‘To me he was just Dad’: Bobby Davro reveals his father and Olympian Bill Nankeville has died at the age of 95
Bobby Davro has revealed his father Bill Nankeville died on Friday at the age of 95.
The actor and comedian, 62, took to his social media page to pay tribute to his ‘best friend and hero’ on Friday.
Sharing a picture of himself and his father, Bobby wrote on Twitter: ‘Today I lost my best friend and my hero. The most wonderful human being I have ever known.
News: Bobby Davro has revealed his father Bill Nankeville died on Friday at the age of 95
‘I’m so proud of him. He was GB mile champion and represented his country in two Olympic games but to me he was just “Dad”.’
His father Bill was a British national champion mile runner and won the AAA mile title four times in five years between 1948 and 1952.
Bobby continued: ‘I will miss him so very much and I will love him forever …
‘Whenever I was with him and he was introduced to anyone as, “This is Bill Nankeville he’s Bobby Davro’s father”. I was always proud to say “No … I’m Bobby Davro and I’m Bill Nankeville’s son!”
Family: The actor and comedian, 62, took to social media to pay tribute to his ‘best friend and hero’ as he shared a photo of himself and his father
Champion: His father Bill was a British national champion mile runner and won the AAA mile title four times in five years between 1948 and 1952 (pictured winning the mile at the Glasgow Police Sports)
‘Sleep well dad. I love you to the moon and back x’ [sic]
Social media was flooded with tributes for the athlete, with Piers Morgan writing: ‘So sorry mate. Your dad sounds an incredible man. RIP.’
To which Bobby replied: ‘He was indeed Piers and thank you for your lovely message x’ [sic]
Radio host James Whale wrote: ‘So sorry to hear that my friend I’m thinking of you XX’ [sic]
Tributes: Social media was flooded with tributes for the athlete as Bobby said: ‘I will miss him so very much and I will love him forever’
‘To me he was just Dad’: In a touching tribute, Bobby said: ‘I’m so proud of him. He was GB mile champion and represented his country in two Olympic games but to me he was just “Dad”‘ (Bill is pictured in 2008)
Fans also paid tribute to the late athlete.
One commented: ‘So sad for your loss, Bill was a great man in so many ways who was so proud of you – still remember him crying when you sat on the stage and sang “wind beneath my wings” to him’.
Whilst another added: ‘So sad to hear that Bill has passed away I knew him for over 30 years as @BobbyDavro1 would bring him to games both at White Hart Lane and Wembley inc the ‘91 FA Cup Final. He was so proud of Bobby. He was also an athlete in the ‘50’s who ran with Roger Bannister. (sic)’
‘My best friend and my hero’: Bill and his wife Jeanette welcomed Bobby in 1958