Sad news that Stephen Lewis has passed away. He played the great TV/Film character 'Blakey', and you had to have a comedy by-pass if you didn't laugh at Blakey, perhaps because we all knew a Blakey in our own working life!.
I also admired the way he stood by his politics over many years, and always campaigned for the Labour Party. Which is probably no surprise given his entry into the world of acting and writing, as a member of Joan Littlewood's left wing Theatre Workshop, where he wrote the stage play that became a great British film 'Sparrers Can't Sing'... if you ever get the chance to see it, count the number of actors destined to become TV and film stars, including the film's co-star Barbara Windsor. And there are many others who went on to become big stars, who got their first acting opportunities with the Theatre Workshop, like Lewis.
A good man and a sad loss.
