The British actor of film, television and theatre, Terence Rigby, died on 11 August, 2008, aged 71.

He was a staple of British television from the 1960s onwards and he appeared in notable films such as Get Carter (1971), Bond adventure Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Elizabeth (1998) and Mona Lisa Smile (2003).

He had a gruff countenance that saw him frequently cast as policemen and, conversely, crooks. His best remembered role was that of PC Snow in the Z-Cars spin-off Softly, Softly (1967-1976).

The RADA-trained actor also shared stages with John Thaw, Derek Jacobi, John Gielgud and Ralph Richardson and appeared in several Harold Pinter openings, befriending the great playwright as a result.

Terence Rigby was born on 2 January, 1937, in Birmingham. He began acting while a member of the boy scouts and continued to appear in amateur productions while serving in the RAF as a surveyor. In 1958 he was persuaded by a friend to try for RADA and got in at his second audition.

After graduating he joined the Birmingham Repertory Company, one of the top repertory theatres in the country, where he and his colleagues would perform a new play every fortnight. He made his television debut in 1963 in ITV's cop drama No Hiding Place.

He continued in that genre with roles on either side of the law in Dixon of Dock Green (1964-1967), The Queen Street Gang (1968), Z-Cars (1968), The Saint (1966 and 1968) and an ITV Play of the Week production called The Witnesses (1964).

In 1971 he played Michael Caine's London mob boss in the gritty revenge classic Get Carter (1971). Later in the decade he voiced one of the rabbits in Watership Down (1978) and was one of the stars of a television adaptation of No Man's Land (1978) by Harold Pinter. Of his friendship with Pinter, Mr Rigby once said: "I used to go round to his house in Hanover Terrace. I had that irritating habit of just turning up, which I suppose is a working class thing."

As well as his decade playing police dog handler PC Snow in Softly, Softly, he had prominent roles in the series Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (1979) and The Beiderbecke Affair (1985). He also appeared in the acclaimed BBC drama Our Friends in the North (1996).

During his later career he received frequent film work, with roles, ranging from playing Stalin in a detailed biography of Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich, to another Russian, General Bukharin, in Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), Pierce Brosnan's second outing as James Bond.

His last film appearance was in the low budget crime thriller Flick (2007) and in the same year he also featured in two episodes of the BBC daytime serial Doctors. He died at his home in London after suffering from lung cancer.

The actor's spokesman Peter Charlesworth said while announcing his death: "He will be sorely missed. There are not so many like him any more. He was a very powerful character actor, able to play villains and nice roles with ease. He was particularly good at playing Pinter roles, which were very difficult."

Mr Rigby's sister Catherine Sparks paid tribute to him: "We are so proud of Terry and are going to miss him terribly. He was true to his art and respected by all the industry - he was the actor's actor."