CBBC star Archie Lyndhurst, the son of Only Fools and Horses actor Nicholas Lyndhurst, has died at the age of 19 after a short illness.
He was best known for playing Ollie Coulton in the comedy show So Awkward.
CBBC head of content Cheryl Taylor said he was “such a talented young actor”, adding: “All of us at BBC Children’s are devastated.
“He will be greatly missed by us all and our deepest condolences go out to his family and friends at this time.”
Archie began his acting career at the Sylvia Young Theatre School at the age of 10.
In 2013 his father Nicholas told the BBC that his son had inherited the “acting gene”.
Archie appeared in So Awkward, a sitcom following the lives of a group of friends in secondary school, from its first series in 2015.
Nicholas appeared alongside his son in a 2019 episode of the programme.
Channel X North, the independent production company that makes So Awkward, said it was “deeply shocked and saddened” by the news.
“He was an incredibly talented performer and his contribution to So Awkward, on and off screen, will not be forgotten,” it said in a statement.
“As well as hilarious, he was a generous, kind-hearted young man who we had the honour to work with on the show for seven years.
“Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time.”
John Challis, who played Aubrey “Boycie” Boyce in Only Fools, said Archie’s death was “the saddest news of all”.
He said Archie was “just starting out on his chosen career in acting” and that his “heart aches for Nick and Lucy”.
Steve Clark, author of an official history of the long-running BBC sitcom, also paid tribute on Twitter.
He said he knew “just how proud” Lyndhurst and his wife were of Archie, adding: “I cannot begin to imagine what they are going through.”
Archie’s other roles included recurring appearances as a younger incarnation of comedian Jack Whitehall in various TV programmes.
These included BBC Three sitcom Bad Education, in which he was seen as a younger version of Whitehall’s Alfie Wickers character.
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