Bill Dean

Bill Dean

Born: September 3, 1921
Died: April 20, 2000
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...

Brookside: Friday the 13th
Title: Brookside: Friday the 13th
Character: Harold Cross
Released: November 14, 1998
Type: Movie
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.
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Hillsborough
Title: Hillsborough
Character: Additional Cast
Released: September 11, 1996
Type: Movie
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.
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Priest
Title: Priest
Character: Altar Boy
Released: March 24, 1995
Type: Movie
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.
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Skallagrigg
Title: Skallagrigg
Character: Old Man
Released: March 9, 1994
Type: Movie
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.
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Title: Heartbeat
Character: Harry Capshaw
Released: April 10, 1992
Type: TV
Set during the 1960s in the fictional North Yorkshire village of Aidensfield, this enduringly popular series interweaves crime and medical storylines.
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Let Him Have It
Title: Let Him Have It
Character: Foreman of the Jury
Released: October 4, 1991
Type: Movie
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.
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Slayground
Title: Slayground
Character: Compere
Released: December 1, 1983
Type: Movie
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.
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Title: Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime
Released: October 9, 1983
Type: TV
Spirited dialogue, posh Roaring '20s style, and devious mysteries abound as Tommy and Tuppence Beresford mix marriage and mystery solving.
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Title: The Gathering Seed
Character: Billy Eccles
Released: September 7, 1983
Type: TV
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
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Going Gently
Title: Going Gently
Character: Painter
Released: June 5, 1981
Type: Movie
Play about two elderly cancer patients suffering in hospital.
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A Turn for the Worse
Title: A Turn for the Worse
Character: (voice)
Released: April 28, 1981
Type: Movie
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'.
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The Mirror Crack'd
Title: The Mirror Crack'd
Character: Man in Village Hall (uncredited)
Released: September 19, 1980
Type: Movie
Jane Marple solves the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star seems to have been the intended victim.
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Rising Damp
Title: Rising Damp
Character: Workman
Released: May 3, 1980
Type: Movie
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.
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Title: Minder
Character: Police Sgt.
Released: October 29, 1979
Type: TV
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, later replaced by nephew, Ray Daley.
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Scum
Title: Scum
Character: Mr Duke
Released: September 12, 1979
Type: Movie
Powerful, uncompromising drama about two boys' struggle for survival in the nightmare world of Britain's notorious Borstal Reformatory.
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Title: Pennies from Heaven
Character: Alf
Released: March 7, 1978
Type: TV
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.
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Beasts: What Big Eyes
Title: Beasts: What Big Eyes
Character: Duggie Jeb
Released: November 13, 1976
Type: Movie
An RSPCA officer is horrified when he discovers a pet shop owner has been conducting experiments on a wolf, searching for proof of lycanthropy. Created as an episode of Nigel Kneale’s “Beasts” horror anthology miniseries.
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Title: Beasts
Character: Duggie Jebb
Released: October 16, 1976
Type: TV
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.
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Bag of Yeast
Title: Bag of Yeast
Character: Teddy
Released: February 22, 1976
Type: Movie
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.
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In Sickness and in Health
Title: In Sickness and in Health
Character: Mr Jackson
Released: May 21, 1975
Type: Movie
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.
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Waiting at the Field Gate
Title: Waiting at the Field Gate
Character: Ted
Released: April 3, 1975
Type: Movie
Lightning Gallat is the village slaughterer and a man of distinction. Where does he draw the line?
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Title: The Wackers
Character: Charlie
Released: March 19, 1975
Type: TV
Comedy series set in Liverpool about an half-protestant/half-catholic family.
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Flame
Title: Flame
Character: Club Owner (uncredited)
Released: February 13, 1975
Type: Movie
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.
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Title: The Sweeney
Character: Charlie Norton
Released: January 2, 1975
Type: TV
Jack Regan, an unethical officer of the Flying Squad, uses unorthodox methods to pursue criminals with the help of his partner, George Carter.
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Title: Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt!
Released: September 30, 1974
Type: TV
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
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Match of the Day
Title: Match of the Day
Character: Father
Released: March 18, 1974
Type: Movie
Chance has missed the match, but the girls at his sister's wedding might make up for it
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Title: Playhouse
Released: March 13, 1974
Type: TV
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.
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Night Watch
Title: Night Watch
Character: Inspector Walker
Released: November 8, 1973
Type: Movie
A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown tries to convince her husband and and the local London police that she has witnessed a murder in the abandoned house next door.
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Speech Day
Title: Speech Day
Character: George
Released: March 26, 1973
Type: Movie
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?
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The Best Pair of Legs in the Business
Title: The Best Pair of Legs in the Business
Character: Bert
Released: February 1, 1973
Type: Movie
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?
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Bank Holiday
Title: Bank Holiday
Character: Father
Released: March 2, 1972
Type: Movie
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
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Gumshoe
Title: Gumshoe
Character: Tommy Wright
Released: December 1, 1971
Type: Movie
A would be private eye gets mixed up in a smuggling case.
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Family Life
Title: Family Life
Character: Mr. Baildon
Released: November 17, 1971
Type: Movie
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.
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Title: Justice
Character: Charlie Keen
Released: October 8, 1971
Type: TV
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.
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After a Lifetime
Title: After a Lifetime
Character: Uncle Sid
Released: July 18, 1971
Type: Movie
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.
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The Rank and File
Title: The Rank and File
Character: Billy
Released: May 20, 1971
Type: Movie
Wilkinsons glass-works dominates a Staffordshire town. After a small walkout over pay discrepancies, the workers of the factory vote to go on strike, but they are denied support by their trade union.
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Roll On Four O'Clock
Title: Roll On Four O'Clock
Character: Arthur Foster
Released: December 19, 1970
Type: Movie
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.
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Kes
Title: Kes
Character: Fish and Chip Shop Man
Released: April 3, 1970
Type: Movie
Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence—until tragedy strikes.
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The Big Flame
Title: The Big Flame
Character: Landlord
Released: February 19, 1969
Type: Movie
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.
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Title: The Expert
Character: Leslie Stevens
Released: July 5, 1968
Type: TV
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.
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The Golden Vision
Title: The Golden Vision
Character: John Coyne
Released: April 17, 1968
Type: Movie
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.
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Title: Man in a Suitcase
Released: September 27, 1967
Type: TV
Accused of treason, a former U.S. intelligence officer based in London tries to clear his name, taking on freelance jobs around Europe as he searches for answers.
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Title: Public Eye
Character: Mr. Steadman
Released: January 23, 1965
Type: TV
Public Eye is a British television series that ran from 1965 to 1975. It was produced by ABC Television for three series, and Thames Television for a further four series. The series depicted the investigations and cases handled by the unglamorous enquiry agent Frank Marker, an unmarried loner who is in his early forties when the series begins. In the words of an ABC trailer for the third series: "Marker isn't a glamorous detective and he doesn't get glamorous cases—he doesn't even get glamorous girls. What he does get is people who are in trouble—the sort of trouble you can't go to the police about, even if you are innocent."