Disgraced BBC and The Thick of It star Chris Langham dead age 77
His TV career came crashing down after he was jailedChris Langham has died from pancreatic cancer aged 77, it has been revealed.
News of the former BBC comedy star’s death has now become public almost three months after his death.
Chris had previously won a BAFTA for The Thick of It. His successful stage and screen career later ended after convictions for downloading indecent images and clips of children.
He served a prison term for his grim crimes.
Chris Langham dies age 77 for secret cancer battle
The news of Chris’ death became public after an obituary was published in The Times newspaper. It was not widely known that the Thick of It star had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
The title of the obit was ‘Gifted BBC star who became a pariah’.
Chris’ family had kept the news of his death private. His second wife, theatre director Chrissie, remained by his side through the years following his conviction.
Chris also leaves behind his and Chrissie’s children, Emily and James. The star, whose breakout role was on Not The Nine O’Clock News in 1979, also has several children with his first wife, actress Sue Jones-Davies.
Chris Langham’s 2007 conviction and sentence
A court convicted Chris in 2007 on 15 counts of downloading indecent images of children. The court initially imposed a ten-month prison term.
A later decision reduced that sentence to six months. At trial, Chris admitted downloading the images, although he pleaded not guilty.
His admission concerned the downloading itself. His explanation focused on why he said he had accessed the material.
He told the court that he had accessed the material while researching a character named Pedro. Chris described Pedro as a “peeping tom” character for the next series of Help.
He also told the court that he had no sexual interest in children. The actor maintained his research explanation after the proceedings.
However, Chris later accepted responsibility for the choice he made. He said the decision had “completely [bleep-ed] up my own life”.
Chris added: “It wasn’t circumstances. I’m not blaming it on anything or anybody.”
The convictions resulted in imprisonment and brought his successful career to an end.
Chris Langham’s BAFTA-winning television career
Before the criminal case, Chris had built a successful career across stage and screen. He appeared in BBC comedy sketch show Not the Nine O’Clock News.
Chris later made his name in The Thick of It. His performance on the programme earned him the BAFTA for Best Comedy Performance.
Not the Nine O’Clock News and The Thick of It marked separate stages of his television work. The sketch show came before his success in The Thick of It.
The BAFTA recognised the later programme, while Help featured in the account Chris gave during his trial.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI technology to synthesise source reporting and structured data. It has been reviewed, edited, and fact-checked by our human editorial team before publication.
