EASTENDERS star Nicholas Ball has died aged 78 following a battle with a short illness.
The actor played Terry Bates in the BBC soap and also had roles in Footballers’ Wives and Hazell.
Ball’s agent said today that he “passed away following a short illness”.
He also told how the star’s “successful acting career on stage and screen spanned an impressive six decades”.
Tributes quickly poured in for the star – remembering him for his titular role in ITV detective show Hazell.
One fan wrote: “R.I.P. Nicholas Ball superb as Hazell on TV in the 70s.”
Another said: “RIP Nicholas Ball. Loved him in Hazell.”
The actor was best known for playing gang lord Terry Bates in BBC soap EastEnders.
His most prominent moment in the long-running show came when he attacked Peggy Mitchell (Barbara Windsor) while smashing up the Queen Victoria pub.
Bates had been the leader of a football firm, and was a character in the show until 2009.
Ball’s character was reintroduced in 2019 when his corpse was found under a funeral parlour.
It sparked fears with EastEnders fans as they were worried Jay Brown would be killed off.
Ball also starred in ITV drama Footballers’ Wives, in which he took of chairman of the club and ex-rock star Garry Ryan.
And his glittering career included playing the lead in private detective show Hazell as the main character, James “Jim” Hazell.
Ball appeared in episodes of crime shows Jonathan Creek, Hustle, Heartbeat and Bergerac along with comedies Red Dwarf and The Young Ones and drama The Crezz.
Most recently, he filmed the 2024 rural-set drama The Kingdom By The Sea, opposite Coronation Street actress Rula Lenska.
He is survived by his widow Ayda.
Ball was previously married to comedian Sir Billy Connolly’s second wife, the comedy actress turned therapist Pamela Stephenson after they met on the set of Not The Nine O’Clock News.
