Obituary: Geoff Hinsliff, actor

A school drop-out who made himself a star, Geoff Hinsliff was testament to where hard work can get you. The Leeds-born actor left school at aged 15 but with a desire to act; spotted as a teenager in a local production he secured a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. After graduation he landed a job with the prestigious Royal Shakespeare Company, then broke into TV in top-rating cop show Z Cars. In 1977 he landed a brief stint on Coronation Street, but his return to the soap in 1987 was Hinsliff’s defining role.

Cast as affable cabbie Don Brennan, he married Ivy Tilsley (played by Lynne Perrie) but soon showed his true colours. In a series of increasingly lurid storylines his character turned into a serial adulterer, a kidnapper and an attempted murderer, before finally getting his just deserts when crashing his car into a viaduct. Other notable roles included A Bridge Too Far, Holby City, Doctor Who and Brass. Hinsliff died on September 15 aged 86. — Agencies