{"id":343918,"date":"2026-03-23T16:29:13","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T16:29:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/343918\/"},"modified":"2026-03-23T16:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T16:29:13","slug":"father-ted-star-ben-keaton-dies-suddenly-aged-69-we-are-all-in-shock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/343918\/","title":{"rendered":"Father Ted star Ben Keaton dies suddenly aged 69: \u2018We are all in shock\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Your support helps us to tell the story<\/p>\n

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.<\/p>\n

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.<\/p>\n

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.<\/p>\n

Your support makes all the difference.Read more<\/p>\n

Father Ted<\/a> actor Ben Keaton has died, aged 69, with his family leading tributes to the Irish star.<\/p>\n

Keaton, who was born Ben Burke-Kennedy, was best known for playing Father Austin Purcell in the Channel 4 show, appearing in a 1996 episode. <\/p>\n

He later appeared in Casualty<\/a>, Doctors, children\u2019s programme Hububb and Emmerdale, in which he played Rita\u2019s Brannigan\u2019s father, Jeff.<\/p>\n

While Keaton\u2019s cause of death has not been announced, his family described his death as \u201cunexpected\u201d. <\/p>\n

\"BenBen Keaton is survived by his son Waldo and daughter Daisy (BBC)<\/p>\n

Keaton\u2019s family announced his death in the Irish Times on Friday (20 March), writing: \u201cBen will be forever greatly missed, loved and fondly remembered by his ex-wife Polly, son Waldo and daughter Daisy, brothers Des and Thom, sister Jeanette.\u201d<\/p>\n

His ex-wife, Polly Kelly Keaton, also paid tribute to the actor on Facebook, writing: \u201cSo incredibly sorry to say Ben Keaton died last night. It was very sudden and we are all in shock. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe had separated several years ago, but we had half a lifetime together and infuriated and made each other cry with laughter in equal measure. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a great dad to Waldo and Daisy and the finest Groucho and Cyrano I have ever seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fans took to social media to remember the actor, with one writing: \u201cRIP Ben Keaton! Father Austin Purcell- the most boring priest in the world- was one of my favourite guest characters!\u201d<\/p>\n

Another said: \u201cA sudden and heartbreaking loss. Ben Keaton will be remembered for the laughter and memories he gave to so many.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BenBen Keaton won an Olivier last year for creating \u2018Brainiac Live\u2019 (X)<\/p>\n

Keaton\u2019s episode of the Channel 4 sitcom sees him play Father Austin, who is described by Ted (Dermot Morgan) as \u201cthe most boring priest in the world\u201d. Decades after taking on the role, Keaton brought back Father Austin to host pub quizzes in character and in 2015, started his own webseries as the clergyman titled \u201cCook Like A Priest\u201d. <\/p>\n

Outside of his TV roles, Keaton established a career in theatre \u2013 appearing in runs of Cyrano de Bergerac, American Buffalo and Harvey at The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester. <\/p>\n

He won the Perrier Comedy Award at Edinburgh Festival in 1986 for his stand-up work and was nominated for an Olivier after playing Groucho Marx in Animal Crackers in 1999. <\/p>\n

Just last year, he took home an Olivier Award for Best Family Show after creating Brainiac Live, based on the Sky science show. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[430,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-343918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343918","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}