Christopher Anthony Arthur Hancock
/ref> (5 June 1928 – 29 September 2004) was a British television and

theatre actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. He was born in

Bishop Auckland Bishop Auckland ( ) is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the confluence of the River Wear and the River Gaunless in County Durham, England. It is northwest of Darlington and southwest of Durham, England, Durham. M ...

, County Durham, England. His brother was actor

Stephen Hancock Philip Stephen Hancock (24 November 1925 – 1 November 2015) was a British television and stage actor, musical director and pianist. He was born in Bishop Auckland, County Durham and attended the Chorister School, Durham and the Darlin ...

. He and his brother trained at the

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre. BOVTS was an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance a ...

. He was married to Ann Walford; the couple had two daughters before divorcing. Hancock began acting in the theatre in the 1960s and he had roles in plays such as ''

Richard II Richard II (6 January 1367 – ), also known as Richard of Bordeaux, was King of England from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. He was the son of Edward, Prince of Wales (later known as the Black Prince), and Joan, Countess of Kent. R ...

'' and ''

Measure for Measure ''Measure for Measure'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604 and first performed in 1604. It was published in the First Folio of 1623. The play centers on the despotic and puritan Angelo (Measure for ...

'' (both 1965) and the musical ''

Billy Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) * Billy (surname), a surname (and list of people with the surname) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy ( ...

'' (

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and listed building, Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) an ...

, 1974). He was then best known for playing

conman A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibi ...

Charlie Cotton Charlie Cotton is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Christopher Hancock. Charlie is a recurring character, introduced in March 1986 as the estranged husband of established character Dot Cotton (June Brown ...

in the popular

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' from 1986 until 1990. His character was

killed off The killing off of a character is a device in fiction, whereby a character dies, but the story continues. The term, frequently applied to television, film, video game, literature, anime, manga and chronological series, often denotes an untimely o ...

in July 1991 but his death was not shown on-screen. He also appeared in other television series such as ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...

'', '' Softly, Softly'', '' The Gaffer'', ''

The Upper Hand ''The Upper Hand'' is a British television sitcom with dramatic elements broadcast by ITV from 1 May 1990 to 14 October 1996. The programme was adapted from the American sitcom ''Who's the Boss?'' As in the former series, affluent single wo ...

'' and ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

''. He reprised his ''EastEnders'' role as Charlie Cotton briefly in a special spin-off episode titled "

Return of Nick Cotton Return may refer to: In business, economics, and finance * Return on investment (ROI), the financial gain after an expense. * Rate of return, the financial term for the profit or loss derived from an investment * Tax return, a blank document or t ...

" where he appeared as Charlie's ghost in October 2000. He died in 2004 of a heart attack at the age of 76 in

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (), abbreviated ''Lincs'', is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to th ...

Selected filmography

*'' The Six Wives of Henry VIII'' (1970) .... Sir Henry Norreys *''

Elizabeth R ''Elizabeth R'' is a BBC television drama serial of six 90-minute plays starring Glenda Jackson as Queen Elizabeth I of England. It was first broadcast on BBC2 from February to March 1971, through the ABC in Australia and broadcast in the Un ...

'' (1971) .... Idiaquez *'' Casanova'' (1971) .... Cicospetto *''

'' (1971) .... Fraser / (1977) .... Dr. Villiers *'' Softly, Softly'' (1972) .... Meadows *''

Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...

'' (1974) *'' Love for Lydia'' (1977) .... Mr Richardson *''

Cribb ''Cribb'' (''Sergeant Cribb'' in North America) is a television police drama, which debuted in 1979 as a 90-minute TV film from Granada Television in the United Kingdom. Later, thirteen 50-minute episodes were produced, which ran from 1980 to ...

'' (1980) .... Mr Strathamore *'' The Gaffer'' (1981–1982) .... Wagstaff *''

'' (1986–1990) ....

*''

Little Dorrit ''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, originally published in Serial (literature), serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea pris ...

'' (1988) .... Customer at Coffee House *''

The Mirror Crack'd ''The Mirror Crack'd'' is a 1980 British mystery film directed by Guy Hamilton from a screenplay by Jonathan Hales and Barry Sandler, based on Agatha Christie's Miss Marple novel '' The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side'' (1962). It stars Angel ...

'' (1992) .... Arthur Badcock *''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' (1993) .... Ted Springett *''

'' (1993) .... Mr. Tanner *''

'' (2 episodes, 1993–1994) as Ivor Thomas (1993) / Mr. Clarke (1994) *''

'' (2000) .... Charlie Cotton

References

External links

*
Christopher Hancock Obituary
1928 births 2004 deaths English male soap opera actors Male actors from County Durham People from Bishop Auckland Actors from County Durham (district) {{UK-tv-actor-1920s-stub