Richard Stanley Thorp (2 January 1932 – 22 May 2013) was an English actor. He was best known for his 30-year tenure portraying Alan Turner in the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

soap opera ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

'' from 1982 to 2013. He also appeared in films such as '' The Dam Busters'' (1955) and ''

The Barretts of Wimpole Street ''The Barretts of Wimpole Street'' is a 1930 play by the Dutch/English dramatist Rudolf Besier, based on the romance between Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett, and her father's unwillingness to allow them to marry. The play gave actress Ka ...

'' (1957).

Early life

Thorp was born in Purley, Surrey. Whilst showing early ambitions to act he started working in the shoe business, Lilley & Skinner, where his father was one of several directors. There he began writing advertising copy including the line "Men's shoes that men choose" whilst continuing to pursue amateur dramatics. However, it was his frequent bad time keeping that caused him to be sacked by his father enabling him to pursue his ambition and train at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Career

Thorp's leading television roles included Dr. John Rennie in ''

Emergency – Ward 10 ''Emergency Ward 10'' is a British medical soap opera series shown on ITV between 1957 and 1967. Like ''The Grove Family'', a series shown by the BBC between 1954 and 1957, ''Emergency Ward 10'' is considered to be one of British television's fi ...

'' from 1957 to 1961, and Doug Randall in ''

Crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...

'' in 1975. He also appeared in a 1982 episode of ''

Strangers A stranger is a person who is unknown to another person or group. Because of this unknown status, a stranger may be perceived as a threat until their identity (social science), identity and Character structure, character can be ascertained. Differ ...

''. He was the longest-serving member of ''

'' since the death of

Clive Hornby Clive William Hornby (20 October 1944 – 3 July 2008) was an English actor, best known for his role as Jack Sugden in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. He first appeared in the programme (then named ''Emmerdale Farm'') in 1980, and remained in ...

in 2008. While he was happy to stay in the role of Alan Turner for so long, he complained that his character was not used as much any more. Thorp appeared as Lovejoy, a

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British rai ...

ways official, in an episode of ''

To the Manor Born ''To the Manor Born'' is a BBC television sitcom that first aired on BBC1 from 1979 to 1981. A special one-off episode was produced in 2007. Starring Penelope Keith and Peter Bowles, the first 20 episodes and the 2007 special were written by ...

'' centred on the proposed closure of the local

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

. He also appeared on

Lily Savage's Blankety Blank ''Blankety Blank'' is a British comedy game show which started in 1979 and is still running today, albeit with some sizeable gaps. The original series ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC1, hosted first by Terry Wogan from 1979 un ...

Personal life

Thorp was one of ''Emmerdale'' most private actors, although he gave an interview in 1995 with ''The People'' and revealed that he was separated from his wife, but they still lived in the same house together. Thorp was very good friends with

Lorraine Chase Lorraine Chase (born 16 July 1951) is an English actress and former model. She became well known for her strong south east London accent and frequent use of cockney slang, and found fame through a series of television adverts for Campari be ...

, who played his on-screen daughter,

Steph Stokes Mary Stephanie "Steph" Stokes (also Turner and Forsythe) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera, ''Emmerdale''. She was played by Lorraine Chase for a period of four years between 2002 and 2006. It was announced on 12 Septembe ...

in ''Emmerdale'', and

Sheree Murphy Sheree Victoria Murphy (born 22 August 1975) is an English actress and television presenter, best known for her roles as Dawn in Only Fools and Horses and Tricia Dingle in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', Eva Strong in the Channel 4 soap oper ...

, who played his on-screen granddaughter, Tricia Stokes in ''Emmerdale''. Thorp took a break from ''Emmerdale'' in July 2009 after undergoing a knee operation and returned in April 2010.

Death

Thorp died in

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

on 22 May 2013. ''Emmerdale'' producer Kate Oates stated: "Richard's death is a sad loss to ''Emmerdale'', of which he was at the heart for so many wonderful years. Richard had a brilliant sense of humour and he will be missed by every single member of our production whose lives he touched."

Filmography

Film

References

External links

* 1932 births 2013 deaths Male actors from Surrey English male soap opera actors English male film actors People educated at Uppingham School Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama People from Purley, London {{UK-tv-actor-1930s-stub