Christopher Eccleston Popular Books

Christopher Eccleston Biography & Facts

Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor whose work has encompassed Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse films, television dramas, Shakespearean stage performances and science fiction, most notably the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series Doctor Who (2005). He starred as Matt Jamison in The Leftovers (2014–2017), and has frequently collaborated with filmmakers Danny Boyle and Michael Winterbottom. Eccleston received widespread acclaim after becoming the first person to portray Doctor Who in almost a decade, winning a National Television Award and getting nominations for a Broadcasting Press Guild Award and BAFTA Cymru Award, before departing the role after one series. He won an International Emmy Award for his performance in Accused (2010). On stage, he has played the title roles in Shakespeare's Hamlet and Macbeth, and starred in Strindberg's Miss Julie, Ibsen's A Doll's House, as well as the Greek tragedy Antigone. Since 2017, he has narrated the documentary series Ambulance. He first rose to prominence for his portrayal of Derek Bentley in the 1991 film, Let Him Have It. His television performance in Our Friends in the North (1996) resulted in his first BAFTA Award nomination. Seven years later, he got a second nomination for The Second Coming (2003). Early life Eccleston was born on 16 February 1964 into a working-class family in the Langworthy area of Salford, Lancashire, the son of Elsie and Ronnie Eccleston. He has twin brothers, Alan and Keith, who are eight years older than him. On his religious upbringing, he has said, "My dad's family were Catholic. My mum was very Church of England – still is – but it doesn't work for me." The family lived in a small terraced house on Blodwell Street before moving to Little Hulton when Eccleston was seven months old. He attended Joseph Eastham High School, where he became head boy. At the age of 19, Eccleston was inspired to pursue acting by such television dramas as Boys from the Blackstuff. He completed a two-year Performance Foundation Course at Salford Tech, then went on to train at the Central School of Speech and Drama. He was influenced in his early years by Ken Loach's film Kes and Albert Finney's performance in the film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, but he soon found himself performing the classics, including the works of William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, and Molière. At the age of 25, he made his professional stage debut in the Bristol Old Vic's production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Underemployed as an actor for some years after graduating from college, he took a variety of odd jobs at a supermarket, on building sites, and as an artist's model. Career Early work (1991–1994) Eccleston first came to public attention as Derek Bentley in the film Let Him Have It, and for a guest appearance in the Inspector Morse episode "Second Time Around", both 1991. The following year he portrayed Sean Maddox in the BBC miniseries Friday on my Mind. A regular role in the hit crime drama Cracker (1993–94) brought him widespread recognition in the UK. After he decided to leave the series, in October 1994 his character was killed by the fictional serial killer Albie Kinsella (Robert Carlyle). At around the same time, Eccleston appeared in the Poirot episode "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe". In 1994, he co-starred with Ewan McGregor in the low-budget Danny Boyle film Shallow Grave, and also landed the part of Nicky Hutchinson in Our Friends in the North, as part of an ensemble cast which featured Mark Strong, Gina McKee and Daniel Craig. The broadcast of the epic serial in 1996 on BBC Two helped to make Eccleston a household name in the UK. Also in 1996, he starred in the television film Hillsborough, penned by Jimmy McGovern, portraying Trevor Hicks, who lost both of his daughters in the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. When Hicks got married in March 2009, Eccleston was his best man. Established actor (1995–2004) During this period Eccleston built on his early successes, appearing in a wide variety of films and working with high profile directors including David Cronenberg in eXistenZ (1999), Michael Winterbottom in Jude (1996) and 24 Hour Party People (2002), and collaborated again with Danny Boyle on 28 Days Later (2002). He played the Duke of Norfolk in Elizabeth (1998), appeared in Gone in 60 Seconds (2000) - years before taking his driving test in January 2004 - and The Others (2001). Eccleston took the lead role in Revengers Tragedy (2002), adapted from Thomas Middleton's play of the same name. He starred in the independent films A Price Above Rubies (1998) and The Invisible Circus (2001). He also appeared in a variety of television roles, mostly British dramas, including Hearts and Minds (1995) for Channel 4, Clocking Off (2000) and Flesh and Blood (2002) for the BBC, a modern version of Othello (2001), and the religious fantasy epic The Second Coming (2003) for ITV, in which he played Steve Baxter, the son of God. He made guest appearances in the comedy-drama Linda Green (2001) and the macabre sketch show The League of Gentlemen (2002). Eccleston appeared in Hamlet in the 2002 production at Leeds's West Yorkshire Playhouse. From March to April 2004, he returned to the venue in a play called Electricity. Eccleston has been twice nominated in the Best Actor category at the British Academy Television Awards, both during this period, the first in 1997 when he lost to Nigel Hawthorne in The Fragile Heart. He was nominated again in 2004, losing to Bill Nighy who took the award for his performance in State of Play. Eccleston won the Best Actor category at the 1997 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards for Our Friends in the North. In 2003, he won the Royal Television Society Best Actor award for his performance in Flesh and Blood. Doctor Who: Main role, conventions, audio dramas (2005, 2018 - ongoing) On 2 April, 2004, the BBC revealed that Eccleston was to play the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the revival of Doctor Who. Eccleston was the first actor born after the inception of the original series to play the role. It debuted on 26 March, 2005, and a few days later, on 30 March, the BBC released a statement, ostensibly from Eccleston, saying that he had decided to leave the role after just one series to avoid becoming typecast. On 4 April, the BBC revealed that the statement had been falsely attributed and released without Eccleston's consent. The broadcaster admitted that it had broken an agreement made in January not to disclose publicly that the actor had only intended to do one series. The statement had been issued following inquiries from journalists to the press office. Following his departure, Eccleston was replaced by David Tennant, who played the Tenth Doctor from 2005 to 2010. For his performance, Eccleston won a National Television Award and was nominated for a Broadcasting Press Guild Award and BAFTA Cymru Award On 11 June, 2005, when asked about his feelings about wor.... Discover the Christopher Eccleston popular books. Find the top 100 most popular Christopher Eccleston books.