KIDDERMINSTER-born actor John Forgeham has died at the age of 75.

John Forgeham was taken to hospital after falling from his bed on Wednesday night (March 8) and breaking his collarbone, but died on Friday (March 10) from an internal bleed.

The actor, who was born in Kidderminster, was best-known for his role in ITV drama Footballers’ Wives as the fictional football team’s chairman Frank Laslett.

According to the Daily Miror, his daughter Jonesta Forgeham, said: “Dad was a very talented actor and a charismatic and wonderful man.

“He would want to be remembered as this wonderful actor. He lived and breathed acting.”

She said of his accident: “It is still very raw. It is a shock because he died suddenly. We are all in shock.

“He had a fall on Wednesday night and called me on Friday morning to say he wasn’t very well.

“He was rushed to hospital and he had some sort of burst inside – something ruptured. There was blood everywhere.”

Forgeham also appeared in the Italian Job, Crossroads and Mean Machine, but much of his work dried up following Footballers’ Wives – which ran from 2002 to 2004.

Jonesta, 45, said: "He hasn't been doing much since Footballers' Wives. He fell into depression as he didn't get much work.

"He got very depressed. He stared at a wall for four years.

"He had psychotic tendencies and was put under section. He spent a year in a mental institution.

"When he came out, social services dumped him back in his house and they left him there to rot.

"He wasn't paying his mortgage because he was ill and they were going to repossess his house.

"They sold his house and put the money in the bank because he wasn't mentally fit and he moved to an old people's home.

"Then all of a sudden, he snapped out of it about a year ago and he was moved into a flat."

Forgeham, who was born in Kidderminster, also had a son, Jason, and was a grandfather-of-five.

Jonesta said: "Not being able to act contributed to his depression.

"He was troubled most of his life and he struggled with going up and down, but he lived and breathed acting."

He also had a son, Jason, and was a grandfather-of-five.

His Mean Machine co-star, Vinnie Jones, said on Twitter: “So sorry to hear about John Forgeham, he helped me a lot in the MM, a great actor, RIP JF.”

Footballers’ Wives star, Susie Amy, added on Twitter: “I was with Zoe (Lucker) today when we heard the sad news about John Forgeham - thoughts and love from both of us to his family x”

Scriptwriter Simon Golding tweeted a photo of himself with Forgeham and wrote: "So very sad to hear today the loss of my good friend, actor John Forgeham. A larger-than-life character & such a powerful actor. RIP John x"