It has been confirmed that Coronation Street star John Savident has died aged 86.
The actor was known for his booming voice while playing butcher Fred Elliott in the ITV soap.
Fred is well remembered by his friend Audrey Roberts (Sue Nicholls) who declared her love for him just as he was to marry Bev Unwin (Susie Blake).
A statement from his agent to the PA news agency said: “We are saddened to announce the death of actor John Savident, who passed away on Wednesday, February 21. He was a much-loved husband and father of two children and will be deeply missed by all. “. that he knew him.’
In 1994, Savident hit the cobbles and quickly became a fan favorite.
Coronation Street star John Savident has died aged 86, it has been confirmed
The actor was known for his booming voice while playing butcher Fred Elliott in the ITV soap.
His stories involved his disastrous love life, including three marriages and several failed proposals.
A secret son, Ashley Peacock (Steven Arnold), also arrived on the show and the two later developed a close bond while working together as butchers.
Savident’s character died in 2006, suffering a stroke on the day he was supposed to marry Bev (Susie Blake).
The actor is survived by his wife Rona Hopkinson and their two children.
Along with his work on Coronation Street, Savident appeared in several stage shows and appeared on shows such as Holby City and The Bill.
He also had a small role in Stanley Kubrick’s classic A Clockwork Orange in 1971 as the conspirator Dolin.
Savident also appeared in the 1995 adaptation of Othello with Laurence Fishburne as the title character.
The actor went through a tumultuous period in his personal life when he was stabbed in the neck by a man he met at a gay bar in December 2000.
The actor is survived by his wife Rona Hopkinson and their two children.
A statement from his agent to the PA news agency said: “We are saddened to announce the death of actor John Savident, who passed away on Wednesday, February 21. He was a much-loved husband and father of two children.”
Michael Smith, 30, was found guilty of an unrelated robbery at the time at Manchester Crown Court.
Smith, of Ashton-under-Lyne, Greater Manchester, was jailed after being found guilty of attacking Savident.
He had overpowered the burly actor and held a knife to his throat while threatening him: “I bet you’ve never met a schizophrenic before.”
Savident met Smith at Manchester’s Gay Village after making a personal appearance for World AIDS Day on the night of November 30 and invited him home to talk about theatre.
It was alleged that once at the star’s apartment, the pair continued chatting into the early hours of the morning before Smith attacked Savident in his bedroom.
But Smith claimed that the “discussions about theatrics” were simply a euphemism for sex and that he had attacked Savident in self-defence after he made sexual advances towards him.
Giving evidence during the week-long trial, Savident described how he had headed to Napoleon’s Bar, Manchester’s oldest gay nightspot, to see the owner, a friend of 17 years.
The actor said Smith, who claimed to be a theater student, approached him and they talked for up to three hours.
Savident (left) also appeared in the 1995 adaptation of Othello.
When the bar closed, he invited Smith back to his apartment, near the Granada Studios complex where Coronation Street is filmed, to continue the conversation.
But he told the court that when he went into his bedroom to plug in his mobile phone and charge it, he was pushed face down on the bed at knifepoint.
“I was totally surprised,” Savident said. “Suddenly I felt someone come up behind me and turn me face down on the bed and then I felt a sting in my throat.”
The actor added: “He said something like, ‘I bet you’ve never met a schizophrenic before,’ which was actually pretty scary.”
Smith demanded valuables and the keys to Savident’s classic Morgan sports car. But a struggle ensued and the actor was pierced twice in the neck.
Despite being only a centimeter wide and deep, one of the wounds missed the main artery in Savident’s neck by less than an inch and passed through a minor blood vessel, causing him to bleed profusely.
The Guernsey-born actor lost half a liter of blood as he lay in his bed while Smith searched his apartment.
“It was like a scene from Bates Motel,” he told police, referring to the hotel scene in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.
As Smith walked down to Savident’s garage, the star stumbled to the front door and locked her attacker in before calling emergency services.
“They stabbed me,” he told the operator.
‘Where were you stabbed?’ they asked him, before answering: “I don’t know, but I’m dying.”
But despite feeling weak and fearing for his life, Savident still pleaded with the operator: “You have to keep this out of the papers.”
And he added: ‘I’m John Savident. I play Fred Elliott in Coronation Street.
Savident put his hands to his head as the court heard him panic when Smith returned but, unable to get inside, he soon gave up and fled.
The actor fainted shortly after letting the police into his home. He returned to Manchester Royal Infirmary, where he was treated and discharged that afternoon.
Smith was arrested that morning in Manchester’s Canal Street district, his clothes soaked in Savident’s blood.
He was accused of wounding Savident with intent to cause serious bodily harm and stealing his wallet, credit cards, a silver money and cash clip, a Jorge Jensen watch and ring, keys and an invitation to the party. Coronation Street 40th birthday party.
At the end of the week-long trial at Manchester Crown Court, the jury took just over two hours to find him guilty on both charges.
Jailing Smith for seven years for the attack on the soap star, Judge Harold Singer said Savident could have bled to death if the knife had severed a major blood vessel.
He added that the sentences Smith had received in the past (he had more than 60 previous convictions) had been “somewhat disconcerting”.
In 1994, Smith was jailed for 11 months for robbing someone after tying him up and pressing a knife to his throat. The following year, he was sentenced to four years in prison for another knifepoint robbery.