Stephen Hancock, the veteran actor who played Ernest Bishop in Coronation Street and was at the centre of one of the soap's most shocking storylines, has died. He was 89.
Hancock's character Ernest was the screen husband of Emily Bishop (Eileen Derbyshire) and was first introduced in the late 1960s.
The actor had played two minor roles in Coronation Street previously but it was as the mild-mannered Ernest that he found his place in soap history when his character was shot dead during a botched wages raid in 1978.
British newspaper The Guardian reports that Hancock was written out of Coronation Street when he refused to sign a new contract in protest at the fact that other members of the cast were being paid less for their work.
In the documentary Coronation Street: 50 Years 50 Moments, Hancock revealed that he secretly watched the filming of Ernest's funeral from nearby after completing his last scenes.
"I remember going as myself to the funeral and watching myself being buried," he said.
Hancock's other credits included Emergency - Ward 10 on television and The Archers on radio. He worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon over four decades.
He is predeceased by his wife, the actress Jocelyne Page, and survived by two children, Gemma and Phyllida, both of whom followed their parents into acting.
