Steve Halliwell, best known for playing Zak Dingle on Emmerdale, had a colourful life filled with extreme highs and lows, which included a spell of homelessness and a prison stint. The beloved actor, who joined the cast of Emmerdale in the 1990s, died in December 2023 at the age of 77. Before joining the Yorkshire-based soap, Steve battled alcoholism as well as depression, which was part of his life for 50 years.

At one point, the star was a penniless teenager sleeping rough on the streets of London, begging for food. In his autobiography, If the Cap Fits: My Rocky Road to Emmerdale, Steve said he left his factory job to pursue a new life in the nation's capital city. However, he wrote: "I would walk the streets looking for money or food."

When he was living in London, he was left "very thin" due to severe hunger and was arrested for squatting in a government building, leading to his imprisonment at Ashford Remand Prison, followed by probation.

In a candid interview with TV Times, he detailed the striking similarities between his own life and that of his on-screen character. He said: "Everything the Dingles had been through, I had too; trouble with the police, fighting, being evicted. And if there were any aspects of Zak's life I hadn't lived, I knew people who had."

According to other interviews with Steve, Emmerdale helped him turn things around as he channelled his energy into the role of Zak. However, the actor ended up admitting himself to rehab in 2003 to help tackle his issues with alcohol, which caused him to step away from the soap for a period of time.

He took a break from acting in 2018 to undergo heart surgery and have a pacemaker fitted. After a lengthy break, he returned to the soap in January 2021.

Steve starred in more than 2,000 episodes of Emmerdale and his death left his co-stars and loved ones heartbroken. His family said following his death: "He went to sleep, peacefully with his loved ones around him. He was making us laugh to the end, the most amazing father and grandfather you could ever wish for, family was everything to him.

"We would like to thank the wonderful staff at St James Hospital and the Wheatfield Hospice for their love and kindness in his final days. He didn't want sadness, just to rejoice in a life well lived."