and grandfather you could ever wish for, family was everything to him.

“We would like to thank the wonderful staff at St James Hospital and the Wheatfield Hospice for their love and kindness in his final days. He didn’t want sadness, just to rejoice in a life well lived.”

Halliwell worked as an apprentice engineer before training as an actor at Mountview Theatre School. Before starring in Emmerdale, he appeared in British TV shows Threads, Cracker and Coronation Street.

In his 2014 autobiography If The Cap Fits: My Rocky Road to Emmerdale, the actor revealed he was once jailed in Ashford for a fortnight after being arrested for sleeping rough in an empty government building in London.

The actor also opened up about his struggles with alcoholism and depression for many years before being cast as Dingle, and once said that his experiences were “a pattern” that led him to the character. He told TV Times it was “his destiny to play this man who I understood”.

In 1996, he released a single, titled “Hillbilly Rock Hillbilly Roll”, as part of a country rock trio alongside his Emmerdale co-stars Alun Lewis and Billy Hartman. They were called The Woolpackers, in a nod to The Woolpack pub featured in the ITV soap.

Steve Halliwell as ‘Emmerdale’ character Zak Dingle (ITV)

Halliwell took a break from Emmerdale in 2018, during which he had a pacemaker fitted due to heart issues. After undergoing the procedure, he told The Sun at the time it had done him “the world of good” and he was “feeling fitter than ever”.

ITV paid tribute to Halliwell, writing: “Steve Halliwell was one of those rare human beings who was as wonderful off screen as on. To millions of Emmerdale viewers he was the brawny but crafty Dingle patriarch who led the clan with a strong fist and a warm heart.

“To everyone who worked on Emmerdale he was a much loved friend and colleague, the undoubted father of the show, but also its fun mischievous uncle. We will miss him enormously.”

The producers of Emmerdale shared their own tribute, reading: “All our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and loved ones through this very difficult time, and we’d request that their privacy is respected as they grieve for his loss.”