[2] Born in Gorton, Manchester, to John Edward ("Jack") Thaw, a tool-setter at the Fairey Aviation Company aircraft factory, later a long-distance lorry driver, and Dorothy (née Ablott).

His first film role was a bit part in The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962) starring Tom Courtenay and he also acted on-stage opposite Sir Laurence Olivier in Semi-Detached (1962).

Between 1964 and 1966, he starred in two series of the ABC Weekend Television/ITV production Redcap, playing the hard-nosed military policeman Sergeant John Mann.

His role as the hard-bitten, tough-talking Flying Squad detective Jack Regan established him as a major star in the United Kingdom.

"[8] Inspector Morse became one of the UK's most loved TV series; at its peak in the mid-'90s, ratings hit 18 million people, about one third of the British population.

He appeared in a number of films for director Richard Attenborough, including Cry Freedom, where he portrayed the conservative South African justice minister Jimmy Kruger (for which he received a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor), and Chaplin alongside Robert Downey Jr. Thaw also appeared in the TV adaptation of the Michelle Magorian book Goodnight Mister Tom (Carlton Television/ITV).

[citation needed] In 1964, Thaw married Sally Alexander,[12] a feminist activist and stage manager, now professor of history at Goldsmiths, University of London.

[21] In September 2006, Thaw was voted by the general public as number 3, after David Jason and Morecambe and Wise, in a poll of TV's 50 Greatest Stars for the past 50 years.

At the time of his death he was living at his country home, near the villages of Luckington and Sherston in Wiltshire,[27] and was cremated in Westerleigh, near Yate in South Gloucestershire, in a private service.

[28] A memorial service was held on 4 September 2002 at St Martin-in-the-Fields church in Trafalgar Square, attended by 800 people including Charles, Prince of Wales, Richard Attenborough, Tom Courtenay and Cherie Blair.