robert andrew wass, known professionally as bobby knutt (25 november 1945 – 25 september 2017), was a english television actor and comedian, he started in entertainment as a stand-up comedian. he was best known for playing albert dingle in "emmerdale". knutt also appeared in "last of the summer wine", "heartbeat", "hetty wainthropp investigates", "all creatures great &amp; small", "our friends in the north", and "coronation street" as garage boss ron sykes.