Jack Sugden

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Jack Sugden
Emmerdale character

Played by	Andrew Burt (1972-1976) Clive Hornby (1980- )
Duration	1972-
Date of Birth	28th November 1947
Date of Death
Marital Status	Married
Occupation	Farmer
Family	Andy, Robert, Victoria and Diane

John Jacob "Jack" Sugden is a fictional character in the popular soap opera Emmerdale.

Jacob and Annie Sugden’s son Jack was one of the original characters in Emmerdale. The Sugden family have owned the farm in Emmerdale since the early days of the programme.

Jack Sugden was originally played by Andrew Burt from 1972 to 1974 with a brief return in 1976, then he left to write a book in Italy. When he returned in 1980 he was played by Clive Hornby.

[edit] Storylines

Jack has had to suffer the deaths of two wives and see the betrayal of his adopted son Andy, by his other son Robert, when Robert started dating Andy's wife.

In 1982, Jack married his childhood sweetheart Pat Merrick, a single mother to son Jackie. Unbeknownst to Jack, Jackie was actually his son and when the truth came out it put a lot of strain on the marriage. Further pressure was added when Jack began seeing Karen Moore behind Pat’s back. When she found out, Pat demanded he choose between them and Jack opted to try and make his marriage work. However, fate took a vicious turn when Pat was killed in a car crash in 1986, leaving Jack to bring up their baby son Robert.

For several years, Jack stayed single only going on a few dates until he met mobile librarian Sarah Connolly in 1988. After a slow start, the couple moved in together and proceeded to have a daughter together, Victoria. Sarah also adopted Jack and Pat's son, Robert. The pressure of trying to keep their failing farm afloat put considerable strain on the marriage and Jack strayed - having a brief fling with Sarah’s friend Rachel.

Although it looked like the marriage was starting to work again, following the adoption of troubled teenager Andy Hopwood, Sarah and Jack were at loggerheads again just a couple of years later. Sarah began seeing theirlodger Richie behind Jack’s back and finally decided to leave her husband to start a new life.

Incensed by her actions, Jack prevented Sarah from seeing their children and it looked like she would go back to him for their sake. But Richie wouldn’t give up without a fight and took Sarah to the Sugden’s barn to try and convince her not to return to her marriage. While they were there, Andy - who didn’t realise Sarah was there - torched the barn to help Jack and get insurance money, and Sarah died.

Jack went into severe grief and was arrested for Sarah’s murder. Fortunately, he didn’t go to prison for the blaze as Andy finally took responsibility for what had happened and the Sugdens tried to put their lives back together. Standing by his side throughout the ordeal was Woolpack landlady Diane Blackstock who’d become close to Jack.

The pair started dating but thanks to hesitance on both sides, it looked like their relationship might never get off the ground. Meanwhile, trouble was brewing between Robert and his adopted brother Andy. As Andy prepared to marry his childhood sweetheart Katie Addyman, Robert had fallen in love with her and the two had started an affair. When it was finally exposed, the repercussions had severe consequences for the entire family; in a rage at Robert, Andy got a shotgun and waited for Robert to come into his caravan, accidentally hitting Jack when he stepped through the door of the caravan. Having nearly died thanks to Andy, Jack disowned him and it took months for them to begin to repair the damage to their relationship. Katie also left Andy and moved in with Robert.

Jack was planning to marry Diane, but her heart didn’t seem to be in it. Eventually, it was revealed that she was suffering from colon cancer and Jack was her rock as she underwent chemotherapy. The couple married, surrounded by their loved ones and enjoyed a honeymoon in Las Vegas while Diane was on the mend.

Jack was horrified to discover Andy had fathered a baby with local teen Debbie Dingle and the Dingles had gone mad. Although Jack supported Andy’s decision to be a hands-on father and was impressed with how responsible his son had become.

However, while Andy was doing his best, Robert was behaving at his very worst. Although he loved Katie, he’d been having a sordid affair with Sadie King and when his girlfriend found out she dumped him and left the village.

As Andy had comforted Katie on her last night in the village, Robert swore revenge on him and seduced Debbie – asking her to go away with him. Robert knew that this would cause Andy maximum harm as it would mean little Sarah would be leaving with them. So when Debbie turned up at the rendezvous point without the tot, Robert dumped her. Andy was horrified to discover his evil brother had tried to ruin his life again and the two engaged in a car chase which ended in a huge crash.

Both Jack’s sons emerged unscathed but Max King, who’d been inadvertently caught up in the events, died. Jack was furious and ordered Robert to leave Emmerdale forever – even though it broke his heart to turn his back on his own son. More trauma was to follow when Debbie gave Sarah up to Emily Kirk, who fled the village. Andy and Jack were devastated and hoped against hope that somehow they could get her back but to no avail.

Meanwhile, Jack was becoming infuriated by the business practices of newcomers the Kings and, although a fragile truce had been made after Max’s death, he continued to oppose everything they stood for.

But events closer to home were going to shake Jack when he was forced to take in Andy’s half-brother Daz Eden. Like Daz, Jack deeply disapproved of Andy’s decision to get back together with his ex-wife Katie. But he knew his son had to make his own mistakes. Although he cared deeply for Daz, Jack had no idea how massive the impact of having a traumatized teenager in the house would be on Diane. Still recovering from her cancer, Diane didn’t want to be put under so much stress and insisted Jack had to get Andy to take the youngster back.

In the end Jack didn’t have to do the deed because Daz, who’d realized what was going on, agreed to go on his own accord. However, the situation was untenable and Jack was saddened to see Daz leave Emmerdale to live with his mother. Daz has since returned to the village and Jack and Diane plan to adopt him.