John Bardon (born "John Michael Jones" on 25th August 1939 in Brentford, Middlesex; died 12th September 2014 in Romford, London) appeared on Coronation Street in October 1990 as thwarted air traveller, Ernie Lumsden.
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 owing 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, Rumpole of the Bailey, Mike & Angelo and East Is East.
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 as 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.
He was the special guest on the edition of This Is Your Life, transmitted on 5th June 2003.
