Jon Pertwee

The actor Jon Pertwee has died from a heart attack, aged 76. Pertwee, who was on holiday in the United States with his wife and friends, played the cult television Time Lord in Dr Who for four years during the 1970s and went on to appear as children's character Worzel Gummidge for nearly a decade.

Pertwee, whose acting career spanned 60 years and included radio's long-running comedy series The Navy Lark, with Leslie Phillips, was found dead in bed by his German-born second wife Ingeborg. He had no history of health problems and had worked right up until the end of his life.

He was using the holiday in Connecticut to take a break from his popular one man tour of Britain which he was due to resume on Thursday. Ironically his death comes as the cult science fiction series is about to take off again with a feature-film length television special on Bank Holiday Monday, with Paul McGann as the latest Doctor