Actor John Benfield has died. 

He was with the same agency as Sir Ian Holm and his death was announced in a statement alongside the death of Holm. “We are very sad that two of our wonderful and much loved actors, Sir Ian Holm and John Benfield are no longer with us.  We send our love to their friends and family who share our sorrow for such huge loss,” talent agency Markham, Froggatt & Irwin said.

In a lengthy stage and screen career Benfield, born in 1951, was probably best known for his serious roles which ranged from Shakespeare to Minder. He regularly appeared alongside Helen Mirren in Prime Suspect as Superintendent Michael Kernan. He also played a police officer, DC George Jackson, in Eurocops and Henri Lautier in the recent TV version of Maigret.

But his stern looks were also put to excellent use in a number of comedies. He played Dad in the BBC sitcom Hippies in 1999, which starred Simon Pegg and Sally Phillips, and was also one of the main cast in the Ben Miller/Sarah Alexander comedy The Worst Week Of My Life in 2004. He played the father of Miller's character whose girlfriend was a lapdancer played by Lizzie Roper.

He was in The All New Alxei Sayle Show, Lenny Henry Tonite, Whoops Apocalype and, once again played a policeman in the C4 Sean Hughes sitcom, Sean's Show.

Other roles included the Dr Who audio drama, Circular Time and The Song of Megaptera, originally written for the Doctor Who television series but never made. 

He was also in the Woody Allen film Cassandra's Dream.