STAR of popular TV shows including Harry’s Game, Z Cars and The Bill, Ray Lonnen died at home in London on July 11, aged 74, after a three-year battle with cancer.

Born in Southbourne on May 18, 1940, Mr Lonnen attended Stourfield School and then the Hampshire School of Speech and Drama in Boscombe, launching his successful screen and stage career.

Over his career he played many roles in a varied range of television shows, including Doctor Who, Coronation Street, The Bill, Hammer House of Horror and Tales of the Unexpected, as well as voicing various characters in Budgie The Little Helicopter, Jackanory and audio books.

In the 1970s he played a recurring role in BBC drama Z-Cars, before a leading role as Willie Caine in spy drama The Sandbaggers. In 1982, he played the lead role of undercover British soldier Harry Brown, sent to Northern Ireland to infiltrate the IRA, in the much-loved ITV mini-series Harry's Game.

He went on to star in another spy series, The Brief, two years later.

On stage, Mr Lonnen narrated Under Milk Wood, and performed in productions of Guys and Dolls, Rebecca, Misery, Run for your Wife and many others following his debut performance in 1959. In 1986 he starred opposite Maureen Lipman in Leonard Bernstein’s musical Wonderful Town at the Queen’s Theatre, and nearly 30 years later he was performing on stage with Bill Kenwright in And Then There Were None.

Later television roles included Midsomer Murders and Crossroads, and despite his diagnosis of cancer three years ago he was still working this year, performing in short film Extended Rest alongside his wife of 20 years Tara Ward.

He took on a couple of roles in minor films, and during the filming of Stephen Spielberg’s original Indiana Jones trilogy and the James Bond franchise, he stood in as the main characters for the screen tests of the leading ladies – a task for which he received a letter of thanks from Kim Basinger after she won the role for Never Say Never Again in 1983.

His wife described him as a gentle man who showed great strength in his final years with his motto ‘seize the day’, and said his family was very proud of him.

Coronation Street actress Sherrie Hewson said: “He was brilliant – I adored him as an actor and a true gentleman.” Former Doctor Who star Colin Baker said he was a “really nice bloke”.

His first marriage, to actress Lynn Dalby, ended in divorce. He is survived by his wife, two sons, a daughter, and two sisters who still live in Bournemouth.