rian Capron visited Leslie Grantham in hospital just days before the former \'EastEnders\' actor died.
The former \'Coronation Street\' star held a vigil at the late actor\'s bedside last month while he was fighting for his life from a mystery illness, after becoming friends with the star - who passed away aged 71 - when they co-starred in pantomime \'Cinderella\' in 2014.
The 71-year-old star said: "I visited Leslie Grantham a few days before he died because we\'d worked together. We were the same age and it made me appreciate my life and the fact I\'m still working. Hopefully I can carry on a bit longer.
"I\'ve always looked young - even when I was 30, I was playing 19 year olds. It\'s in my genes and I\'m fit and healthy so I don\'t feel that old. I\'m lucky."
While Leslie was known for his \'EastEnders\' role as \'Dirty\' Den Watts, Brian made a name for himself on the small screen as \'Corrie\' serial killer Richard Hillman, but beforehand he played Mr Stuart \'Hoppy\' Hopwood in \'Grange Hill\' in the early 1980s - and he still gets recognised as the loveable character.
He added to TV Times magazine: "I love it when people come up to me about that.
"Some even think I used to be a teacher at their school.
"My agent only let me do it for four years, though, because they worried about me being typecast as a nice teacher.
"Later, there were worries about me being typecast as a psycho."
