Rainbowstar Freddy Marks has died aged 71.
The TV entertainer was known for hosting the popular children’s TV show Rainbow alongside Jane Tucker and Rod Burton. The series ran from 1972 to 1992.
News of Marks’s death was announced in a post on a Rainbow fan group on Facebook, stating: “It is with a heavy heart that we sad [sic] to say that ‘Freddy Marks’ from Rod, Jane and Freddy has sadly passed away yesterday (27 May).”
A cause of death has not been given.
It added: “Freddy was a very talented and funny guy who always bought a smile to everybody’s face. Our thoughts go out to his wife Jane Tucker, Rod Burton and all their friends and family at this difficult time. Freddy will be greatly missed.”
Thames TV production company, which originally aired Rainbow throughout the Seventies and Eighties, paid tribute to the star on Instagram.
Its caption reads: “The sad news has been announced today of the death of Freddy Marks from the classic children’s TV show Rainbow’s Rod, Jane and Freddy.”
Marks’s death comes five years after he and co-star Jane Tucker got married.
The couple began dating in 1985 and married in May 2016. News of their ceremony was celebrated by Coronation Street actor Denise Welch, who shared a photo of the couple on Twitter at the time.
Marks rose to fame on Rainbow, a hugely popular British series intended to develop language and social skills for pre-school children.
The episodes were interspersed with songs performed by Marks, Tucker and Burton.
Amid the success of Rainbow, the trio went on to star in their own spin-off series titled The Rod, Jane, and Freddy Show.
The spin-off spanned a decade, running on ITV from 1981 to 1991. Following its conclusion, the group toured extensively around the UK.
In 1996, they won the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters Gold Badge Award for their outstanding contribution to the music industry.
Prior to his career as part of “Rod, Jane and Freddy”, Marks appeared in numerous London theatre productions, including as Brad in the West End production of The Rocky Horror Show.
