Andy Devine arriving for the 2011 British Soap Awards at Granada Studios in Manchester
(Picture: PA)Emmerdale star Andy Devine has died at the age of 79, it emerged on Monday.
The actor, who is best known for playing Shadrach Dingle in the ITV soap, died of unknown causes.
Public records seen by The Sun confirm he died in January but news of his passing has only recently emerged.
Devine served in the Royal Navy in the 1960s before turning his hand to acting.
He made his first appearance on Emmerdale in 2000 as Shadrach – the alcoholic father of characters Chas and Cain – and appeared on-and-off the show for a decade.
He left the show in July 2010 after his character was killed off after suffering from liver failure following substance abuse.
“I did like my ending, because it was underplayed. Usually they just blow you up or something," he told Manchester Evening News at the time.
"I’m glad I was killed off, because otherwise I might have one of those days where I’d call my agent saying ‘get me back on it’. Now, it’s very much curtain down on that."
Tributes began flooding in on social media following his tragic passing.
One Twitter user said: "Sad news, RIP Andy Devine. Brilliant actor."
Another wrote: ‘RIP iconic #Emmerdale Actor, Andy Devine. What a talented, charismatic Actor and what a complex, funny, interesting, funny, flamboyant, unpredictable, intriguing character he played as Shadrach Dingle in the show. Thoughts with Andy’s loved ones.”
Devine also played a Draconian Guard in the Doctor Who story Frontier in Space, as well as Bernard in Channel 4’s Queer as Folk.
