Freddie Jones

Although he may have been best known to the rank-and-file public as Sandy Thomas in Emmerdale, the newspapers did Freddie Jones a bit of a disservice by just referring to him as a soap star on his death. An am-dram performer until his 30s, he went on to be a respected Shakespearean actor on stage (his Lear was critically acclaimed, his Malvolio slaughtered by the press). He was also a favourite of David Lynch: he starred as freakshow owner Bytes in The Elephant Man and continued to work with the big-chinned weirdo director over the following two decades. 

Freddie Jones
12 September 1927 – 9 July 2019
Died aged 91 (Six picks, one joker)