In pictures: Paul Shane's TV highlights
- Published
Born George Frederick Speight, Paul Shane made his TV debut aged 32 in Alan Bennett's drama A Day Out. Set in 1911, it followed a group of workers from Halifax who take a day out in the country on their bikes.
After a series of cameos, including a recurring role in Coronation Street, Shane made his name in the 1980s sitcom Hi-de-Hi! as holiday camp entertainer Ted Bovis.
Hi-de-Hi!, written by David Croft and Jimmy Perry, ran for eight years. Jeffrey Holland (right) played Spike Dixon, straight man to Paul Shane's loveable rogue.
Many of the Hi-de-Hi! cast were reunited in 1990 for BBC sitcom You Rang, M'Lord? Created by Croft and Perry, the show - which ran for 26 episodes - followed life above and below stairs in the house of Lord Meldrum.
You Rang, M'Lord? saw Shane play scheming butler Alf Stokes and Su Pollard play his daughter, naive housemaid Ivy. The show featured guest appearances from such actors as Barbara Windsor and Hi-de-Hi's Felix Bowness.
Oh, Doctor Beeching! was the last of a trio of David Croft sitcoms starring Paul Shane, this time as porter and acting station master Jack Skinner. It ran for two series between 1995 and 1997.
Set in 1963 at and around the rundown Hatley railway station, a stop on a rural branch line under threat of closure due to the Beeching cuts, the sitcom co-starred Shane's Hi-de-Hi colleagues Su Pollard and Jeffrey Holland.
In the latter stages of his career, Paul Shane had recurring roles in BBC hospital drama Holby City and ITV soap Emmerdale. His role in Holby City (pictured) saw him play health care assistant Stan Ashleigh, who struggles to cope when it is discovered his beloved wife has terminal cancer.