John Bardon

John Bardon (born John Michael Jones on 25th August 1939, died 12th September 2014) appeared in Coronation Street in October 1990 as thwarted air traveller Ernie Lumsden.

Born in Brentford, he only turned professional in 1970 at the age of thirty after some years working in amateur rep. He started to build up a long CV of bit parts in film and television, becoming a familiar face due to appearances in Dad's Army, One of Our Dinosaurs Is Missing, The Sweeney, Are You Being Served?, A Sharp Intake of Breath, Angels, The Famous Five, Crown Court, Hazell, Shoestring, Hi-de-Hi!, The Gentle Touch, a regular role in Up the Elephant and Round the Castle, C.A.T.S. Eyes, Only Fools and Horses, 84 Charing Cross Road, Agatha Christie: Poirot, the Bill, Casualty, Drop the Dead Donkey, Minder, Lovejoy and Rumpole of the Bailey.

He enjoyed considerable success in a West End stage show where he played the part of the popular comedian Max Miller (re-creating the part for a television movie) but he gained his greatest fame when he joined the cast of EastEnders in 1996 playing the part of Jim Branning, a role which became a regular in the programme and which he was still playing when he suffered a stroke in 2007. After undergoing physiotherapy he made short-term returns until 2011 after which continued ill-health forced his retirement from the business.