Emmerdale’s Steve Halliwell dies aged 77: Actor who played loveable Zak Dingle for 29 years passes away surrounded by family

Emmerdale star Steve Halliwell has died aged 77.

The soap star, best known for his role as Zak Dingle, died peacefully in a hospice surrounded by his family, ITV revealed in a statement.

Steve was the second longest serving cast member in the hit ITV soap after joining Emmerdale in 1994.

Steve's family said in a statement: 'He went to sleep peacefully with his loved ones around him.

“He made us laugh until the end, the most wonderful father and grandfather you could ask for, family was everything to him.”

Steve (right) is pictured with Danny Miller, who played Aaron Dingle in the soap

They added: 'We would like to thank the wonderful staff at St James Hospital and Wheatfield Hospice for their love and kindness in his final days. He didn't want sadness, but just to be happy with a life well lived.'

ITV also released a statement: 'All our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends and loved ones at this very difficult time, and we would ask that their privacy is respected as they mourn his loss.

'Steve will forever be synonymous with Emmerdale. The proud defender and head of the Dingle family.

'Heart and humor in everything he did, it is and always will be impossible not to smile when you think of him.

John Whiston, Managing Director of Continuing Drama and Head of ITV in the North, said: 'Steve Halliwell was one of those rare people who was as amazing off screen as he was on.

'To millions of Emmerdale viewers, he was the muscular but cunning Dingle patriarch who led the clan with a strong fist and a warm heart.

'To everyone who worked on Emmerdale, he was a much-loved friend and colleague, the undisputed father of the show, but also the funny, mischievous uncle. We will miss him enormously.'

Steve played Dingle's Head of Household on Emmerdale and was involved in several explosive storylines alongside his on-off wife Lisa Dingle.

In 2018, the star had to take five months off work to have a pacemaker fitted after being rushed to hospital for serious heart surgery.

Steve battled alcoholism and depression for fifty years and previously revealed how he related to his character.

Steve told TV Times: 'I see a pattern in me that leads to playing Zak. I went on a journey and it seemed like my destiny to play this man who I understood.

'Everything the Dingles had experienced, I had too: problems with the police, fights, evictions. And if there were aspects of Zak's life that I hadn't lived, I knew people who had.”

In 2018, the star had to take five months off work to have a pacemaker fitted after being rushed to hospital for serious heart surgery (pictured in 2014)