High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! 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 1973 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. Hornby stayed in the role until 2008 when he was forced to take a break from Emmerdale due to illness. His last on-screen appearance was on 21 February 2008, and his absence was explained by the character visiting his mother, Annie Brearly in Spain. Hornby died of the illness without returning to the series.