Samuel Kitchener "Sam" Pearson is a fictional character in the popular ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 soap opera

Soap opera

A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...

 Emmerdale

Emmerdale

Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...

played by Toke Townley

Toke Townley

Toke Antony Townley, born 6 November 1912 in Great Dunmow, died 27 September 1984 in Leeds, was an English actor.-Biography:His father was a vicar and he was christened John Townley, but his first name was then changed by his parents to the surname of an ancestor. After he left school he worked as...

, for 12 years from the serial's opening episode in 1972 until Townley's death in September 1984, almost two months prior to the character's death. Sam was the father of Annie Sugden and grandfather to Peggy Skilbeck, Joe Sugden

Joe Sugden

Joseph "Joe" Sugden is a fictional character in the British soap opera Emmerdale. He was played by Frazer Hines.Joe was one of the main characters in the Yorkshire-set soap for a 22-year period between 1972–1994 with a brief intermittancy of three years in the 1980s...

 and Jack Sugden

Jack Sugden

John Jacob "Jack" Sugden is a fictional character in the British television soap opera Emmerdale. The character was originally played by Andrew Burt from 1972 to 1974 with a brief return in 1976, when he left for Italy to write a book. On his return in 1980 he was played by Clive Hornby...

. Sam was one of the original nine characters of the series.

Sam was a god fearing and loveable man who could be a grouch to people. He died in 1984 in his sleep peacefully after winning a pumpkin in a village show the night before. He was born in 1900 and had served at Flanders towards the end of World War I. He had a sister Rosemary Pearson who later wed an Arthur Kendall. In a 1974 episode his middle name of Kitchener was revealed.