RIP Patrick Durkin

Patrick Durkin born on June 9, 1936, from Linthorpe, Middlesborough, England was destined for a life of stardom when his father, an RAF veteran also called Patrick, sent him to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA).

Today, his brother, John, 69, paid tribute to the star who would often return to Teesside and regale friends with celebrity tales from the film-making world. He also told how the Raiders of the Lost Ark and Carry on Sergeant actor moved Harrison Ford to tears with his recital of the classic poem Horatius. John said: "Even as a boy of 14, 15 and 16, he could recite speeches from Julius Caesar. He went to elocution classes to learn to talk posh but I don't think he ever did really. He was also Tommy Cooper's straight man in Blackpool for many years." Patrick recently worked in Benidorm performing in clubs, but became ill and returned to London, where he died. John said: "Lots of other actors and his contemporaries gave him a good send off. Nobody ever had a bad word to say about him.

Patrick Durkin appeared in the 1966 British Euro-western “Carry on Cowboy”.