Ross Kemp mourns his “hero and role model” father John, sharing a raw tribute before the funeral
Ross Kemp has announced the death of his father, John Kemp, at the age of 88, sharing a stark and moving tribute that laid bare a son’s grief and pride. The former EastEnders star posted a black-and-white photograph of his dad in army uniform and wrote simply: “John Kemp 1937–2025. Served his country, served his community, served his family. My hero. Love you always, Dad.”
He told followers he would be “burying my Dad tomorrow,” calling him “my hero, my role model and a great dancer.” The message landed like a punch: brief, heartfelt, and unmistakably final. Within minutes, condolences poured in from fans and colleagues alike, turning his comments into a rolling book of remembrance. Fellow EastEnders alum James Farrar replied: “Mate. What beautiful words. For a beautiful bloke.” Patsy Palmer added: “Sending love to you & your family,” while Coronation Street’s Lucy-Jo Hudson said she was “so sorry to hear your sad loss.”
John Kemp shaped his son’s grit and outlook long before fame and documentary work took Ross to conflict zones and high-stress investigations. John served in the Metropolitan Police and, by Ross’s own telling, cast a long, steady shadow of service and duty. Ross grew up in Barking, Essex, with mum Jean, a hairdresser, and dad John, a detective. Looking back, Ross once joked: “I take after both my parents – I can grill you then I can ask where you’re going on your holiday.”
As a boy, he didn’t immediately grasp what his father did. “I didn’t really realise he was a copper until I was a bit older,” he recalled. At first John “just went to work in a suit,” but the reality clicked when Ross saw him return home with “a gun under his armpit.” The image stuck. It spoke to seriousness, responsibility and the quiet weight of public service — the very qualities Ross celebrated in his tribute.
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Rather than join the force, Ross pursued acting. He trained for three years at the Douglas Webber Academy of Acting and landed his first major television role in Emmerdale as Graham Lodsworth — an army deserter. “That seems to be a theme for me,” he joked, recognising how often service, conflict and moral pressure feature in his work. Those threads followed him into EastEnders fame and then into a series of documentaries that demanded tenacity and composure under fire.
His father’s influence has surfaced repeatedly. Earlier this year, Ross became visibly emotional on BBC’s Who Do You Think You Are?, which retraced strands of his family history. He learned about relatives’ military service and their sacrifices, and the discoveries overwhelmed him. He apologised to historian Sarah Louise Miller for the tears, but viewers understood: service runs like wire through the Kemp family story.
Beyond television, Ross has long supported the armed forces. He serves as an ambassador for the Royal British Legion and last year trained with the Gurkhas to raise funds. In doing so, he emphasised why remembrance matters: not just for visible wounds, but for the hidden scars that many carry. “The poppy is synonymous with service both present and past,” he said, reflecting on those who live with trauma that isn’t immediately apparent.
Now the focus turns to John Kemp’s farewell — and to a son who has chosen to frame his loss through the lens of service, community and family. The photograph in uniform, the clipped lines of his tribute, the insistence that his dad “served” in every sphere: together they form a portrait of the man Ross calls his hero.
Grief often defies eloquence. Ross Kemp didn’t try to gild it. He wrote what mattered, and he let the picture do the rest. In the wake of his announcement, messages continue to arrive: colleagues offering solidarity, fans sharing their own stories, strangers saluting a life defined by duty. For Ross, the last word belongs to John — the father who served, the man who led, the dancer who lit up a floor, and the hero whose absence is now a palpable, aching silence.