Derek Thompson (actor)

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Derek Thompson
Born (1948-04-04) 4 April 1948 (age 76)
Belfast, Northern Ireland
OccupationActor
Years active1961–present
Spouse(s)Christine
(m. 1967; div. 1978)
Dee Sadler
(m. 1989)
Children2

Derek Thompson (born 4 April 1948) is a Northern Irish actor. He is known for playing Charlie Fairhead in the long-running BBC television medical drama series Casualty , playing the role since the series' inception in 1986, until his departure 38 years later in 2024, and his performance as Jeff in the gangster film The Long Good Friday .

Contents

Early life

Thompson was born in and is from Belfast, Northern Ireland and has a twin sister, Elaine Johns (née Thompson). During their teenage years, they combined to form the singing duo Elaine and Derek. They recorded four albums and 15 EPs together, singing in harmonies, and released one eponymously titled album on the Parlophone label in 1961. They then formed the folk trio Odin's People with Larry Johns, and recorded two singles in 1967. Derek appeared in the feature film Gonks Go Beat (1965). [1]

Career

In the mid-1960s, Thompson worked as Stage Manager in the Nonentities Theatre in Kidderminster.[ citation needed ]

From 1976 he appeared in many early productions at the National Theatre, London's new South Bank home.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s Thompson became a regular face in BBC and ITV dramas. Appearances included Softly Softly , Play for Today , and Rock Follies of 77. He got a big break in Harry's Game , where he played the lead IRA gunman on the run following the assassination of a government minister. Later he played another IRA hitman in the TV series The Price and for a British mercenary gang in the Wild Geese II , both filmed in 1985.

During the same period, Thompson had minor film roles in Yanks (1979) and Breaking Glass (1980), and also played Jeff, Harold Shand's lieutenant, in the box office hit movie The Long Good Friday . Before he appeared in Casualty, he had a recurring role, as DS Jimmy Fenton, in the ITV police drama The Gentle Touch [ citation needed ] and a minor role as William Thurley in Channel 4's Brookside in 1983.

Casualty

Thompson began portraying Charlie Fairhead in Casualty in 1986. The following year he met his future wife, Dee Sadler, an actress playing the role of Maggie in an episode of the show's second series, a potholer who had to be rescued from a cave before hospitalisation. Thompson played the role of Charlie for over 30 years, and was the last remaining character from the original cast until his departure on 16 March 2024. In 2004 his character went on a six-month sabbatical, which remains his most notable absence from the show. In his latter years with the programme, he was allowed a few months off from filming per year. Apart from Casualty, he has also played Charlie in the spin-off shows Holby City and HolbyBlue . It was revealed in July 2017, that Thompson was the BBC's highest-paid actor, earning between £350,000 and £400,000 over the last financial year. [2] In 2023, it was announced that after 38 years, Thompson would be leaving Casualty; his exit aired in March 2024, at the conclusion of a special two-part episode. [3]

Family

As of 2010, Thompson and his wife, Dee, lived in a rented flat in Bristol and also own a house in Brixton. The couple have a son, who appeared as a baby in one 1990 episode of Casualty as the son of regular character Duffy, and he also has an older son by a previous marriage to Christine, a theatre director. [4]

A sufferer of dystonia, Thompson became patron of the Dystonia Society in 2006. [5]

Theatre

In London between 1975 and 1985, mainly for the National Theatre, but also at the Garrick, Half Moon and Old Vic theatres.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleDirectorNotes
1964 Gonks Go Beat Ballad Isle Singer Robert Hartford-Davis
1979 Yanks Ken John Schlesinger
1980 Breaking Glass Andy Brian Gibson
The Long Good Friday Jeff John Mackenzie
1985 Wild Geese II Hourigan Peter R. Hunt
1998 Resurrection Man Herbie Ferguson Marc Evans
2016Penny from HeavenHomeless Man Marlek Al-Habib Short film

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1976 Softly, Softly: Task Force Dave MarshallEpisode: "At Risk" (8.10)
1977 Play for Today ChetEpisode: "A Photograph" (7.13)
Rock Follies of '77 Harry Moon6 episodes
1978 Me! I'm Afraid of Virginia Woolf Skinner Television play
1979 The Danedyke Mystery Tom Richards6 episodes
1980 Flamingo Road Un­knownEpisode: "Pilot" (1.0)
Minder HarryEpisode: "The Old School Tie" (2.10)
1980–1982 The Gentle Touch Det. Sgt. Jimmy Fenton25 episodes
1982 Code Red Workman #2Episode: "Trapped by Time" (1.14)
Harry's Game Billy Downes3 episodes
1983 Bergerac WyattEpisode: "A Miracle Every Week" (2.7)
WomenJonathanEpisode: "Hard to Get" (1.3)
1983–1984 Brookside Will Thurley6 episodes
1984 Paper Dolls Male ParamedicEpisode #1.8
1985The PriceFrank Crossan6 episodes
1986Fighting BackBruce Curran3 episodes
1986–2024 Casualty Charlie Fairhead Main role,
901 episodes
1992, 1994 Children in Need Himself Television specials
1999–2012 Holby City Charlie Fairhead4 episodes [6]
2001 Through the Keyhole HimselfParticipant
2007 Gina's Laughing Gear Episode: "Dollby City" (1.8)
HolbyBlue Charlie FairheadEpisode #1.1
2014 You Saw Them Here First HimselfTelevision special
2024 Blue Lights Robin GrahamSeries 2: 5 episodes

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References

  1. ↑ Odin's People – Irish Rock Discography
  2. ↑ "Chris Evans named as BBC's best-paid star". BBC. BBC. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  3. ↑ Dainty, Sophie (30 May 2023). "Casualty confirms exit for Charlie Fairhead after 37 years". Digital Spy . (Hearst Communications). Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  4. ↑ Cheryl Griffin (10 June 2010). "Derek Thompson" . Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  5. ↑ "Derek Thompson Speaks about his dystonia" (PDF). www.dystonia.org.uk. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  6. ↑ "Holby TV – Derek Thompson Interview". 10 June 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
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