Legendary actor Dennis Waterman, best known for his roles in New Tricks, Minder and The Sweeney, passed away at his home in Spain with his wife at his side.

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Dennis Waterman stars in New Tricks in 2016

Dennis Waterman has died aged 74.

The actor, best known for his roles in New Tricks and The Sweeney, passed away at his home in Spain with his wife at his side.

A statement from his family said: “We are deeply saddened to announce that our beloved Dennis, passed away very peacefully at his home in Spain.

“The family kindly ask that our privacy is respected at this very difficult time.”

Those who had worked alongside Dennis took to social media to pay tribute to the actor, with Matt Lucas writing: “I grew up watching Dennis Waterman’s iconic performances in The Sweeney and Minder. His guest appearance in our Little Britain Live show at Hammersmith Apollo – in which he hilariously duetted with David’s absurd impersonation of him – remains the absolute highlight of my career.”

While another wrote: “Dennis Waterman has left us. What a fantastic talent and lovely man. Such a loss to the industry. RIP.”

Dennis’ 60-year acting career first began in the 60s as a child, during which time he appeared in a few small stage roles for the Royal Shakespeare Company and in BBC TV series William, which had been based on Richmal Crompton’s Just William Books.

He landed his first major role in 1968 British kitchen sink drama Up the Junction, which saw him play Peter, boyfriend to Polly (Suzy Kendall).

In the 70s, he starred as a young Gestapo officer in BBC TV series Colditz, which ran for two series until 1974.

During that decade, he appeared alongside the likes of Christopher Lee, Richard Harris and Susan George in 1970’s Scars of Dracular, Fright and Man in the Winderness.

However, his most memorable roles during that period were that of DS George Carter in The Sweeney and Terry McCann in Minder.

Following his departure from Minder, he starred in comedy drama Stay Lucky, which ran from 1989 until 1993, and sitcom On the Up (1990-2).

Noughties viewers will recognise him best from New Tricks, which he joined in 2003 and starred on for 11 years until 2014. He filmed just two episodes before quitting the 12 series and was replaced by Larry Lamb as Ted Case.

His last ever project was Australian drama-comedy film Never Too Late in 2020, which sees four former prisoners of war that broke out of their camp during the Vietnam War become residents in the same retirement home.

Before finding love with his wife Pam, Dennis was married three times – to Penny Dixon from 1967 until 1976, Patricia Paynard for ten years from 1977 and Rula Lenska, from 1987 until 1998.

His marriage to Rula ended due to his violent behaviour towards her and caused an uproar over incredibly controversial comments he made about their relationship to Piers Morgan.

He told him while filming an episode of Life Stories in 2012: “It’s not difficult for a woman to make a man hit her. She certainly wasn’t a beaten wife, she was hit and that’s different.”

Dennis met Pam in 1996 and the pair were friends for a long time before they wed in 2011. She had been diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2006, but thankfully surgery saved her life.

Speaking at the time, Dennis said: “That C word is the worst thing you can hear. Matthew [Pam’s son] and I were just stunned. The first thing we did was go outside and have a cigarette. I mean how dumb was that?

“Because we were men, and for Pam’s sake, we couldn’t fall apart.”