Disgraced actor Chris Langham dies at 77 following battle with pancreatic cancer

Chris Langham, best known for his role in The Thick of It and Help, has died at the age of 77.The actor, whose career ended when he was jailed for child sex offences in 2006, has died of pancreatic cancer.Christopher LanghamHe is survived by his second wife, Chrissie and their two children, Emily and James, as well as his three children he shared with first wife Sue Jones-Davies.Langham played unlucky government minister Hugh Abbott in the first two series of the hit BBC sitcom. In 2005, he was named comedy actor of the year at the British Comedy Awards.However, just two days later, it was revealed that Langham had been arrested for downloading indecent images of children on the internet two weeks earlier.He was subsequently charged with 15 counts of downloading indecent images of children, including clips that showed the rape of a teenager and the sexual abuse of an eight-year-old. Chris Langham poses in the Awards Room with the Comedy Performance Award for his role in ‘The Thick Of It’GettyLangham was sentenced to ten months in jail and was ordered to be placed on the sexual offenders register for a decade.His sentence was later reduced to six months on appeal, partially motivated by the actor’s claim that he had viewed the imagery for research purposes for a role in Help, where he played a “peeping tom” character named Pedro.Some of the videos and photographs found on Langham's computer contained images of sadism and non-consensual sex between adults and children, the Crown Prosecution Service said.Outside the court, Kent Police’s Detective Inspector Derek Cuff, of Kent police, said: "Viewing such images simply perpetuates child abuse. Our thoughts are with all victims of child abuse, which has such a devastating effect on young people's lives."The Thick of It castGettyFollowing his arrest, Langham was dropped from The Thick of It, with his character written out off-screen between seasons two and three.Upon his release, Langham stated that his “conscience is clear” and said that the media had “ignored” the court’s “acceptance based upon all the evidence and expert opinion that I have no sexual interest in children”.He later said his own “arrogance” and “ego” had led him to watching the videos, and revealed the decision “completely f***** up my own life”.Chris Langham was charged with numerous sexual offences against young girlsIn a 2011 interview with The Guardian, he explained that he knew viewing the material was wrong but believed he was “above the law because I’m an artist”.Read More“I thought after [Help] I’ll reveal I’d researched it, and people would say gosh, you’ve taken this really difficult subject and done something amazing. I’ll do this thing, and everyone will think I’m wonderful. I thought if I pulled it off, everyone would admire me. And I’m a slut for approval.”