Grange Hill star Stuart Organ, who was best known for playing Peter Robson in the children’s television drama, has died aged 72.
The British actor played a firm but fair role as a PE teacher in the drama, going on to become the longest-serving member of staff at the school.
His representative revealed he ‘died peacefully at home after a short illness’ on Friday.
As Robson, he was a PE and geography teacher before being promoted to headteacher in the series about life in a London comprehensive school.
The show ran from 1978 to 2008 and made headlines for its gritty social realism, tackling issues such as racism, drug abuse, teenage pregnancy, mental illness and HIV and Aids.
British actor Stuart Organ who is best known for his role in Grange Hill has died at the age of 72
Organ is pictured as the firm but fair PE teacher on Grange Hill, which ran from 1978-2008
The actor went on to play a geography teacher and headteacher on the Grange Hill show
Organ pictured on the popular TV gameshow Pointless back in 2019
Organ also portrayed Kevin Cross in the TV soap opera Brookside and featured in a host of shows including popular BBC sci-fi series Doctor Who, where he appeared alongside Sylvester McCoy.
His career also included appearances in medical dramas Casualty and Holby City and a number of films including 1990’s Those Glory Glory Days, 1994’s festive film Present Spirits and 1997’s Fork In The Road.
Organ started his professional career at Leeds Playhouse in 1975 in a performance of Tom Stoppard’s Rosencrantz And Guildenstern Are Dead, a spin-off of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, and would also tread the boards as Judge Turpin in Queens Theatre Hornchurch’s Sweeney Todd.
Grange Hill made household names of characters such as Zammo McGuire, played by Lee MacDonald, and Tucker Jenkins, played by Todd Carty.
In 2022, creator Sir Phil Redmond spoke about the show returning as a film.
Struan Rodger and Stuart Organ pictured together in The Waiting Time, 1999
Organ also played the character Eddie Sowden on Wycliffe, which ran from 1993-1998
