Writer and actor Stephen Hibbert, who is best known for the role of The Gimp in Hollywood blockbuster Pulp Fiction, died on Monday March 2 aged 68 after suffering a heart attack. His children Ronnie, Rosalind and Greg confirmed the news in a statement to TMZ. "Our father, Stephen Hibbert, passed away unexpectedly this week. His life was full of love and dedication to the arts and his family. He will be dearly missed by many," they wrote.

The English born star, who hailed from Fleetwood began writing for television in the 1980s. His first job was on the iconic long running night time chat show Late Night With David Letterman. He went on to pen numerous animated TV shows for children in the 1990s. He also wrote for Mad TV, the sitcom Boy Meets World and he penned the 1994 film It's Pat: The Movie, which starred Julia Sweeney. Alongside his role in Pulp Fiction, he had several other screen outings - Hibbert also appeared in several film roles during his career, including a small part as a prison guard in the 1999 comedy Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.

However despite his way with words, his most memorable role only required him to grunt when he was cast in Quentin Tarantino's epic Pulp Fiction.

The Gimp was a character boxer Butch Coolidge (Bruce Willis) runs into in the basement of an L.A. pawn shop when the owner orders his accomplice to bring him out.

Emerging from a locked box he was wearing just a latex rubber bodysuit with a zippered hood mask and he was shackled with a chain.

Tasked with guarding the puglilist while the captors drag crime boss Marsellus Wallace (Ving Rhames) into another room he never utters a word and his only sounds are grunts and laughs.

The entire scene lasts just seven minutes but is one of the most memorable in the film.

Stephen later explained how he was cast in the infamous role. He met Tarantino when he was in an improv group called The Groundlings in 1992. The renowned director would guest with them every week.

"He was pretty much the same then as now, hilarious, endlessly curious and passionate about film.

"Quentin, Julia and I were moviegoing buddies and sometime collaborators already, so he asked us to audition for Pulp Fiction," he told AARP in 2024.