Cole passed away on Wednesday (05Aug15) at the Royal Berkshire Hospital in England after a short illness.

His agent Derek Webster says, "It is with deep regret that I have to announce the sad death of one of our most loved and respected actors... His wife Penny and his son Toby were with him at his bedside."

Cole was born in Tooting, London in 1925 but was given up for adoption, which he found out about as a teenager.

Throughout this 70-year career, he was best known for playing the dodgy dealing Arthur Daley in classic British TV series Minder between 1979 and 1994 and Flash Harry in four of the early St. Trinian's films.

He also appeared alongside Sir Laurence Olivier in The Demi-Paradise, was cast in Olivier's film version of William Shakespeare's play Henry V in 1944, and starred opposite Richard Burton and Dame Elizabeth Taylor in 1960s film Cleopatra.

His other roles include a young Ebeneezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol in 1951 and TV shows including My Good Friend and Comrade Dad.

Cole released an autobiography called The World Was My Lobster in 2013 and was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II for his services to drama in 1992.