GRANGE Hill was one of the nation’s most beloved children’s TV series and launched the careers of several famous faces we know today.
Today fans are mourning the passing of Lee Whitlock, who played Bevis Loveday in series 16 in 1993.
London-born Lee, 54, went on to appear alongside Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter in the 2007 film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
His death follows that of Gwyneth Powell, 76, who played headmistress Mrs Bridget McClusky in the BBC classroom drama, on August 8 last year.
It followed complications after a major operation for a perforated colon, her agent revealed in a statement.
Grange Hill ran for 30 years until 2008 and covered major issues from drug use to teen pregnancy, HIV and knife crime.
The show’s characters became some of the most recognisable faces on TV, but where are the actors who played its young stars now?
Lee MacDonald – Samuel ‘Zammo’ McGuire
The class clown was at the centre of one of the most talked about storylines on Grange Hill when his character developed a dangerous heroin addiction in the mid-80s.
Lee, now 54, tried his hand at professional boxing after leaving the show, but a car accident in the early 90s left him unable to return to the ring.
He had been running a locksmiths and key-cutting business since retiring from telly, but in 2019 he made a surprise comeback 32 years after playing Zammo by joining EastEnders.
In 2020, he got engaged to his long-term partner, Jess.
Simone Hyams – Caroline ‘Calley’ Donnington
Simone appeared in the first episode of Grange Hill and played the role of Calley in Grange Hill.
In 1991, Simone, now 51, landed a role in the film Dirty Weekend, but it wasn’t released until two years later because it was deemed too violent.
She then went on to star in The Bill before shifting careers to become a corporate events manager for Virgin.
Erkan Mustafa – Roland ‘Roly’ Browning
Erkan played the much-maligned Roly for six years and his performance would go on to make him one of the show’s most inspiring characters.
Fans loved how, despite horrific bullying, Roly always stood up for himself.
After Grange Hill, he starred in Lenny Henry’s 90s sitcom Chef! and Blackadder and also made appearances on Soccer AM and Celebrity Juice.
The 52-year-old continues to be an actor.
Susan Tully – Suzanne Ross
Susan, 55, went on to star in EastEnders as Michelle Fowler after playing Suzanne for three years.
She has since applied her talents behind the camera as a successful television director of shows including Secret Diary Of A Call Girl, Lark Rise To Candleford and Getting On.
Millions have watched her work as a director on episodes of Line Of Duty. Recently she directed the ITV thriller Too Close.
Sean Maguire – Terence ‘Tegs’
He played Tegs Ratcliffe in Grange Hill then footballer Aidan Brosnan in EastEnders and also had a briefly successful music career.
After 20 years acting in US TV shows, including The 100, Once Upon A Time and CSI:NY, Sean, 46, has become an American citizen.
Sean married police officer Tanya Flynn in 2012 and they have two sons. They now live in California.
Todd Carty – Peter ‘Tucker’ Jenkins
Todd was just 14 when he joined Grange Hill and went on to be one of the show’s most famous faces.
He was so popular as the lovable rogue Tucker that he got his own series, Tucker’s Luck, for three years.
He then played Mark Fowler in EastEnders until 2003 before joining The Bill as evil Gabriel.
Todd, 59, also famously appeared on Dancing On Ice in 2009 and nearly a decade later starred in the movie Birches.
Paula-Ann Bland – Claire Scott
One of the show’s iconic characters, Claire was a child of overprotective parents.
Paula, who played her, later landed a record deal for a cover version of The Locomotion.
She also moved to Los Angeles for a time before returning to London to set up a publicity firm.
Despite finding enormous success, Paula’s life was thrown upside down after she found out she had stage three triple-negative breast cancer in 2018.
In an interview in the Sunday Express at the time, Paula revealed: “When you hear the word cancer, you can’t hear anything else, everything else becomes just white noise.”
The actress, now 54, also lost part of her breast during her procedure.
She added: “I understand it had to be done to save my life and this is better than the worst scenario of a double mastectomy and removal of the ovaries.
“But the procedure still leaves you without an important part of your identity as a woman.”
Terry Sue-Patt – Benny Green
Terry played Tucker Jenkins’ footie-loving pal Benny and was the first child through the school gates back in February, 1978.
Sadly the actor was found dead in his flat in Walthamstow, London, in 2015, aged 50.
Police fear his body may have lain there for a month before it was found.
