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Stephen Harold Halliwell (21 March 1946 – 15 December 2023) was an English actor, known for portraying the role of Zak Dingle in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale, which he played from 1994 until his death in 2023.

Life, career, and death

Halliwell was born in Bury, Lancashire, on 21 March 1946 to parents Fred and Jenny Halliwell. He had a brother, Clive, who was two years older. Halliwell was an apprentice engineer and worked mainly in cotton and paper mills before drama training at the Mountview Theatre School. He was a founding member of the Interchange Theatre in Bury. Halliwell was once arrested for sleeping rough in an empty government building in London. He was sent to a prison in Ashford for two weeks and was later released on probation. He also spoke openly about his experiences with depression throughout this period of his life.

During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, he featured in a number of British television series, including Here I Stand, Threads, Cracker, Crown Court, G.B.H., Heartbeat and Coronation Street. Then in 1994, he joined the cast of the ITV soap opera Emmerdale as Zak Dingle. Together with Emmerdale co-stars Billy Hartman and Alun Lewis, he was a member of UK 1990s country rock trio the Woolpackers who released the single "Hillbilly Rock Hillbilly Roll" in November 1996. In 2003, Halliwell took a short break from Emmerdale for personal reasons. He later said that the break was due to staying at a rehabilitation centre for alcoholism. In September 2018, Halliwell had to take five months off from Emmerdale for health reasons, which he later revealed was due to having heart surgery and a pacemaker fitted. Halliwell released an autobiography in 2014 called If The Cap Fits: My Rocky Road to Emmerdale.

Halliwell died, aged 77, on 15 December 2023.

References

1. "Index entry". FreeBMD. ONS. Retrieved 30 June 2018.
2. ^ Saeyang, Shado (19 December 2019). "Five Fast Facts About British Soap Star Steve Halliwell". Soap Hub. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
3. ^ Hayward 1994, p. 115
4. ^ Woodcock, Zara (22 March 2021). "Emmerdale's Steve Halliwell's complicated life after soap – depression and booze battle". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 10 June 2022.
5. Mapstone, Lucy. "Zak Dingle actor Steve Halliwell to return to Emmerdale after heart surgery". Irish Independent. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
6. Halliwell, Steve (2014). If The Cap Fits: My Rocky Road to Emmerdale. The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7509-5835-6.
7. "Emmerdale actor Steve Halliwell dies after 29 years as Zak Dingle". ITV. 15 December 2023. Retrieved 15 December 2023.

• Anthony Hayward (1994). Who's Who on Television. Boxtree Limited. ISBN 1-85283-936-8.

External links

• Steve Halliwell at IMDb 
• Steve Halliwell discography at Discogs

• 1946 births
• 2023 deaths
• 20th-century English male actors
• 21st-century English male actors
• Actors from Bury, Greater Manchester
• Alumni of the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts
• English male stage actors
• English male television actors
• People with mood disorders