George Cole, the actor best known for his role as free-wheeling used car salesman Arthur Daley in the British TV series Minder, has died, according to British media reports.

The BBC quoted Cole’s agent as saying the actor had died in the Royal Berkshire Hospital at the age of 90.

Cole played Daley in Minder between 1979 and 1994, alongside Dennis Waterman as his streetwise enforcer, or minder, Terry McCann.

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James Bond star Roger Moore paid tribute to Cole on Twitter, writing: “How sad to hear George Cole has gone to that great cutting room in the sky. A lovely actor. A gentleman.”

Cole’s film and television career spanned more than 70 years.

Born in South London in 1925, he was given up for adoption shortly after his birth.

His show business career began in the pre-war music halls as a teenager, and his first film role was in 1941.

He acted alongside Laurence Olivier in the film version of Shakespeare’s Henry V in 1944, before national service in the RAF.

He also starred as Flash Harry in the St Trinian’s films.

But his most popular role was as Daley, the fast-talking wheeler dealer whose adventures in the London underworld made Minder one of the most popular British TV series of the 1980s.