Lee Whitlock dead – Grange Hill and Sweeney Todd star dies aged 54 as tributes paid to ‘groundbreaking’ actor
LEE Whitlock, who starred in Grange Hill and Sweeney Todd, has died aged 54.
Acting agency Urban Collective confirmed the sad news that the popular English actor had passed away on social media.
The agency paid tribute to Lee as a “great character” who “left a legacy”.
A tweet from Urban Collective read: “Saddened by the death of our client Lee Whitlock.
“Lee was a great character & a great actor who has left a legacy of brave & groundbreaking work achieved at a particularly young age.
“Lee was hugely entertaining, funny & positive to work with, condolences to family & friends. RIP.”
It’s believed that Lee, who was born in Hammersmith, West London, died on February 17 – several days before his death was announced.
Lee began his acting career as a child, starring in popular TV series Shine On Harvey Moon as Stanley Moon in the 1980’s.
And he went on to play Bevis Loveday in Series 16 of Grange Hill in 1993.
Lee appeared alongside Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in the 2007 film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
Other film credits included Wish You Were Here, Jack the Giant Slayer, Cassandra’s Dream and Wild Bill.
Fans have also flocked to Twitter to share tributes, one said: “Very sad news indeed. He certainly made an impression on me and his work on The Two Of Us was ground breaking and hugely important to the LGBTQ+ community.
“A legacy to be proud of. Condolences to his family and sending love to all.”
Another added: “Just wanted to say how gutted I was to hear that the brilliant actor Lee Whitlock died.
“He was a lovely person, modest, funny, and kind, wonderfully cheeky, forever boyish, and will be sorely missed by all that knew him.
“Sad to hear about the death of Lee Whitlock. He was a good guy and will be missed. We had a lot of mutual friends so over the years we would hang out and watch Arsenal games together. I also worked with him on the Dexter Fletcher film Wild Bill.”