Dean Sullivan, who has died aged 68 after suffering from prostate cancer, played Jimmy Corkhill in Brookside – a character involved in petty crime before mixing with hardened criminals and turning to drugs – and was the longest-serving actor in the Liverpool drama, created by Phil Redmond, that shook up television soap opera when it began with the launch of Channel 4 in 1982.
He joined as a semi-regular in 1986, playing the younger brother of Billy (John McArdle), who had been introduced with his family the previous year. Jimmy’s early scams included burgling Billy’s home for the insurance to ease their financial woes and fiddling their electricity meter.
