Geoffrey Hinsliff (23 November 1937 – 15 September 2024) was an English actor best known for his portrayal of Don Brennan in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' from 1987 to 1997.

Life and career

Hinsliff was born in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

on 23 November 1937. In November 1954, aged sixteen, he appeared with the Leeds Service of Youth Players in a production of ''

Outward Bound Outward Bound (OB) is an international network of outdoor education organisations that was founded in the United Kingdom by Lawrence Holt in 1941 based on the educational principles of Kurt Hahn. Today there are organisations, called schools, i ...

'' by

Sutton Vane Sutton Vane (born Vane Hunt Sutton-Vane; 9 November 1888 – 15 June 1963) was a British playwright best known work for ''Outward Bound (play), Outward Bound'' (1923), which was filmed twice and was still being performed eight decades after its ...

at the Civic Theatre. Hinsliff trained at

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central Lond ...

, before making his television debut in an episode of ''

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 ...

''. He went on to appear in ''

Adam Adamant Lives! ''Adam Adamant Lives!'' is a British adventure television series that ran from 1966 to 1967 on BBC 1, starring Gerald Harper in the title role. The series was created and produced by several alumni from ''Doctor Who''. The titular character w ...

'', ''

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'', ''

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'', ''

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'', '' The Professionals'' and '' Heartbeat'', and also played a wireless operator in the film '' A Bridge Too Far''. In 1978 Hinsliff appeared as a sergeant in an episode of the hard-hitting British police drama '' The Professionals'', the episode entitled ''When the Heat Cools Off''. In 1979 he took the role of Doctor Astrov in

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

's ''

Uncle Vanya ''Uncle Vanya'' ( rus, Дя́дя Ва́ня, r=Dyádya Ványa, p=ˈdʲædʲə ˈvanʲə) is a play by the Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. It was first published in 1897, and first produced in 1899 by the Moscow Art Theatre, directed by Konstan ...

'' at

Leeds Playhouse Leeds Playhouse is a theatre in the city centre of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It opened in 1990 in the Quarry Hill area of the city as the West Yorkshire Playhouse, successor to the original Leeds Playhouse, and was rebranded in June 2018 ...

directed by

Michael Attenborough Michael John Attenborough (born 13 February 1950) is an English theatre director. Background Attenborough was born on 13 February 1950 in London, the only son of actress Sheila Sim and actor-director Richard Attenborough. He is the nephew of ...

. Starting in 1987, Hinsliff appeared regularly on the British television soap opera series ''

'' as Don Brennan. Hinsliff had previously appeared on one episode of the show in 1977 as a minor character named Eric Bailey. Brennan's storylines on the show ranged from on and off again extramarital affairs with

Denise Black Denise Black (born 16 March 1958) is an English actress. She is best known for her roles in ''Coronation Street'' and ''Emmerdale''. Early life and career Black was born in Emsworth, Hampshire. After attending Portsmouth High School for Gir ...

's character Denise Osbourne to an attempted kidnapping of Alma Halliwell, portrayed by

Amanda Barrie Amanda Barrie (born Shirley Anne Broadbent; 14 September 1935) is an English actress. She appeared in two of the '' Carry On'' films before being cast as Alma Halliwell in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', a role she played on and off ...

. According to show broadcasters ITV, his character's turbulent relationship with his wife Ivy, portrayed by

Lynne Perrie Lynne Perrie (born Jean Dudley; 7 April 1931 – 24 March 2006) was an English actress, singer and television personality, best known as Mrs Casper in Ken Loach's 1969 film ''Kes (film), Kes'', Mrs Petty in the television series ''Queenie's Cast ...

, attracted praise and was generally well-received by fans. Hinsliff was eventually written off the show in 1997, when his character Don Brennan died in a car crash shortly after kidnapping Alma Halliwell and attempting to murder her then-husband Mike Baldwin, a business rival of Brennan who was himself portrayed by Johnny Briggs. He also had a role in the comedy-drama ''

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'' and appeared in two ''

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'' stories: ''

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'' and '' Nightmare of Eden''. He guest-starred in ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

'' as an alcoholic in 2010.

Personal life and death

Hinsliff married Judith Seal on 2 September 1967 in St Cecilia's Church,

Little Hadham Little Hadham is a village and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, England. At the census of 2001 it had a population of 1,081, increasing to 1,153 at the 2011 Census. It is bypassed by the A120 road, which connect ...

. They had two children, including journalist

Gaby Hinsliff Gabrielle Seal Hinsliff (born 4 July 1971) is an English journalist and columnist for ''The Guardian''. Early life and career Born in Chelmsford she is one of the daughters of the actor Geoff Hinsliff. She attended Queens' College, Cambridge, ...

. Hinsliff lived in

Winster Winster is a village in the English Derbyshire Dales about from Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock and from Bakewell at an altitude of approximately . It was formerly a centre for the lead mining industry. The village lies within the Peak District N ...

in the Derbyshire Dales. He died on 15 September 2024, at the age of 86.

Selected filmography

*''

O Lucky Man! ''O Lucky Man!'' is a 1973 British comedy-drama fantasy film directed by Lindsay Anderson and starring Malcolm McDowell as Mick Travis, whom McDowell had first played as a disaffected public schoolboy in his first film performance in Anderso ...

'' (1973) *''The Battle of Billy's Pond'' (1976) – Tanker Driver *'' I, Claudius'' (1976) – Rufrius *'' A Bridge Too Far'' (1977) – British Wireless Operator

References

External links

*
Geoffrey Hinsliff
at Theatricalia {{DEFAULTSORT:Hinsliff, Geoffrey 1937 births 2024 deaths 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art English male television actors Male actors from Leeds People from Derbyshire Dales (district) Place of death missing