Well-known actor and RSC veteran Clifford Rose dies aged 92

RSC veteran and well-known actor Clifford Rose has died aged 92.

Earlier this year he had moved from his Stratford home to Denville Hall, the actors' care home outside London. He died peacefully there on Saturday.

Clifford joined the RSC in 1960, and famously played Kessler in BBC TV series Secret Army before starring in its eponymously titled sequel.

Most recently he appeared in Hollywood blockbuster The Pirates of the Caribbean and hugely popular Netflix series The Crown.

Clifford lived for many years in Stratford and had two children with actor wife Celia Ryder, who died in 2012.

He was working until quite recently and was a familiar face around Stratford, rarely missing a production at the RSC, and he gave a reading at the Kempe Society in January 2020, when the Herald interviewed him.

However, his son Duncan told the Herald in September that his father’s declining health – including advanced kidney disease, heart problems and severe anxiety – meant he had to move into Denville last spring. A fundraising page was set up to pay for the homes' fees. Those who contributed to his care included Kenneth Branagh, Dame Judi Dench, Jonathan Pryce and David Morrissey.

See Thursday's Herald for full tribute.