Who did Richard Howard play on Emmerdale? Actor dies at 79 after 'short illness'

Richard Howard, the veteran British stage actor, passed away on Monday, January 29. The actor’s talent representatives, Scott Marshall Partners, announced the news on Monday evening, revealing that Howard’s death came after a “short illness”.

Their statement, as reported by The Sun, read:

“It is with great sadness that we announce the death of our beloved client, Richard Howard, at the age of 79, after a short illness. He is survived by his son, three step-daughters, and nine grandchildren.”

Richard Howard had a long and successful career, spent largely on stage, alongside several significant appearances on TV and radio.

He had also starred in a number of Olivier-nominated productions, including Shakespeare in Love – a historical fiction that was an adaptation of the 1998 film.

Howard played the character of Sir Robert de Lesseps in the play performed at the Noel Coward Theatre.

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Richard Howard played Bob Jerome on Emmerdale

Richard Howard was born on March 8, 1944, in the market town of Hitchin in Hertfordshire. After his schooling, Howard enrolled in the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where he trained as an actor before performing on stage.

Howard also appeared frequently in the iconic British soap opera Emmerdale – which has been broadcast on ITV since 1989. On the TV show, he played the role of Bob Jerome, appearing between 1979 and 1981.

Another one of Howard’s TV appearances was on Poirot – a TV show that aired on ITV between 1989 and 2013. The episode of his appearance was titled Four and Twenty Blackbirds.

Besides Shakespeare in Love, Howard has also worked in other legendary theatre tours of Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, and Twelfth Night across Asia, Europe, and America.

Richard Howard's death news shared on X (Image via X/@michaelbartrum)

His work in Stanley (1977) won Richard Howard an Olivier for The Best New Play. The play, performed in the National Theatre, featured the life and works of the renowned painter – Sir Stanley Spencer.

He had also acted in the BBC Radio 4 play – The People’s Princess – which was based on King George IV’s wife, Caroline from Brunswick.

In the later years of his life, Howard joined the Jill Freud Theatre Company as both an actor and a director. Howard also worked at Field Day – the theatre company of Brian Friel and Stephen Rea.

He was a member of several theatre communities, including the London Shakespeare Group in London and the Stables Theatre Club in Manchester.

Alongside actor and director, Howard also assumed the role of a teacher in his later life and went on to teach acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art as well as the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, where he had been an alumnus.