Ian Pepperell, best known for playing Roy Tucker in The Archers, has died aged 53, the BBC has announced.
The actor, who played the hotelier in long-running BBC Radio 4 drama The Archers for 22 years, died on Friday following a long illness.
He also acted in numerous stage productions and appeared in BBC soap opera EastEnders for a short stint during his career.
The Archers editor Jeremy Howe said: “Ian was the perfect Archers actor – he loved being part of an ensemble, relished the camaraderie and gossip of the Green Room, and had a seemingly effortlessly fine tuned vocal technique.
“Like all the very best radio actors he could think on his feet and change the way he played a scene in the blink of an eye.
“Thanks to Ian’s brilliance, he created in Roy a character who managed to face in two directions simultaneously in almost every scene he played.”