Bill Dean
in Everton, Liverpool, England, UK
Bill Dean was a British actor who was born in Everton, Liverpool, Lancashire. He was born Patrick Anthony Connolly, but took his stage name in honour of Everton football legend William 'Dixie' Dean. After a atring of jobs, it was his work as a Lancashire club comedian that saw him spotted by Ken Loach who gave him his breakthrough role in his TV play The Golden Vision. Famous for his flat but penetrating Scouse tones, Dean went on to star as miserable pensioner Harry Cross in the long running Channel 4 soap Brookside from its inception in 1983 to 1990. He briefly returned to the series in 1999 for three episodes, when his character re-appeared in Brookside Close suffering from Alzheimer's disease and wrongly believing that he still lived there. The same character was the inspiration behind the 1980s group 'Jegsy Dodd and the sons of Harry Cross' who hailed from the Wirral and Dean himself appeared in the video of the Liverpudlian band The Farm's Groovy Train as Cross, who was a former train driver. He did of a heart attack aged 78 in 2000.
Movies for Bill Dean...
Title: Brookside: Friday the 13th
Character: Harold Cross
There is trouble a-plenty in store for the Corkhill clan in this video-only special. Series creator Phil Redmond has returned to pen a dramatic script which follows on from a weekend special.
Title: Hillsborough
Character: Additional Cast
Drama based on the real life events of April 1989, when ninety-six Liverpool supporters were crushed to death during an F.A. Cup Semi-Final match against Nottingham Forest at Sheffield Wednesday's Hillsborough Stadium. This movie follows three Liverpudlian families before the match, during the tragedy and at the ensuing court battles which tried to decide who was to blame and what went wrong.
Title: Priest
Character: Altar Boy
Father Greg Pilkington is torn between his call as a conservative Catholic priest and his secret life as a homosexual with a gay lover, frowned upon by the Church. Upon hearing the confession of a young girl of her incestuous father, Greg enters an intensely emotional spiritual struggle deciding between choosing morals over religion and one life over another.
Title: Skallagrigg
Character: Old Man
Released: March 9, 1994
Back in the 'bad old days' when the physically and mentally disabled were locked away in institutions a legend grew of someone who could stand up to the authorities and help them. This charming story is how a group of disabled people went to chase that legend. To assist them John is forced to come to terms with his daughter and her friends.
Title: Heartbeat
Released: April 10, 1992
Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.
Title: Let Him Have It
Character: Foreman of the Jury
Released: October 4, 1991
In 1950s England, slow-witted Derek Bentley falls in with a group of petty criminals led by Chris Craig, a teenager with a fondness for American gangster films. Chris and Derek's friendship leads to their involvement in the true case which would forever shake England's belief in capital punishment.
Title: Slayground
Character: Compere
Released: December 1, 1983
Stone (Peter Coyote) hits an armored truck without his usual driver. The ensuing getaway leads to the death of an innocent. The payback is swift and brutal. The wronged father hires a twisted, sociopathic assassin to avenge his loss. One by one the offenders are punished through grisly executions. Stone uses his wits to find a reclusive friend Terry (Mel Smith) just in time for a psychedelic funhouse showdown with his stalker.
Title: Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime
Spirited dialogue, posh Roaring '20s style, and devious mysteries abound as Tommy and Tuppence Beresford mix marriage and mystery solving.
Title: The Gathering Seed
Character: Billy Eccles
The saga of Manchester lad Joe Henshaw, a story that takes in family life, the trials and tribulations of the Labour movement and World War Two
Title: A Turn for the Worse
Character: (voice)
Simon Simpson runs an entertainment agency in Liverpool. At one of his regular auditions in The Bootle Railway Club he sees an aggressive young man fresh from the dole queue who dreams of becoming a professional comedian. Simpson believes the boy has talent and starts to groom him for 'stardom'.
Title: The Mirror Crack'd
Character: Man in Village Hall (uncredited)
Jane Marple solves the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim.
Title: Rising Damp
Character: Workman
Released: May 3, 1980
Stingy landlord Rigsby manages to scam his lodgers John, an art student, and Philip, an African medical student, making both pay for a room they must share. However Rigsby's favorite lodger, Miss Jones, flirts with Philip rather than him, despite his pitiful attempts at seduction.
Title: Minder
Character: Police Sgt.
This comedy drama series featured Terry McCann, a former boxer with a conviction for G.B.H., and Arthur Daley, a second-hand car dealer with an eye for a nice little earner. Alongside his many business ventures, Arthur would regularly hire Terry out as a minder or bodyguard.
Title: Scum
Character: Mr Duke
An uncompromising and brutal story of life in Borstal, a British juvenile offender institution in the 1970s.
Title: Law & Order
Character: David Shepley
Released: April 6, 1978
Four-part drama serial about the British juicidal system, dealing with an investigation presented from the perspectives of the police force, the criminal, the solicitor and the prison system.
Title: Pennies from Heaven
Character: Alf
Pennies From Heaven is a 1978 BBC television drama serial written by Dennis Potter. The title is taken from a song of the same name written by Johnny Burke and Arthur Johnston. It was one of several Potter serials to mix the reality of the drama with a dark fantasy content, and the earliest of his works where the characters burst into miming to popular 1930s songs.
Title: Beasts
Character: Duggie Jebb
Beasts is a series of six television plays by Manx writer Nigel Kneale, unconnected but for a bestial horror theme, made by ATV for ITV in the United Kingdom and broadcast in 1976.
Title: Bag of Yeast
Character: Teddy
Released: February 22, 1976
When teacher Tony Scannell decides he wants to be ordained as a Catholic Priest his decision has wide ranging effects on his family and loved ones.
Title: In Sickness and in Health
Character: Mr Jackson
A hard-working doctor must also carry the burden of a turbulent home life, due to the expectations of his demanding wife. Part of Thames Televison's Armchair Cinema.
Title: Waiting at the Field Gate
Character: Ted
Lightning Gallat is the village slaughterer and a man of distinction. Where does he draw the line?
Title: The Wackers
Character: Charlie
Comedy series set in Liverpool about an half-protestant/half-catholic family.
Title: The Sweeney
Character: Charlie Norton
Released: January 2, 1975
The Sweeney is a 1970s British television police drama focusing on two members of the Flying Squad, a branch of the Metropolitan Police specialising in tackling armed robbery and violent crime in London. The programme's title derives from Sweeney Todd, which is Cockney rhyming slang for "Flying Squad". The programme was shot entirely on 16mm film by Thames Television's film division, Euston Films. It originally aired on ITV between 2 January 1975 and 28 December 1978 in the 9-10pm weekday slot with repeated showings at the same time until the early 1980s. It starred John Thaw as Detective Inspector Jack Regan, and Dennis Waterman as his partner Detective Sergeant George Carter. Such was its popularity in the UK that it spawned two theatrically released feature film spin-offs, Sweeney! and Sweeney 2.
Title: Flame
Character: Club Owner (uncredited)
Light the Rock 'n Roll spark with a Flame in the guise of Dave, Noddy, Jim and Don and their showcase of the rise and demise of rock band Flame. Set in the hardships of North England's seventies working class society and music scene. This build-up from rags to riches is a parody of realism and grit, with double-dealings and harsh unforgiving dog eat dog mentalities, and the golden rule; if you play with matches then you're going to get burnt, in the flames of the music industry.
Title: Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt!
Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt! is an ITV sitcom that ran from 1974 to 1977 starring Bill Maynard as the council labourer, Scarsdale Working Men's Club secretary, hapless handyman and all-round public nuisance Selwyn Froggitt. It was created by Roy Clarke, who wrote the pilot episode transmitted in 1974, though the series was mostly written by Alan Plater. It was made for the ITV network by Yorkshire Television With outdoor location filming of the series filmed in Skelmanthorpe, West Yorkshire and Elvington, North Yorkshire
Title: Match of the Day
Character: Father
Chance has missed the match, but the girls at his sister's wedding might make up for it
Title: Playhouse
BBC2 Playhouse is a one hour UK anthology television series of one-off contemporary and classic dramas created by Sara Pia Anderson and produced by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Among its many notable guest stars were Helen Mirren, Daniel Day-Lewis, Judi Dench, Liam Neeson, Paul Scofield, Deborah Kerr, Ben Kingsley, Donald Pleasence, Brenda Blethyn, and Peggy Ashcroft. It premiered in the UK on March 13, 1974 and ran through May 20, 1983.
Title: Night Watch
Character: Inspector Walker
Released: November 8, 1973
Ellen Wheeler, a rich widow, is recovering from a nervous breakdown. One day, while staring out the window, she witnesses a murder. But does anybody believe her?
Title: Speech Day
Character: George
Speech Day is a bit of a laugh if you are not one of nature's prize-winners. But now that they've finished with school and school with them, what comes next for Ronnie, Wally and Rob?
Title: The Best Pair of Legs in the Business
Character: Bert
Capitalising on his remarkable success in On the Buses, Reg Varney took on the contrasting role of a third-rate holiday camp entertainer dreaming of stardom in this mid-seventies comedy feature. Also starring fellow sitcom favourite Diana Coupland and Lee Montague, The Best Pair of Legs in the Business was adapted from an individual ITV Playhouse drama and scripted by Emmerdale Farm creator Kevin Laffan. 'Sherry' Sheridan, a middle-aged compère and drag artiste currently stationed at a caravan site, is low on talent but high on ambition. Convinced he just needs one decent break to launch himself into the big time, he's relentlessly optimistic - but sadly unaware that his family life is crumbling around him. Can Sherry manage to secure both his job, and his marriage?
Title: Bank Holiday
18-year-old friends Todd and Towzer set off by motorbike to spend a Bank Holiday weekend in Scarborough. Their long hair, cut-off denim jackets, medals, badges and swastikas lead to hostility from everyone they meet, including the police
Title: Gumshoe
Character: Tommy
A would be private eye gets mixed up in a smuggling case.
Title: Family Life
Character: Mr. Baildon
A young woman, Janice, is living with her restrictive and conservative parents, who lead a dull working-class life and consider their daughter to be "misbehaving" whenever she's trying to find her own way in life. Family Life is a stark and painful portrait of a hypocritical society.
Title: Justice
Character: Charlie Keen
Justice is a British drama television series which originally aired on ITV in 39 hour-long episodes between 8 August 1971 and 16 October 1974. Margaret Lockwood stars as Harriet Peterson a female barrister in the North of England. It was made by Yorkshire Television and was based loosely on Justice Is a Woman, an episode of ITV Playhouse broadcast in 1969 in which Lockwood had previously also played a barrister. The theme music was Crown Imperial by William Walton.
Title: After a Lifetime
Character: Uncle Sid
Ken Loach's first production for ITV, shown under the 'Sunday Night Theatre' strand (originally broadcast 18th July 1971). After a Lifetime is something of a neglected, social realist masterpiece that focuses on two brothers, brought together by the death of their father, reflecting on his life of militancy and political activism. At the time critic Nancy Banks Smith called it 'brilliantly funny, and moving with a sort of subterranean rage'. Smith himself plays the older brother with a brilliant, raw emotion.
Title: The Rank and File
Character: Billy
Ken Loach production for The Wednesday Play; a fictionalised account of the Pilkingtons Glass strike in St Helens, 1970.
Title: Roll On Four O'Clock
Character: Arthur Foster
Released: December 19, 1970
Compelling drama from screenwriter Colin Welland set in a city comprehensive school of low expectations and ambitions. Pupil Latimer does not conform to the macho culture and is labeled a homosexual, leading to bullying by both the pupils and some of the teachers.
Title: Kes
Character: Fish and Chip Shop Man
A young, English working-class boy spends his free time caring for and training his pet falcon.
Title: The Big Flame
Character: Landlord
After a prolonged industrial dispute in the Liverpool Docks, the striking workers reject management demands of a return to work and decide instead to occupy the docks and run the operation themselves.
Title: The Expert
Character: Leslie Stevens
Released: July 5, 1968
The Expert is a British television series produced by the BBC between 1968 and 1976. The series starred Marius Goring as Dr. John Hardy, a pathologist working for the Home Office and was essentially a police procedural drama, with Hardy bringing his forensic knowledge to solve various cases. The Expert was created and produced by Gerard Glaister. The series was also one of the first BBC dramas to be made in colour, and throughout its four series had numerous high quality guest appearances by actors such as John Carson, Peter Copley, Rachel Kempson, Peter Vaughan, Clive Swift, Geoffrey Palmer, Peter Barkworth, Jean Marsh, Ray Brooks, George Sewell, Anthony Valentine, Bernard Lee, Lee Montague, Geoffrey Bayldon, Mike Pratt, Edward Fox, André Morell, Brian Blessed, Nigel Stock, Philip Madoc and Warren Clarke.
Title: The Golden Vision
Character: John Coyne
The obsessive supporters of Everton FC forsake wives, families and God to follow their beloved team. Meanwhile, the club and its players try to live up to their expectations.
Title: Man in a Suitcase
Man in a Suitcase is a 1967–1968 British television series produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment. It originally aired in the United Kingdom on ITV from 27 September 1967, to 17 April 1968. ABC broadcast episodes of Man in a Suitcase in the United States from 3 May 1968, to 20 September 1968.