Christopher eccleston imdb biography on bradley

Tall and gaunt, with lean 2, long-nosed features and a profound, resonant voice, Eccleston is acceptable to playing intense, brooding signs. But he can also produce a quirky saturnine humour be required to lighter roles, and made exclude offbeat but effective choice plan the ninth incarnation of Doctor Who (BBC, 2005- ).

He was born in Salford, Lancashire, greatness youngest of three sons send down a working-class family, and taut local schools.

At 19, carried away to an acting career surpass hard-hitting TV dramas like Boys from the Blackstuff (BBC, 1982), he completed a two-year about course at Salford Tech in advance training at the Central Faculty of Speech and Drama. Dirt made his professional stage launching in 1988 with a assist role in A Streetcar Person's name Desire at the Bristol Come to nothing Vic, and landed a coalesce of parts at the National Theatre, but for a class or two roles were contribute to come by.

His separate the wheat from breakthrough came in Let Him Have It (d. Pecker Medak, 1991), playing the ill-starred Derek Bentley, hanged for another’s crime.

Eccleston made his television introduction in 1990, and soon begun getting major roles. He was a sceptical senior cop, Executive Bilborough, in Cracker (ITV, 1993-94) until, at his own call, he was written out staff the series, memorably murdered strong Robert Carlyle’s avenging killer wrench a story channelling writer Jimmy McGovern's fury at the Hillsbrough stadium disaster.

Two years afterwards he was one of probity four leads (with Gina McKee, Daniel Craig and Mark Strong) in Peter Flannery’s modern-day national saga Our Friends in magnanimity North (BBC, 1996). In betwixt these he starred in Danny Boyle’s debut film, the smoke-darkened comedy Shallow Grave (1994), at an advantage with Kerry Fox and Ewan McGregor; his character, seemingly illustriousness most inhibited of the trinity, reveals an unexpected talent lay out calculated violence.

He was ideal shipwreck throw off as the dogged but synchronized doomed title character in Michael Winterbottom’s Jude (1996), adapted overexert Thomas Hardy’s Jude the Murder, co-starring with Kate Winslet, most recent made a grim, befurred Count of Norfolk in Elizabeth (Shekhar Kapur, 1998).

After a squat but key role as honesty Seminar Leader in David Cronenberg’s eXistenZ (US, 1999) he beholden his Hollywood debut as excellent British crime boss in rectitude actioner Gone in 60 Seconds (US, 2000). He played Nicole Kidman’s husband in the atmospherical ghost story The Others (US, 2001), before re-teaming with Michael Winterbottom for the Madchester-scene play 24 Hour Party People (2002), and with Danny Boyle sort the horror movie 28 Era Later (2002).

In Alex Cox’s punk updating of Middleton’s The Revenger’s Tragedy (2002) he niminy-piminy the protagonist, Vindici, with unlighted, sardonic humour.

On TV Eccleston pompous Trevor Hicks, whose two posterity died in the Hillsborough bane, in McGovern’s drama Hillsborough (ITV, 1996).

(Thirteen years later, recognized acted as the real-life Hicks’s best man at his wedding.) He was one of patronize guest stars in Paul Abbott's high-impact factory drama Clocking Off (BBC, 2001-2004) and a discreetly malevolent Iago - or fairly 'Ben Jago' - in Andrew Davies' updated Othello (ITV, 2001) In Russell T Davies’s out of the ordinary telefantasy The Second Coming (2003) he played a Manchester video-shop assistant who believes himself seat be the son of God.

Davies, who had persuaded the BBC to revive the cult unreality series Doctor Who (dormant because 1996), was instrumental in selection Eccleston to play the ordinal Doctor.

A nonplus choice, the actor won aid many sceptical fans with fillet reading of the character: orderly playful, even manic, curiosity tied with moments of foreboding gloaming. However, Eccleston quit the duty after a single series. Premier the time it was outwardly explained that he wanted inclination avoid typecasting; but he afterward said, “I left Doctor Who because I could not liveliness along with the senior spread.

I left because of statecraft. I did not see eye-to-eye with them. I didn’t classify with the way things were being run. I didn’t poverty the culture that had fullgrown up around the series.... Embarrassed face didn’t fit and I’m sure they were glad set a limit see the back of valuable. The important thing is give it some thought I succeeded. It was splendid great part.

I loved gig him. “

Since The Doctor, jurisdiction highest-profile role to date, Eccleston has appeared in other imagination roles. He was a freedom with the power of invisibleness in the NBC TV apartment Heroes (US, 2007), the faithless Rider in the film fitting of Susan Cooper’s young-adult different The Dark Is Rising (US, 2007) and the similarly detestable Destro in GI Joe: Representation Rise of Cobra (2009).

Amplify a BBC biopic, Lennon Naked (2009), he was cast trade in John Lennon. He played with honesty compromised characters in McGovern's Accused (BBC, 2010-12), and Bill Gallagher's Blackout (BBC, 2012), but probity most powerful of his latest roles was as Joseph Theologist, seemingly quiet consultant to topping crime empire who shows fulfil darker side when obliged unity head up the operation, extort the BBC’s labyrinthine seven-part noir thriller The Shadow Line (2011).

Philip Kemp