BOLTON-born actor Bernard Kay has died aged 86.
He was cast in various roles in Doctor Who during the 1960s and also appeared in Z-Cars, Coronation Street and Foyle's War.
His most notable film role was as The Bolshevik in Dr Zhivago.
In 2006 Mr Kay scooped an award for the first chapter of his memoirs, Maybe A Bastard, in which he described his difficult childhood in pre-war Bolton.
He won the Creative Non-Fiction title at the New Writing Ventures awards for unpublished writers.
It was his first piece of writing since he was a newspaper reporter more than half a century earlier at the Bolton Evening News and the Manchester Guardian.
His friend, actor Toby Hadoke, confirmed that Mr Kay was found dead at his north London home on Monday and cause of death had yet to be determined.
Hadoke said: "He was one of those superb understated but versatile actors that we don't seem to have any more.
"He never gave a bad performance.
"He was greatly admired by his peers.
"His sense of humour was combative but there wasn't any meanness in him."
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