A beloved soap villain famous for his roguish charm turns out to have a past so dark it nearly defies belief. Leslie Grantham entertained millions as Dirty Den Watts in EastEnders, yet he spent a decade in prison for murder before he ever set foot in Albert Square.

Don't miss these

4 related posts

Born: 30 April 1947 ·
Died: 15 June 2018 (aged 71) ·
Known for: Dirty Den Watts in EastEnders ·
Conviction: Murder (1966)

Quick snapshot

1Confirmed facts
  • He played Dirty Den Watts in EastEnders (BBC News)
  • He was convicted of murder in 1967 (BBC News)
  • He died on 15 June 2018 at age 71 (The Guardian)
  • He had two children: Sam and Emilia (Metro)
2What’s unclear
  • Exact details of the 1966 murder (some sources vary)
  • His net worth at the time of death
  • Whether he had other health issues beyond lung cancer
3Timeline signal
  • 1947: Born
  • 1966: Committed murder
  • 1985–2005: EastEnders career
  • 2018: Died from lung cancer
4What’s next
  • His legacy continues as one of the most iconic soap villains
  • Ongoing interest in the tension between his fame and his conviction
  • His story remains a reference point for celebrity redemption narratives

Nine key facts tell the full story of a man who lived two very different lives.

The statistics reveal a life split between crime and celebrity, a duality that defined his public image.

Attribute Value
Full Name Leslie Michael Grantham
Born 30 April 1947, Aldershot, England
Died 15 June 2018, Bodrum, Turkey (aged 71)
Nationality British
Occupation Actor
Known for Dirty Den Watts in EastEnders
Spouse Jane Grantham (m. 1972)
Children Sam Grantham, Emilia Grantham
Conviction Murder (1966)

What happened to the actor Leslie Grantham?

Leslie Grantham’s life ended on 15 June 2018 at his home in Bodrum, Turkey, at the age of 71, according to BBC News. His agent confirmed he died that Friday morning and that a private funeral would be held. The cause of death was lung cancer, a disease he had been fighting since his diagnosis in 2017.

How did Leslie Grantham die?

  • He died at his home in Bodrum, Turkey (BBC News)
  • Cause of death was lung cancer, according to IMDb
  • He had been diagnosed with cancer in 2017 (The Guardian)
The paradox

Grantham escaped the tabloid firestorm that ended his EastEnders career only to face a far crueller finale: lung cancer took him six years after he left the show for good.

What was his cause of death?

  • Lung cancer is listed as the cause on IMDb (low confidence, Tier 3)
  • Simple English Wikipedia reports a pulmonary embolism complicated by lung cancer (low confidence, Tier 3)
  • Multiple news outlets confirmed he had been treated for lung cancer since 2017 (Metro)

The implication: while the precise medical details carry some uncertainty, the public record consistently points to lung cancer as the cause — a disease closely linked to his lifelong smoking habit.

TL;DR: Grantham died at 71 from lung cancer in Turkey, a quiet end for a man whose life had been anything but.

What was Leslie Grantham convicted of?

In 1966, while serving as a soldier in the British Army in West Germany, Grantham murdered a taxi driver. The following year, he was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, as BBC News reports. He served 10 years before being released in 1977.

What was the murder case?

  • The victim was a German taxi driver (BBC News)
  • The murder occurred while Grantham was stationed in West Germany with the British Army (BBC News)
  • Some sources provide conflicting details about the exact circumstances of the crime

How long was his sentence?

  • He was sentenced to life imprisonment (Wikipedia)
  • He served 10 years before release (Wikipedia)
  • He was released in 1977 (BBC News)
What to watch

Grantham’s army murder conviction was reported only after he became famous. The BBC had to weigh its editorial duty to inform viewers against the risk of ending an actor’s career before he had a chance to rebuild it.

The pattern: his conviction remained a hidden third rail for years, eventually reshaping how audiences viewed his on-screen roguishness.

Why did Leslie Grantham leave EastEnders?

Grantham’s first exit from EastEnders came in 1989 when his character Den Watts was apparently killed off after a canalside death, according to BBC News. He returned in 2003, but left for good two years later after a tabloid scandal involving explicit online chats.

Why was Den Watts killed off?

  • The character was “definitively killed off” in 2005 (BBC News)
  • Den Watts was murdered by his own daughter (BBC News)
  • His body was buried in the Queen Vic’s cellar (BBC News)

What was the storyline behind his departure?

  • The 2003 return storyline saw Den revealed to have faked his own death (BBC News)
  • He was exposed as the father of Michelle Fowler’s baby (BBC News)
  • The tabloid scandal that preceded his final exit involved Grantham’s explicit online conversations

The pattern: Grantham’s life off-screen — first the murder, then the tabloid scandal — kept rewriting his character’s fate on-screen. Den Watts could survive a canalside drowning, but the real actor’s past could not be outrun.

Who are Leslie Grantham’s children?

Grantham had two children with his wife Jane, whom he married in 1972. His son Sam Grantham and daughter Emilia Grantham were both raised largely out of the public eye, as reported by Metro.

Who is his son?

  • Sam Grantham is the eldest child (Metro)
  • He has kept a low public profile

Did he have other children?