Garfield Morgan, the actor best know for playing Frank Haskins in The Sweeney, died in December 2009, after a battle with cancer.

He was well known for his role as the boss of John Thaw and Dennis Waterman (Reagan and Carter respectively) in the iconic television series about the police flying squad.

Later in life, he appeared as Supt. Mason in a couple of Minder episodes, again with Waterman, and in the feature length film Minder on the Orient Express.

Pre-Sweeney, he took parts in Z-Cars, Softly Softly, and character roles in The Avengers, The Baron, The Saint and Man in a Suitcase.

Sitcom roles afterwards included Shelley, Thora Hird 's fellow Salvation Army officer in Hallelujah!, Tim Brooke-Taylor's boss in You Must Be the Husband and Labour Party whip Norman in No Job for a Lady, starring Penelope Keith as a female MP. He also took one-off parts in Lovejoy, Heartbeat , Holby City and The Bill.

He was born in Birmingham in 1931 and began his working life as an apprentice dental mechanic but decided to leave for acting and trained at drama school. He took to acting and directing for the stage, becoming director of productions at the Marlowe Theatre, Canterbury. He was also closely associated with the Library Theatre in Manchester, Northcott Theatre in Exeter and Nottingham Playhouse.

A little-known role was the narration for four Rick Wakeman albums and he appeared with the musician in live performances.

Away from performing, he was a keen eventer and show jumper, and was also secretary of the Stage Golfing Society.

Garfield Morgan was married briefly to actress and writer Dilys Laye , famous for the Carry On films .

He died on 5 December, 2009.