Ian Lavender has died aged 77

Stage and screen actor Ian Lavender has died aged 77, it has been announced.

The Birmingham-born actor was perhaps best known for his role as Private Pike in hit TV series Dad’s Army, which ran for nine series on the BBC from 1968 to 1977.

Training at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Lavender had a whole host of stage appearances across his life. In 2009, he played Monsignor Howard in Sister Act at The London Palladium, while also touring in The Mikado in 2013 across London, Birmingham and Manchester. He also appeared at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2013, performing in Twelve Angry Men.

Less recent credits over the decades came in the likes of Run for Your Wife, The Merchant of Venice with Dustin Hoffman in the West End, The Ghost Train and Robinson Crusoe. 

The actor also had a small role in the Dad’s Army remake film in 2016, and toured across the nation in the stage adaptation of the show.