| Billy Murray | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born | October, 1941 London, United Kingdom |
Billy Murray (born October 1941) is an English actor.
Career
Murray was born in East London and knew the Krays from Bethnal Green, who paid £400[1] for him to go to the East 15 Acting School, London as a teenager, because they "liked his attitude".[2]
Billy made his acting debut in the 1963 film Two Left Feet where he played a minor uncredited role. He then had a small roles in the films Poor Cow (1967), Corruption (1967) and Up the Junction (1968).
In the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s he made appearances in many television series such as Softly, Softly, The Sweeney, The Professionals, Minder, Bergerac and Casualty.
Murray then went on to play the corrupt DS Don Beech in the ITV police drama series The Bill from 1995 to 2000. In 2001 he returned as Don Beech in a one-off special episode titled Beech on the Run and later that year in a spin-off six-part mini-series entitled Beech is Back. In 2004 he returned as Don Beech once again for a guest stint in five episodes, in which his character escaped from prison and is now back 'on the run'.
In 2005, he joined the cast of popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, playing retired gangster Johnny Allen. He was reported to be the nastiest gangster ever to appear in the soap, but after a good start few months into the character's arrival — due to constant script re-writes, poor storylines, and changing executive producers — the character of Johnny was often inconsistent.
He departed from the show in March 2006 when his character was jailed after confessing to ordering the murder of Dennis Rickman and carrying out the murder of Andy Hunter. He won the 'Best Villain' award at the British Soap Awards in May 2006 for his role as Johnny Allen. He made a brief return to EastEnders in October that year when his character was seen in prison and later died of a heart attack. Recently he appeared in the films Rollin' with the Nines and Rise of the Footsoldier.
Trivia
- His daughter Jaime Murray is also an actress best known for starring in the series Hustle and (like her father) once had a role in The Bill.
- He played small roles in both The Bill and EastEnders before going on to play more well-known regular characters many years later. Before playing Don Beech in The Bill he appeared as DI Jackson in 1989 and before playing Johnny Allen in EastEnders he appeared as Mr X in 1991.
- He was considered for the role of Del Boy Trotter in the BBC TV series Only Fools and Horses.
- Billy is a big West Ham United fan.
- Billy was inducted into the Grand Order of Water Rats show business fraternity and charitable organisation in 2007, currently the newest member known affectionately as "baby rat".
Selected filmography
- Rise of the Footsoldier (2007) ..... Mickey Steele
- Rollin' with the Nines (2006) ..... David Brumby
- EastEnders (2005-2006) .... Johnny Allen
- Doctors (2004) .... Larry Baker
- Beech is Back (2001) .... DS Don Beech
- Beech on the Run (2001) ..... DS Don Beech
- Essex Boys (2000) .... Perry Elley
- The Bill (1995-2000, 2004) .... DS Don Beech
- A Touch of Frost (1995).... Bill Boxley
- Casualty (1992)..... Don Collins
- EastEnders (1991) ..... Mr X
- Bergerac (1991)..... John Kelp
- Buddy's Song (1990)..... Harry
- The Bill (1989) .... DI Jackson
- Dempsey & Makepeace (1985)..... Billy Kennaway
- Minder (1984)..... Charlie Pope
- McVicar (1980)..... Joey Davis
- The Professionals (1979)..... Morgan in episode titled "Runner"
- Rock Follies (1976) ..... Spike
- The Sweeney (1975) ..... Brian Cooney in episode titled "stoppo driver"
- Softly, Softly (1971)..... George Benson
- A Family At War (1970) .... Corporal Dewey
- Up the Junction (1968) .... Ray
- Poor Cow (1967)..... Tom's mate
- Corruption (1967) .... Rik
- Two Left Feet (1963) .... Gang Member
References
External links
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
