EastEnders star dies as tributes are paid to actor's 'decades-long career' that included Footballers' Wives
Actor Nicholas Ball, famous for playing gang lord Terry Bates in EastEnders, has passed away, his agent has announced. In their statement, Nicholas's agent announced that he had "passed away following a short illness."
They also paid tribute to his "successful acting career on stage and screen spanned an impressive six decades." He made a number of appearances in EastEnders between 2007 and 2009, where his character caused chaos in the Queen Vic, and event attacked the iconic Peggy Mitchell (played by the late Dame Barbara Windsor).
Prior to his stint on Albert Square, Nicholas appeared on Footballer's Wives, where he portrayed the chairman of a football club and ex-rock star Garry Ryan.
Nicholas first shot to fame in the 70s when he portrayed the lead in the detective series Hazell. In the series he portrayed a cockney ex-policeman turned private detective named James "Jim" Hazell.
The character was created by journalist and novelist Gordon Williams and footballer Terry Venables, who wrote under the joint pseudonym of P.B.Yuill. The first book, released in 1974 was called Hazell Plays Solomon - with the first episode of the show sharing the same title.
He appeared in a number of other TV shows, including Red Dwarf, Jonatan Creek, Hustle, Holby City, and the BBC daytime soap Doctors. While his film career saw him star in 2023's Trafficking as David Willis and as Merlin in the 2011 flick Enchantress.
His most recent credit is the upcoming film The Kingdom by the Sea. And prior to the sad news of his passing, Nicholas had been expected to reprise his role as David Willis in Trafficking 2, and was going to voice the narrator in the upcoming The Loneliest Cow animation.
Fans have been sharing tributes to the late actor. Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, one wrote: "R.I.P. Nicholas Ball superb as Hazell on tv in the 70s books adapted and co written by Terry Venables...." While a second penned: "RIP Nicholas Ball, star of Hazell, the detective show that was co-written by Terry Venables...
"RIP Nicholas Ball I loved the cheeky character, "Hazel " he played in 78/79 and his fab Triumph Stag" added another. And a fourth wrote: "Nicholas Ball was absolutely brilliant as Terry Bates in EastEnders. One of the show’s more underrated villains."
A fifth sad fan shared a photo of Nicholas as Hazel, which they simply captioned: "R.I.P. Nicholas Ball"
