Michael Elphick, TV hard man, dies at 55 | UK news

Michael Elphick, TV hard man, dies at 55

Michael Elphick, the star of the TV series about a motorcycle courier firm Boon, has died aged 55 after collapsing on Saturday and being taken to hospital.

Elphick, whose most recent role was in EastEnders as Harry Slater, and whose other big roles included Three Up Two Down and Harry, died after battling an alcohol problem for years.

The actor, who played a private eye on a motorbike in Boon, had a much-publicised battle with substance abuse after the death of his partner of 34 years, Julia Alexander, in 1996.

Elphick's mother, Joan, confirmed his death last night. Mrs Elphick, 84, described her son, who died after collapsing at his home in Willesden Green, north-west London, as a "very quiet and very kind" man.

Mrs Elphick said: "He wanted to be an actor from the age of 10 ... [he was] a very nice person."

An EastEnders spokeswoman said the cast and crew of the show were "shocked to hear of Michael's early passing".

Elphick left school at 15, and took a job as an apprentice electrician in the theatre before moving into acting. At Chichester, he met Laurence Olivier, who encouraged him to enter the Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

After drama school, Elphick played minor roles as a small-time villain in 60s and 70s TV shows, including Crown Court and The Sweeney. In 1985, he made his name in Three Up, Two Down, before following up with Boon and Harry, in which he played a journalist with a drink problem.

Elphick appeared as an ex-detective on the trail of a serial killer in the cult Lars Von Trier film Element of Crime in 1984.

His first big television role was as a lowly German in the series Private Schulz in 1981.

In interviews in the late 1990s, describing his feelings about his long-time companion Julia's death, Mr Elphick said: "At the time of Julia's death I said that I felt like shooting myself.

"I actually said I was going to shoot myself on my 50th birthday and that really was how I felt. But I don't feel like that any more."

He revealed how in the late 1980s doctors had given him a year to live if he did not sober up.

"My liver was almost destroyed," he said.

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