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 Darlington Grammar School before reading music at Durham University as a mature student. He served as a radio engineer in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) an ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He was best known for his role as

Ernest Bishop ''Coronation Street'' is a British soap opera first broadcast on 9 December 1960. The following is a list of characters that first appeared in 1967, by order of first appearance. Steve Tanner Stephen Edward "Steve" Tanner, played by Paul Maxwe ...

in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based ...

''. Introduced as wedding photographer Gordon Bishop in a 1967 episode dedicated to one of

Elsie Tanner Elsie Gregory (also Grimshaw, Howard and Tanner) is a Character (arts), fictional character from the Television in the United Kingdom, British ITV (TV network), ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Pat Phoenix from the series' incept ...

's marriages, he later re-emerged as the regular character Ernie and played the character from 1969 until being written out in a fatal shooting during a burglary at Mike Baldwin's factory in 1978. Late minor TV roles included appearances in ''

Victoria Wood as Seen on TV ''Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV'' is a British comedy sketch series written by and starring comedian Victoria Wood, with appearances from Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston, Susie Blake and Patricia Routledge. The show was televise ...

'' in 1985/1986. He appeared as Mr Lillie in the ''

Tales of the Unexpected (TV series) ''Tales of the Unexpected (Roald Dahl's Tales of the Unexpected)'' is a British television series that aired between 1979 and 1988. Each episode told a story, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, with an unexpected twist ending. ...

'' episode (9/6) "Wink Three Times" (1988). He was also musical director of many stage productions and composed music for radio. His brother was the late Christopher Hancock who played Charlie Cotton in '' EastEnders''. In 2011 he appeared in a Coronation Street tribute programme.

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* 1925 births 2015 deaths English male soap opera actors Actors from County Durham People educated at the Chorister School, Durham Royal Air Force personnel of World War II Alumni of the College of St Hild and St Bede, Durham {{UK-tv-actor-stub