- For the American actor, see Bill Murray.
| Billy Murray | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 1941 (age 68) Bethnal Green, London, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1963–present |
Billy Murray (born October 1941) is an English actor.
Contents |
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 small roles in the films Poor Cow (1967), Corruption (1967), Up the Junction (1968) and "Performance" (shot 1968, released 1971).
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. He was among those considered for the role of Del Boy Trotter in the BBC TV series Only Fools and Horses[3] before it finally went to David Jason.
In 1980, Murray played the part of "Joey" in the hit film McVicar. In the film, he was to help McVicar hide after escaping from prison.
Murray went on to play the corrupt DS Don Beech in the ITV police drama series The Bill from Early 1995 to Late 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'. Before playing Don Beech, Murray played a different character, DI Jackson, in an episode in 1989.
In late 2004, he joined the cast of popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, playing gangster Johnny Allen. His first scenes were broadcast in January 2005. He was reported to be the nastiest gangster ever to appear in the soap,[citation needed] but a new executive producer ordered a change in planned story lines, and Johnny "retired" from gangster life a few months after arriving. Murray's character terrorised numerous characters on the programme, including Peggy Mitchell, Phil Mitchell, Grant Mitchell Sharon Rickman and Pauline Fowler. He also murdered Andy Hunter by pushing him from a motorway flyover, and ordered the killing of Dennis Rickman (carried out by Danny Moon, played by Jake Maskall).
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. Before playing Johnny Allen in EastEnders he also appeared as Mr X in 1991.
Recently he appeared in the films Rollin' with the Nines and Rise of the Footsoldier and provided the voice of Captain Price in the video games Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. He also fronts the adverts for injurylawyers4u, which have received considerable negative attention. [4][5]
He stars also in the Vampire film Dead Cert who is directed by Steven Lawson.[6], he played alongside Craig Fairbrass.[7] Murray treads in the footsteps of Christopher Lee, Jack Palance, Louis Jourdan and Frank Langella in the movie and potrayed Dante Livenko.[8]
Personal life
Murray has a daughter, Jaime Murray, who is also an actress. She is best known for starring in the series Hustle. She also plays Lila in season two of the Showtime series Dexter.
Murray currently lives in Brentwood, Essex.
He is a West Ham United football club fan.[9]
Murray was inducted into the Grand Order of Water Rats show business fraternity and charitable organisation in 2007. He is currently their newest member, known affectionately as "baby rat".[citation needed]
Selected filmography
- Dead Cert (2009)[10]
- Doghouse (2009) ..... Colonel
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) ..... Captain Price (voice)
- Rise of the Footsoldier (2007) ..... Mickey Steele
- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007) ..... Captain Price (voice)
- 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 Jackman
- Dempsey & Makepeace (1985) ..... Billy Kennaway
- Minder (1984) ..... Charlie Pope
- Private Schulz (1981) ..... Fred
- McVicar (1980) ..... Joey Davis
- The Professionals (1979) ..... Disgraced ex Ci5 agent 'Morgan' in episode titled "Runner"
- Rock Follies (1976) ..... Spike
- The Sweeney (1975) ..... Stand in squad car driver named Brian Cooney, in episode titled "Stoppo Driver"
- Barlow at Large (1973) ... Culver
- 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
- ^ Nathan, Sarah (2005-01-24). "Billy's a Kray-zy gangster". The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article211801.ece. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
- ^ Daily Mirror, 23 January, 2005.
- ^ Clarke, Steve (1998-09-27). "ONLY FACTS and HORSES". Daily Mirror (CNET.com). http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_19980927/ai_n14478453. Retrieved 2008-01-02.
- ^ TV's Worst Adverts
- ^ The Guardian
- ^ AFM '09: Latest Vamp Pic 'Dead Cert' Now Filming
- ^ AFM '09: Vampire Attack in Hi-Res 'Dead Cert' Pics
- ^ Still more vampire photos from DEAD CERT
- ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0614854/bio
- ^ First pics from DEAD CERT bite in
External links
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