EastEnders star Nicholas Ball has died at the age of 78 after a short illness, as announced on June 6, 2024.
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In a statement, Ball’s agent confirmed that the actor “passed away following a short illness.”
The official EastEnders account paid tribute, saying, “We are saddened to hear that Nicholas Ball has passed away. Our thoughts are with Nicholas’s family and friends.”
Ball was best known for his role as Terry Bates on the long-running BBC soap. His character, a gang lord and leader of a notorious football firm, was involved in several major storylines, including the attack on pub proprietor Peggy Mitchell, played by Barbara Windsor.
Hailing from Leamington Spa in Warwickshire, Ball also appeared as club chairman Garry Ryan in season five of Footballers’ Wives in 2006, and as the lead detective James “Jim” Hazell in the crime series Hazell.
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Ball played Terry Bates on EastEnders from 2007 to 2009, culminating in his character’s arrest and conviction for the murder of Jase Dyer, portrayed by Stephen Lord. Terry had taken Jase under his wing, but their relationship soured when Jase stole money from him after deciding to leave the gang.
Shortly before his death, Ball had completed filming for the countryside drama The Kingdom by the Sea, where he played the lead role alongside Coronation Street actor Rula Lenska.
His television career included appearances in crime shows such as Jonathan Creek, Hustle, Heartbeat, and Bergerac, as well as comedies like Red Dwarf and The Young Ones, and the drama The Crezz.
Ball’s film roles included the war drama Overlord, the thriller Rogue Male, the crime drama The Krays: Dead Man Walking, and the Jilly Cooper adaptation The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous.
Nicholas Ball is survived by his wife Ayda. He was previously married to Pamela Stephenson, Sir Billy Connolly’s second wife.
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