Reece Dinsdale

Last updated

Reece Dinsdale
Born (1959-08-06) 6 August 1959 (age 64)
Normanton, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Alma mater Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Occupation(s)Actor, director
Years active1980–present
Spouse Zara Turner
Children2

Reece Dinsdale (born 6 August 1959) is an English actor and director of stage, film and television. He is a Huddersfield Town fan. [1] In 2017 he became a patron of the Square Chapel, an arts centre in Halifax. [2] He is also an honorary patron of The Old Courts multi-arts centre in Wigan [3]

Contents

Acting career

Dinsdale trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1977 until 1980. After initially working in theatre in Exeter, Nottingham, Birmingham and at the Edinburgh Festival, Dinsdale got his first TV role in the Granada thriller Knife Edge in 1981. He followed this up by appearing in Out on the Floor a single drama for the BBC in 1982. This led to him being cast as Albert in Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime series for ITV in 1982.

More theatre followed with Beethoven's Tenth with Peter Ustinov at the Vaudeville Theatre, London and the highly acclaimed Red Saturday at the Royal Court. He played Jimmy Kemp in Threads (1984), a-soon-to-be-father and husband caught up in a nuclear attack on Sheffield. 1984 also saw Dinsdale appearing in one of his first feature films, Alan Bennett's A Private Function , and the TV movie Winter Flight opposite Nicola Cowper.

Glamour Night, another single drama for the BBC followed in 1984 before Dinsdale was cast as Matthew Willows in the British sitcom Home to Roost written by Eric Chappell and co-starring John Thaw. Dinsdale played Thaw's unruly teenage son Matthew who comes to live with his estranged father after his mother throws him out. The show ran for four series between 1985 and 1990.

Interspersed with this were many appearances on stage, including the award-winning play Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme at the Hampstead Theatre, London, in 1986, Woundings and Don Carlos at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, and Old Year's Eve at the Royal Shakespeare Company. On television he had leading roles in the three-part series Take Me Home, and The Attractions , and the single drama Coppers opposite Tim Roth. He also played Fearnot in Jim Henson's "The Storyteller" which aired 26 October 1987.

Dinsdale played the leading role of Jack Rover in Wild Oats in the inaugural production at the newly built West Yorkshire Playhouse in 1990. He then appeared in Young Catherine , a miniseries in which he played the Grand Duke Peter. He then appeared at the National Theatre in David Hare's Racing Demon .

From 1990 to 1992 he co-starred in Haggard , a comedy set in the late 18th century. In 1994, he played the leading role in ID , a British feature film charting the demise of a police officer who goes undercover to root out a firm of football hooligans. Based on a true story, Dinsdale won the International Critics Award for best actor at the Geneva Film Festival.

Dinsdale has continued to play leading roles on both stage and screen. Highlights include two series of Thief Takers in which he played the central role of Charlie Scott, and Kenneth Branagh's film of Hamlet in which he played Guildenstern opposite Timothy Spall's Rosencrantz. He guested in Spooks , Life on Mars , Murder in Mind , Silent Witness , and many others.

Dinsdale starred opposite Julie Walters in the ITV drama Ahead of the Class and played Robert in Conviction for the BBC (directed by Marc Munden). He starred in two series of The Chase (also for the BBC) and in two thrillers for ITV, Love Lies Bleeding and Midnight Man .

In 2008, he joined the cast of Coronation Street to play the ill-fated Joe McIntyre, leaving of his own volition in February 2010. [4] Since then he filmed leading guest roles in Waterloo Road , Taggart and Moving On . He played Doctor Wengel in Ibsen's The Lady From the Sea at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. In 2012 he appeared in the feature film The Knife That Killed Me. In 2013, Dinsdale played the role of Walter Harrison in James Graham's smash hit play This House on the Olivier stage at the National Theatre - directed by Jeremy Herrin. In 2014, he played Alan Bennett in Bennett's autobiographical play Untold Stories at the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

In 2015 Dinsdale played the central role of George Jones in Headlong's national tour of Sir David Hare's play The Absence of War, once again directed by Jeremy Herrin. In October 2015 Dinsdale played the title role in Shakespeare's Richard III at The West Yorkshire Playhouse for director Mark Rosenblatt. He has an extensive list of BBC Radio Drama credits and, in 2014, he was awarded a Yorkshire Award for Services to Arts and Entertainment. In 2015, he became the first actor to be named Associate Artist at The West Yorkshire Playhouse. In 2017, Dinsdale was made a patron of the Square Chapel Arts Centre in Halifax. [5]

In 2020, Dinsdale joined the ITV soap opera Emmerdale playing the villainous Paul Ashdale. Dinsdale left the soap after just a year in 2021 when his character was killed off in an explosion.

Directing

In January 2012 Dinsdale directed his first drama for television; a 45-minute single drama called "The Crossing" starring Lee Boardman, Ramona Marquez and Susie Blake, in the Secrets and Words series for BBC1. In July and August 2014 he directed the episode "Madge" in the Moving On series starring Hayley Mills, Kenneth Cranham and Peter Egan, again for BBC1.

In May 2015, Dinsdale completed his third drama for BBC Television, "Scratch", starring Will Ash and Chris Coghill, once again for the Moving On series. Dinsdale thereafter directed a fourth TV drama, again in the Moving On series, for Jimmy McGovern: "Eighteen", a story about the attempted deportation of an Afghan youth back to his native Kabul, starring Antonio Aakeel and Rosie Cavaliero. The series was aired in November 2016. In 2017, Dinsdale directed Sue Johnston in "Lost" by Shaun Duggan for the Moving On series. He has directed several episodes of Emmerdale and announced in spring 2022 that he is to direct episodes of Coronation Street.

Writing

In 2009, Dinsdale wrote the short film Imaginary Friend which was subsequently filmed and stars Maxine Peake and Zara Turner. [6] The film premiered on 8 May 2010 at the 360/365 Film Festival in New York City. [7]

Credits (incomplete)

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julie Hesmondhalgh</span> English actress (born 1970)

Julie Claire Hesmondhalgh is an English actress and narrator. She is known for her role as Hayley Cropper in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street between 1998 and 2014. For this role, she won "Best Serial Drama Performance" at the 2014 National Television Awards and "Best Actress" at the 2014 British Soap Awards.

Paula Wilcox is an English actress. She played Chrissy Plummer in the ITV sitcom Man About The House from 1973 to 1976, and also had roles in TV shows such as The Lovers, Miss Jones and Son, The Queen’s Nose, The Smoking Room, Emmerdale, Mount Pleasant, Boomers, Upstart Crow and Girlfriends.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rupert Penry-Jones</span> British actor

Rupert William Penry-Jones is a British actor, known for his performances as Adam Carter in Spooks, Clive Reader in Silk, DI Joseph Chandler in Whitechapel, and Mr. Quinlan in the American horror series The Strain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rebecca Ryan</span> English actress (born 1991)

Rebecca Ryan is an English actress, best known for her roles as Carly Hope in Emmerdale and Debbie Gallagher in the Channel 4 comedy-drama series Shameless (2004–2009). Ryan also appeared as Vicki MacDonald in the BBC One school-based drama series Waterloo Road (2009–2011), Gemma Dean in the BBC One medical drama Casualty (2017–2019) and from 2021 to 2022, she appeared in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as Lydia Chambers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Brocklebank</span> British actor (born 1979)

Daniel Brocklebank is a British actor, best known for portraying the roles of Ivan Jones in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale (2005–2006), and Billy Mayhew in ITV's other long-running soap Coronation Street (2014–present). He is also known for his performance in the films Shakespeare in Love (1998), and The Hole (2001).

David John Threlfall is an English stage, film and television actor and director. He is best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's series Shameless. He has also directed several episodes of the show. In April 2014, he portrayed comedian Tommy Cooper in a television film entitled Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This. In 2014, he starred alongside Jude Law in the thriller Black Sea. In 2022, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance in the Martin McDonagh play Hangmen.

Paul Fox is an English actor, known for portraying Mark Redman in Coronation Street, Will Cairns in Emmerdale and Dr Jeff Goodwin in The Royal.

Stuart Laing is a British actor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andrew Lancel</span> British actor (born 1970)

Andrew Lancel is an English television and theatre actor, producer and director. He is best known for his appearance as Dr. Andrew Collin in Cardiac Arrest, his role as DI Neil Manson in The Bill and Frank Foster in the long-running ITV soap opera Coronation Street, as well as his acclaimed portrayal of Brian Epstein in the stage play Epstein – The Man Who Made The Beatles.

Leon Lopez is a British actor, television and film director, singer-songwriter and occasional model, best known for playing the role of Jerome Johnson in the Channel 4 soap opera Brookside from 1998 to 2002. He also played the role of Linford Short in the BBC's EastEnders in 2016. His first feature film as a director, Soft Lad, premiered at the East End Film Festival in 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Copley</span> British actor

Paul Mackriell Copley is an English actor. From 2011 to 2015 he appeared as Mr. Mason, father of William Mason, in 16 episodes of Downton Abbey, and from 2020 to 2021, he appeared in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street as Arthur Medwin.

Peter Ellis is an English actor. Ellis has worked extensively in theatre and television both as an actor and director. He spent four seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company, as well as spending five years at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, and three years with the Old Vic Company which included playing Benvolio in Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet, Hotspur in Henry IV, Part 1 and later Rosencrantz in a world tour of Hamlet starring Derek Jacobi. He also played Guildenstern in Hamlet on the site of the new Globe Theatre.

William Ash is a British actor. He is known for roles in the television dramas Soldier Soldier, Where the Heart Is (1997–1998), Clocking Off (2001–2002), Waterloo Road (2009–2011), The Tunnel (2016–2017) and Emmerdale (2022–present). His film appearances include Mad About Mambo (2000) and Hush (2008).

Ian Puleston-Davies is a Welsh actor and writer. He is best known for his role as builder Owen Armstrong in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street from 2010 to 2015. In November 2014, ITV announced that Puleston-Davies was leaving his role as Owen Armstrong in Coronation Street, and his character departed from the series on 15 April 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Aldridge</span> English actor (born 1982)

Thomas Aldridge, also known as Tom Aldridge, is an English television and theatre actor. He is best known for playing Ron Weasley in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in London's West End. He is married to West End actress Helen Owen.

Steven Blakeley is a British actor. He is best known for his role as PC Geoff Younger in the British police drama Heartbeat, guest roles in various other television programmes and multiple theatre roles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Susan Littler</span> English actress (1947–1982)

Susan Littler was an English actress who appeared in many television and stage productions in the 1970s and early 1980s, before her death from cancer. A versatile and respected actress, Littler is perhaps best remembered for her BAFTA nominated role in the 1977 BBC Play for Today production Spend, Spend, Spend (1977), directed by John Goldschmidt. Her film career included roles in the 1973 film version of The Lovers, and Rough Cut (1980) starring Burt Reynolds. Susan was also a Royal Variety award winner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chelsea Halfpenny</span> English actress

Chelsea Halfpenny is an English actress, known for her roles as Amy Wyatt in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale and Alicia Munroe in the BBC drama Casualty. She played Jenna Hunterson in the 2022 UK Tour of Waitress.

Freddie Fletcher is an English actor best known for playing Jud, in Ken Loach's 1969 film Kes. He also appeared in the ITV series Fox.

Rebecca Sarker is an English actress. After portraying the role of Nita Desai in the ITV soap opera Coronation Street from 1999 to 2000, she made various appearances in television series including Rosemary and Thyme, Doctors, Holby City, The Golden Hour and EastEnders. In 2018, she began appearing in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale as Manpreet Sharma.

References

  1. ↑ Earnshaw, Tony (August 2017). "Yorkshire Live".
  2. ↑ Earnshaw, Tony (2017). "Actor and Huddersfield Town fan Reece Dinsdale "honoured and delighted" to be arts centre patron". Yorkshire Live.
  3. ↑ "Our patrons". The Old Courts.
  4. ↑ Warner, Sam (19 June 2019). "Former Coronation Street star Reece Dinsdale opens up after father's death". Digital Spy. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  5. ↑ "Theatre, film and TV Actor and Director, Reece Dinsdale named as patron of the newly renovated Square Chapel Arts Centre, Halifax, Yorkshire". Square Chapel. 21 August 2017. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
  6. ↑ Dinsdale, Reece [@reece_dinsdale] (2 June 2017). "A short film I wrote. #ImaginaryFriend. Directed by @ianbevitt and starring the brilliant Maxine Peake. Just sharing.https://vimeo.com/24354145" (Tweet). Retrieved 24 November 2019– via Twitter.
  7. ↑ Ellen Watson, Hayley (22 October 2019). "Talk: Reece Dinsdale in Conversation at The Waiting Room, Eaglescliffe". NE Volume. Retrieved 24 November 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.