John Bardon

John Bardon
John Bardon as Jim Branning in EastEnders
Born	John Michael Jones (1939-08-25)25 August 1939 Brentford, Middlesex, England
Died	12 September 2014(2014-09-12) (aged 75) Collier Row, Romford, Essex, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1973–2011
Notable work	Jim Branning in EastEnders (1996, 1999–2011)
Spouse(s)	Enda Gates (2002–2014; his death)
Children	1 (stepson)

John Bardon (born John Michael Jones, 25 August 1939 – 12 September 2014), was an English stage and screen actor. He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award in 1988 (1987 season) as 'Best Actor in a Musical' for Kiss Me, Kate, sharing the award with co-star Emil Wolk. He was best known for playing the patriarch Jim Branning on EastEnders for 13 years. On 12 September 2014 the BBC announced that Bardon had died at age 75.

Bardon was born in Brentford, Middlesex. He may be best known for having played Jim Branning on EastEnders. His character, the father of established character Carol Jackson, first appeared briefly in 1996. The character of Jim returned to the series in 1999 and this time became a regular character, later marrying Dot Cotton (June Brown). Bardon filmed his final scenes for EastEnders in March 2011 after years of poor health.

He also was a regular in Rumpole of the Bailey, as a member of the "clan Timson, a family of South London villains", as described by Rumpole. He had made notable guest appearances in Dad's Army in 1975 in the episode "Ring Dem Bells" (in addition to this, he played Private Walker in the 1975-76 stage adaptation of Dad's Army, as original television actor James Beck had died in 1973) and Are You Being Served? in 1976 in the episode "No Sale". He also starred in the British police drama The Sweeney, in which he played villain Doc Boyd in the episode "Faces", first broadcast on Monday 8 September 1975. In the same year, he also appeared as a bookmaker in the film One of Our Dinosaurs is Missing. In 1978 he was cast as Del Rogers in G. F. Newman's Law and Order on BBC2.