Ian Lavender, best known for playing Private Pike in classic BBC comedy Dad's Army, has died at the age of 77.
Lavender was the last surviving cast member of the series following the death of Frank Williams (who played Reverend Timothy Farthing) in 2022. He died on Friday morning, his agent confirmed to the PA news agency.
In 1968, aged just 22, Lavender was cast as Private Frank Pike, the youngest member and "stupid boy" of the platoon in the much-loved BBC sitcom.
He appeared in the entire run of the series, and in the spin-off film released in 1971.
He made a cameo appearance as Brigadier Pritchard in the 2016 Dad's Army film, providing a link with the original series.
In 2001 Lavender joined the BBC soap opera EastEnders, playing the role of Derek Harkinson, a gay friend of Pauline Fowler. He continued in EastEnders for four years, with storylines mainly involving the Fowler family, before leaving in 2005.
He returned to Walford in 2016 but left in 2017 after he became ill with sepsis, having previously battled cancer and a heart attack.
The Birmingham-born Lavender grew up supporting Aston Villa. When filming began on Dad's Army, he was allowed to choose Pike's scarf from a selection in the BBC wardrobe.
He chose a claret and blue scarf, the colours of Aston Villa.
Pike, the youngest member of the Home Guard troop and a bank clerk, would often refer to Sergeant Arthur Wilson (John Le Mesurier) as Uncle Arthur, as he was in a relationship with his overprotective mother Mavis Pike (Janet Davies).
In 2018, Lavender cleared up a long-standing mystery from the show during an interview with the Radio Times.
When asking creator David Croft if Uncle Arthur was Pike’s father, Lavender said: "He looked at me and said, 'Of course he is!’"
Lavender once said it was the luckiest day of his life when he was plucked from obscurity to play 17-year-old Frank Pike.
He was earning £9 a week (around €10.50) during a six-month stint at Canterbury Rep when someone came up to him and said he looked stupid enough to do Pike.
"I was a complete beginner and I suddenly joined what was probably Britain's most experienced team of character actors," he said.
"I was in a state of shock finding myself suddenly among so many great actors. When the moment came for me to speak, that funny voice of Pike just came out in a moment of panic.
"Since then at the start of every new series it has been one hell of a job trying to conjure it up again.
"But Private Pike took me from obscurity into the TV big time. I could never have achieved that if I hadn’t learned to say: 'Ooh Captain Mainwaring, my mum said even if the Germans come I mustn’t catch cold.'"
BBC director of comedy Jon Petrie said: "Ian was a much-loved actor and will be sorely missed by all those who knew him.
"In his role of Private Pike, in Dad's Army, he delivered some of the most iconic and loved moments in the history of British comedy. Our thoughts are with his family."
He is survived by his wife, choreographer and stage director Michelle Hardy, and their sons Sam and Daniel.
Source: Press Association
