Sammy Johnson

Born Ronald Samuel Johnson Sammy Johnson 14th May 1949 to November 1998 was an English actor best known for the role of Stick in Spender A close friend of Jimmy Nail this was just one of the many programmes they costarred in together the others being Crocodile Shoes and Auf Wiedersehen Pet He also appeared in an adaptation of Catherine Cooksons The Gambling Man and as Vizs famous comic book character Sid the Sexist as well as the 1985 film Seacoal 1989s And a Nightingale Sang the 1997 TV film King Leek and a guest appearance in Casualty in 1996 One of his final roles was as Terry in Lost in France a series of short topical specials that saw him play the patriarch of a family of football fans following the exploits of the England team during the 1998 World Cup Later that year and whilst training for Newcastles the Great Northern Run Johnson died of a heart attack whilst out jogging in the hills above his home in Málaga He was 49 years old Since his death a memorial fund has been set up on his name and a biennial variety concert named Sunday for Sammy hosted by Tim Healy and until 2008 Jimmy Nail featuring sketches with North East personalities and former colleagues of Sammy Kevin Whately Denise Welch and Peter Beardsley are amongst the regular contributors Away from acting Sammy was a musician playing guitar in bands such as Pigmeat Ray Stubbs RB Allstars and Matt Vinyl and the Decorators