Last of the Summer Wine star Tom Owen has died aged 73, his family have announced.
His appearance on the show continued a family tradition after his father, Bill Owen, portrayed his on-screen father, Compo Simmonite.
His other television credits included The Bill, The Onedin Line and Upstairs Downstairs.
They said: "He passed away peacefully and is survived by his two children, James and William, and ex-wife, Mary."
Owen began his career in acting after leaving school, and his father was instrumental in landing him his first job as an assistant stage manager at Leatherhead Theatre in Surrey.
After spending 12 months there he moved on to take up a similar job at the Westminster Theatre.
After four years working in television, Owen returned to repertory theatre in Sidmouth, Devon, and continued to work and direct in the theatre.
Owen was chosen to play Compo’s long-lost son just days after the death of his father in July 1999 from cancer.
Back in 2000 he explained that he'd been given the call to join Last of the Summer Wine and didn't have to think about it much before accepting the offer.
He said: "It was two or three days after Dad had died.
"Obviously my mind was on other things, like organising the funeral, and it hadn’t occurred to me at all that I would be approached to play Compo’s long-lost son."
"Alan suggested the idea to me and I thought about it for two seconds before saying yes. At first when I arrived on set it was very odd. It was emotional, but very early on I decided the only way I could tackle it was by being a professional."
The actor recounted that he'd been 'very aware of how wary the other cast members might be of me' because his father's death had been 'a traumatic shock' to them as well.
He said his dad had 'loved the show' and thought he would have been 'very happy' to have known that his son was going to take his place on it.
Tom had made his first appearance on the long-running sitcom in 1991 playing a bank customer, but between 2000 and 2010 he played the long lost son of his father's character Compo.
Owen said doing his part to keep the show going for his dad was 'continuing his memory'.
Last of the Summer Wine finally came to an end in 2010, having run since 1973.
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