Edward Evans

Albert Edward Walker Evans, actor: born London 4 June 1914; married 1939 Pauline Sherrey (died 1980; two daughters); died Longsdon, Staffordshire 20 December 2001.

One of Britain's earliest television soap stars, Edward Evans played Dad in The Grove Family. As the jovial but occasionally harassed jobbing builder, Bob Grove was beginning to live more comfortably having finally paid off his mortgage after years of working hard to create a home for his family.

Broadcast in the 1950s, this was the first soap aimed at adults. The intention was to represent the Groves as a typical, lower-middle-class British family. The Queen Mother, who was a fan, described it as "so English, so real".

Later, Evans acted the corner-shop owner Lionel Petty in Coronation Street. At first, Petty was an unsympathetic character who upset residents with his regimental style, and crossed swords with Ena Sharples. He soon grew more tolerant of the locals, but less so of his daughter, Sandra, who eventually walked out on him.

Edward Evans was born in London in 1914, into a Welsh theatrical family. His father, Alfred Evans, was a comedian and his mother, the former Edith Baker, was a singer with the stage name of Edith Earle.

Evans's parents were adamant that he should not follow them into show business but, at the age of 21, after various office jobs, he set out to be an actor. During the four years leading up to the Second World War, he amassed work as an extra, stunt performer and bit-part player in dozens of British films. In 1940 he joined the Army, serving in Italy and North Africa, and rising to the rank of captain.

After being demobbed in 1946, Evans returned to acting and, the following year, made his stage début in a tour of Wings, the producer Ralph Reader's tribute to the RAF. During that time, he formed a lifelong friendship with his fellow actor Tony Hancock. Evans subsequently appeared in repertory theatre in Sidcup, Watford and Palmers Green.

In 1948, he made his television début in a BBC version of the Emlyn Williams play The Light of Heart. He continued to act in films, playing character parts in pictures such as London Belongs to Me (1948), Mr Denning Drives North (1951), The Trials of Oscar Wilde (1960) and Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971). Evans calculated that over 20 years he played 40 policemen on screen, including the detective inspector in 10 Rillington Place (1970), the story of the 1940s murderer John Christie.

When the BBC producer John Warrington originally considered Evans for The Grove Family (1954-57), he thought that the actor would be perfect in the role of a nosy neighbour. But, after auditioning him, Warrington realised that he had his lead character and built the rest of the new television family around him: Ruth Dunning as his warm but forthright wife, Nancy Roberts as Gran, and Christopher Beeny, Margaret Downs, Sheila Sweet (later Carole Mowlam) and Peter Bryant as their children.

The programme, named after the BBC's Lime Grove studios, from where it was broadcast live, was first screened at 7.50pm on 2 April 1954. The north London family was an instant hit with viewers, and the writers, Michael and Roland Pertwee, made the stories topical. A spin-off film, It's a Great Day (1955), also written by the Pertwees, featured the television cast in the story of an impending royal visit to a housing estate on which Dad had worked.

However, the television serial – which attracted up to nine million viewers – was abruptly ended in June 1957 after 146 episodes. This came when Michael and Roland Pertwee asked for a break, new writers were hired and the programme was switched to the earlier time of 6pm. Within weeks, the axe fell, and the BBC left a gap that ITV filled three years later with Coronation Street.

Between film work, Evans continued in television soap opera, appearing in 20 episodes of the BBC's similiarly short-lived Compact, set in the office of a women's magazine, and spent eight months in Coronation Street (1965-66). On joining Britain's favourite serial, he found a well-oiled machine. After recording his first scene in the Rovers Return, he commented: "Everybody walked on and took positions around the bar as though they'd been told about them before, and they hadn't."

He played the widowed former sergeant-major Lionel Petty, who had been urged by his daughter Sandra (Heather Moore) to buy the corner shop from Florrie Lindley to enable her to get closer to Dennis Tanner. After he had turned customers against him through a military style of management, Emily Nugent (now Bishop) gave him wise advice on how to be more diplomatic.

However, Sandra eventually realised that Dennis had no feelings for her and left for her own flat. Lionel Petty closed the sub-post office because it was uneconomical and then, in January 1966, sold the shop to David and Irma Barlow, leaving the street for his native Wales.

Evans subsequently appeared in Hancock's (1967), in which Tony Hancock starred as the owner of a night-club in "Swinging" London; he played Daniel Watkins in a Play for Today, Joe's Ark (1974), and Aukett in Poldark (1975); and took guest-starring roles in series such as Doomwatch (1970, 1971), Doctor Who (1977) and George and Mildred (1977).

Although often cast in the parts of lowly officials, Evans was a versatile actor who took three different roles in Dad's Army (1969, 1970), including that of an Italian military officer. He retired from acting in 1995.

Anthony Hayward