Steve Hodson: Fans heartbroken as Yorkshire actor known for roles in All Creatures Great and Small and Follyfoot dies aged 77

Steve Hodson was born in Bradford and was working as a civil servant in the city when he was accepted to study at Central School of Speech and Drama in London.

Since then, he began appearing in roles on stage and later television including The Grievance and The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes.

He auditioned for his role as Steve Ross in Follyfoot in 1971, but was unsuccessful initially and was replaced with another actor. That actor was later dismissed and Steve took his place.

He appeared in all three seasons of the TV show from 1971 to 1973 and during this period there was a popular Steve Hodson fan club.

Steve released a single called ‘Crystal Bay’, written by Maurice Gibb and Billy Lawrie, in January 1973.

Obituary - Steve Hodson

As well as Follyfoot, Steve was also popular for his role as Trooper Raven in the BBC 1978 adaptation series of All Creatures Great and Small.

He also appeared on Crimewatch UK in 1985 as a bank robber in a reconstruction of a theft, after which a number of people reported him to be the robber.

Steve continued to act and worked regularly as a voice actor on radio and for audio books, including work with Christian Rodska, his co-star in Follyfoot. He married his wife, Rosamund, soon after finishing in Follyfoot, and they had two daughters.

On February 16, 2025, Steve died after a long battle with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a progressive lung disease caused by damage to the lungs that reduces airflow.

The Facebook page for Follyfoot Forum and Fansite shared a message from Steve Hodson’s daughter about his death, it read: “We have had a very sad update from Steve Hodson’s daughter Jessica. Steve passed away last night after a long battle with COPD. That’s one brighter star you’ll see in the heavens from now on. Much love to all his family at this awful time.”

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Fans flooded the comments with tributes to the actor who many described as their ‘first celebrity crush’.

“Sleep easy, Steve. You gave us so much enjoyment. Sincerest condolences to Steve's dear ones.” - Meredyn McNeil

“Oh no. That’s such sad news. Have been thinking of him lately. And was only watching his cameo in the original All Creatures Great and Small on U&Drama just yesterday. How ironic that he should be on TV on the day he passed. He will always be my first love. I’ll always cherish the letters I have from him. RIP lovely Steve. Love and thoughts to his daughters, family and friends.” - Sue Hirst

“So sad about this. Steve was my first celebrity crush. I loved him in A Horseman Riding By too….” - Bron Lloyd

“Such sad news. Follyfoot was my favourite series back in my school days. I have all the DVDs of the series. RIP Steve.” - Cat Thom

“So very sorry to hear this. Steve helped make my childhood/teenage years bearable. I was horse mad! I met him briefly once, and owned his single. Oddly I had been thinking about it this last week and had mentioned it to a friend who asked me what the first record I ever bought was. It was San Diego Bay. RIP. Love to the family.” - Rose Temple Morris

“Such sad news of a great actor. I watched an episode of All Creatures Great and Small the other day where he was a soldier.” - Jan Toy

“Oh my gosh …. Sad news indeed. So he and Ron are gone now. I used to kind of fancy Steve on follyfoot RIP Steve.” - Teresa Smith

“I have 3 letters from him, such a lovely man he was.” - Greet Rijntjes

“Rip Steve. You bought joy to many people.” - Dawn Harrison

“Total sadness, I was so jealous of him for many reasons. Good looks, great personality and got to work with great people including the simply beautiful Gillian Blake. RIP Steve you were an iconic figure even to us guys.” - Stewart Lamond

“So sorry to hear this, a big part of my TV childhood , his acting in the episodes when he tries to find his mum were top class, as I could relate so much to the story line , my memory of him is him and his mum arm in arm walking away together at the end of one of the episodes , my thoughts are with his family. RIP Steve.” - Andy Lawrie

“So sorry to hear this. I was so in love with Steve as a teenager; posters on my bedroom walls of follyfoot from look in magazine. Sincere condolences to all his family you will never be forgotten Steve you and follyfoot help make my childhood so very happy thank you steve fly high Steve.” - Joanna Morrison

“Sorry to hear. I was only thinking of him just the other day & tried to get an update on how he was doing. Lovely man. Best wishes to his family xx” - Sandra Paul

“That’s terrible news. I was in his fan club and also met him when I worked at the BBC. He was a lovely man. So sad. This news on top of the early death of my nephew yesterday. Please pass on my condolences to Steve’s family.” - Mary Walsh