UK actor Chris Langham, whose once-thriving comedy career was derailed when he was jailed for child sex offences, has died, according to British media.

Langham, 77, gained international plaudits and a Best Comedy Performance Bafta award for his role on the satirical show The Thick Of It before he was jailed in 2007 for child sex offences.

It is understood the disgraced actor died three months ago but news of his death was only broken following an obituary published in The Times. That obituary cited the date of his death as June 24, 2026.

Langham, also a frequent theatre actor, starred in UK sketch show Not The Nine O’Clock News before being cast in The Thick of It as cabinet minister Hugh Abbott.

His run on the show ended when he was convicted of downloading indecent images of children. He was initially handed a 10-month jail sentence, later reduced to six months.

Langham has long maintained that while he did download the images, he pleaded not guilty at his trial since they were part of his research for a “peeping tom”-style character on an upcoming series he was cast in.

However, he conceded that his actions had since destroyed “his life”.

“It wasn’t circumstances. I’m not blaming it on anything or anybody,” he said later, according to The Sun.

Langham is survived by his theatre director wife Chrissie, their children Emily and James as well as his children from a previous marriage to actress Sue Jones-Davies.