Tony Clay

Tony Clay
Clay in 2018
Born	Tony David Clay (1991-08-08) 8 August 1991 (age 34) Bexley, Kent, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2012–present
Television	EastEnders

Tony David Clay (born 8 August 1991) is an English actor. He is known for playing Callum Highway in the BBC soap opera EastEnders since 2018. Prior to his tenure on EastEnders, Clay appeared in various stage productions and had minor roles in British films and programmes.

Early and personal life

Clay was born in Bexley, Greater London on 8 August 1991 to Christopher and Suzanne Clay. ^[1] He attended North Kent College, Dartford doing Drama at the Miskin Theatre. ^[2] He also attended the Arts Educational Schools, London and graduated with a BA in acting in 2013. ^[3] Clay has been in a relationship with Olivia Griffin since August 2016. ^[4]

Career

Clay's first role was in a short film called An Ordinary Life in 2012. In 2017, he played the role of Woody Gilbert in the show Stan Lee's Lucky Man . ^[5] He has also appeared in Foyle's War and several theatre productions. ^{[6] [5]}

In January 2018, Clay joined the cast of EastEnders as Callum Highway and is introduced as a friend of the Carter family. ^[5] During his initial stint on the show, the character is depicted as a "happy-go-lucky" character who wears shabby clothing and beanie hats. Originally contracted for two months, Clay reprised the role in April 2018 and since then the character's storylines have included a relationship with Whitney Dean (Shona McGarty), ^[7] the introduction of the Callum's brother Stuart Highway (Ricky Champ) ^[8] and the character coming out as gay and beginning a relationship with Ben Mitchell (Max Bowden). ^{[9] [10]}

Filmography

Television and film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2012	An Ordinary Life	Kieran	Short film
2014	Second Coming	Cash-4-Gold Sign Man	Film
2015	Foyle's War	Rex Carter	Episode: "Elise"
2017	Stan Lee's Lucky Man	Woody Gilbert	Episode: "The Trojan Horse"
2018–present	EastEnders	Callum Highway	Regular role
2020	EastEnders: Secrets from the Square	Himself	Episode: "Ben and Callum"

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Director	Author/Playwright
2009	The Machine Wreckers	Ned Lud	Miskin Theatre	Nick Bagnall	Ernst Toller
2014	Albion	Jason	Bush Theatre	Ria Parry	Chris Thompson
2015	Lines	Locke	The Yard Theatre	Jay Miller	Pamela Carter
2016	The Plough and the Stars	Sergeant Tinley	Abbey Theatre / US Tour	Sean Holmes	Seán O'Casey
Unknown	Fifteen Minutes With You	Unknown	Wimbledon College of Arts	Dan Bird	Unknown
	The Wonderful World of Dissocia	Goat/Violinist	Arts Educational Schools	Will Oldroyd	Anthony Neilson
	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Lysander	Arts Educational Schools	John Abbott	William Shakespeare
	Earthquakes in London	Colin	Arts Educational Schools	Dan Bird	Mike Bartlett
	Promise	Jay 2	Arts Educational Schools	Cressida Brown	Unknown
	All My Sons	Keller	Arts Educational Schools	Janette Smith	Arthur Miller
	Ivanov	Lvov	Arts Educational Schools	Gareth Farr	Anton Chekhov
	Someone Who'll Watch Over Me	Edward	Arts Educational Schools	John Abbott	Frank McGuinness

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Result	Ref.
2018	Inside Soap Awards	Funniest Male	Nominated	[11]
2018	Inside Soap Awards	Best Newcomer	Shortlisted	[12]
2018	I Talk Telly Awards	Best Soap Newcomer	Nominated	[13]
2018	Digital Spy Reader Awards	Best Soap Newcomer	Seventh	[14]
2020	Inside Soap Awards	Best Partnership (shared with Max Bowden)	Nominated	[15]
2020	I Talk Telly Awards	Best Soap Partnership (shared with Bowden)	Nominated	[16]
2020	Digital Spy Reader Awards	Best Couple (shared with Bowden)	Won	[17]
2021	The Version Soap Awards	Best Couple (shared with Bowden)	Won	[18]
2021	26th National Television Awards	Serial Drama Performance	Nominated	[19]
2021	I Talk Telly Awards	Best Soap Partnership (shared with Bowden)	Nominated	[20]

References

1. "10 True Facts About Tony Clay (Eastenders' Callum)". Inside Soap . (Hearst Communications). 3 September 2019. Retrieved 27 June 2023– via PressReader.
2. Imgur. "Eastenders miskin - Album on Imgur". Imgur. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
3. Haynes, Tom (24 June 2021). "EastEnders actor Tony Clay's stunning girlfriend and life away from being Callum Highway". MyLondon. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
4. Corner, Natalie L (7 September 2020). "Who is Tony Clay? Inside 'Ballum' actor's life away from BBC EastEnders". OK! . Archived from the original on 7 September 2020. Retrieved 3 July 2021. Things are a little different for Tony's own love story in real life and has been dating girlfriend Olivia Griffin since August 2016.
5. Crick, Claire (24 January 2018). "EastEnders: Who is Tony Clay? 8 things you didn't know about Callum 'Halfway' Highway". Digital Spy . United Kingdom: Hearst Corporation . Retrieved 2 May 2020.
6. "Tony Clay". Waring and McKenna. United Kingdom. 2 May 2020. Retrieved 2 May 2020.
7. Haynes, Tom (24 June 2021). "Tony Clay's life away from EastEnders with stunning girlfriend". MyLondon. Retrieved 7 July 2021.
8. Kilkelly, Daniel (28 March 2018). "EastEnders casts Him & Her star Ricky Champ as Halfway's brother Stuart". Digital Spy . Retrieved 29 March 2018.
9. "EastEnders stars reveal they filmed in a bubble for Ballum wedding scenes". Digital Spy . 11 May 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
10. "EastEnders' Max Bowden shares post celebrating 'magical' Ballum wedding and fans 'bawl their eyes out'". MyLondon. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2021.
11. Davies, Megan (24 July 2018). "Inside Soap Awards 2018 full longlist revealed: Which Corrie, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks stars are up?". Digital Spy . Retrieved 21 November 2018.
12. Kilkelly, Daniel (16 October 2018). "Coronation Street tops Inside Soap Awards 2018 shortlist with 18 nominations". Digital Spy . Retrieved 21 November 2018.
13. Gonzalez, Elliot (3 November 2018). "I TALK TELLY AWARDS Nominations 2018". I Talk Telly.
14. Robinson, Abby (28 December 2018). "Emmerdale wins big at the Digital Spy Reader Awards 2018". Digital Spy . Hearst Magazines UK . Retrieved 31 December 2018.
15. "Inside Soap Awards reveals full longlist for 2020's ceremony". Digital Spy . 14 September 2020.
16. Gonzalez, Elliot (8 November 2020). "I TALK TELLY AWARDS 2020 Nominees". I Talk Telly.
17. Robinson, Abby (25 December 2020). "EastEnders triumphs at Digital Spy Reader Awards 2020". Digital Spy . Archived from the original on 29 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
18. "The Version 2021 Soap Awards winners announced! — The Version". theversion.co. Archived from the original on 21 April 2021.
19. Lovejoy, Hannah (25 May 2021). "Coronation Street, EastEnders, Emmerdale and Hollyoaks stars land National Television Award nominations". Digital Spy . Archived from the original on 28 June 2021. Retrieved 31 August 2021.
20. Gonzalez, Elliot (14 November 2021). "I TALK TELLY AWARDS 2021 Nominations". I Talk Telly. Retrieved 22 January 2022.

External links

• Tony Clay at IMDb