Harry Landis death: Friday Night Dinner and EastEnders star dies aged 90

Actor is being remembered as a ‘brilliantly funny, wonderful man’

Harry Landis (Shutterstock)

Harry Landis, known for his appearances in Friday Night Dinner and EastEnders, has died at the age of 90.

The star, who played Mr Morris – the bad-tempered boyfriend of Frances Cuka’s Grandma Nellie – in the Channel 4 comedy Friday Night Dinner from 2012 to 2014, died on Monday (12 September), his agent confirmed.

A statement on social media read: “Sad news. Our lovely client Harry Landis has passed to spirit.

“Harry had an amazing career and gained a new following in later life as Mr Morris in Friday Night Dinner. It was a privilege to have worked with him as a client. Harry you will be sadly missed. RIP.”

Landis’s Friday Night Dinner co-star Tracy-Ann Oberman, who played Auntie Val in the show, reacted to the news on Twitter, writing: “Bloody loved #HarryLandis. I am so sorry to hear of his passing.”

The sitcom’s creator Robert Popper wrote: “He was a brilliantly funny, wonderful man. Our greatest guest star.”

Landis, who was born in Stepney, London, enjoyed a six-decade acting career. He made his first TV appearance in 1955, in the pilot episode of BBC police procedural series Dixon of Dock Green. He went on to star in further episodes, including the final, which aired in 1976.

Another notable role of Landis’s was his part as barber Felix Kawalski in EastEnders in the Nineties, and he also starred in episodes of Goodnight Sweetheart and Casualty.

In 2014, he had a small part in the Hollywood blockbuster Edge of Tomorrow.

Landis in ‘Friday Night Dinner’ (Channel 4)

On stage, Landis had roles in The Kitchen, Journey’s End and A Winter Tale.

The actor was the artistic director of the Marlowe Theatre in Canterbury, where he oversaw 40 productions.

He was also the president of the actors’ union Equity for six years between 2002 and 2008.