Geoff Hinsliff, who has died aged 86, was an actor best known on television for his role in Coronation Street as Don Brennan, a mild-mannered cab driver turned gambler, love cheat, kidnapper, attempted murderer and arsonist. Don’s life ended prematurely when he drove his car into a viaduct – and, in the middle of all this, he was in a turbulent marriage to Ivy, a devout Catholic struggling to get over the deaths of her first husband, Bert Tilsley, and son, Brian.
Hinsliff took the part after a quarter of a century playing character roles on screen and treading the boards in classical parts at the Old Vic theatre and with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
