Joss Ackland dead: Lethal Weapons 2 and White Mischief star dies aged 95 after career spanning six decades

BRITISH actor Joss Ackland has died at the age of 95, his family have said in a statement.

The star was best known for his iconic roles in Lethal Weapons 2 and White Mischief.

Times Newspapers Ltd

Joss Ackland has died aged 62[/caption]

PA

Ackland pictured with his wife Rosemary[/caption]

The English retired actor had appeared in over 130 film and television roles during his six decade career.

The stage and screen actor died “peacefully” and was “surrounded by family”, according to a statement.

“He will be remembered as one of Britain’s most talented and beloved actors,” it said.

Ackland was also a “beloved father” and had been married to his wife Rosemary for 51 years before she died from motor neurone disease in 2002.

The couple had seven children, thirty-two grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.

And despite his filming taking him to far-flung locations, he said Rosemary and he “were hardly ever apart”.

In 1963, the couple’s home in Barnes caught fire and Rosemary saved the five children they had at the time but broke her back while jumping from the bedroom window.

During his glittering TV career, Ackland was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for portraying Jock Delves Broughton in 1987s White Mischief.

He first appeared on screen during the 1960’s alongside notable actors including Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, and Tom Courtenay.

He worked with Alec Guinness in the 1979 television serial Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, playing Jerry Westerby, and his career grew through the 1980s with important parts in such films as The Sicilian, Lethal Weapon 2, The Hunt for Red October and White Mischief.

On television Ackland appeared as Jephro Rucastle with Jeremy Brett and David Burke in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; the episode entitled “The Copper Beeches”.

Other appearances included Passion of Mind with Demi Moore and the two-part TV serial Hogfather based on Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.

He also played C. S. Lewis in the television version of Shadowlands before it was adapted into a stage play starring Nigel Hawthorne – and then a theatrical film with Anthony Hopkins in the same role.

Ackland then appeared in the Pet Shop Boys’ 1987 film It Couldn’t Happen Here, and in the video for their version of the song Always On My Mind.

Several years later, he said in an interview with the Radio Times that he appeared with the band purely because his grandchildren liked their music.