Adam Woodyatt
Adam Woodyatt | |
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Woodyatt in 2009 at Wendy Richard's funeral service
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Born | Adam Brinley Woodyatt 28 June 1968 Walthamstow, London, England, United Kingdom |
Occupation | Actor, media personality |
Years active | 1983–present |
Known for | Ian Beale in EastEnders (1985-present) |
Height | 5ft 10in (1.78m) |
Spouse(s) | Beverley Sharp (m. 1998) |
Children | 2 |
Adam Brinley Woodyatt (born 28 June 1968) is an English actor and media personality, best known for his role as Ian Beale in the long-running BBC soap opera EastEnders. He is the longest-serving and only actor to have been in the show continuously since its inception in February 1985. Alongside Letitia Dean and Gillian Taylforth, who plays Sharon Watts and Kathy Beale, Woodyatt is one of only three members of the original cast currently in EastEnders.
Contents
Early life
A native of Walthamstow, Woodyatt was raised in the East End of London, where EastEnders is set.
Education
Woodyatt was educated at two independent schools: at Forest School,[1] on the edge of Epping Forest, in Walthamstow in north east London, where he shared classes with comedy writer Sharat Sardana and cricket captain Nasser Hussain, followed by the Sylvia Young Theatre School, at the time based in Marylebone in west London. He also attended Llanidloes High School, Llanidloes in Wales.[2]
Life and career
Following the completion of his studies at the Sylvia Young Theatre School, Woodyatt took a small part in children's drama The Baker Street Boys. He then put his acting career on hiatus and worked as a butcher in Wales for a brief period, before joining the cast of the then fledgling soap opera EastEnders. Not expecting to stay much beyond the first year,[3] Woodyatt has gone on to be the longest serving cast member in EastEnders; he is the only character from the first episode to appear in the soap without officially leaving. His longevity was honoured at the 2013 British Soap Awards when he received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his role of Ian Beale. Woodyatt has also appeared as a guest personality on several BBC game shows and charity fundraisers, including A Question of Sport, Robot Wars (Winning the show's Celebrity Special with the robot Pussycat) and Children in Need.
On 25 March 2015, it was announced that Woodyatt has signed up for a pantomime role in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1912 play) at Swindon’s Wyvern Theatre. Woodyatt will play the henchman of The Wicked Queen (Snow White). Speaking about joining the production, Woodyatt commented: "I absolutely love performing in front of an audience as it’s so different to camera – I love the reaction of the audience. I am very much looking forward to spending the Christmas season at the Wyvern Theatre, which I know has a reputation for staging outstanding pantomimes."
Photography
Woodyatt is an accomplished photographer, a hobby he took up while performing On The Razzle at the National Theatre when he was 13 years old.[citation needed]
In 2008 he won the Architectural Photographer of the Year Award of the SWPP BPPA Society with a picture he took at St Pancras, where he was filming EastEnders.[4]
Personal life
On 8 April 1998, Woodyatt married dancer Beverley Sharp in a private ceremony at Disney World, Florida. The couple have two children, and live in Southam, Warwickshire, some 72 miles northwest of the BBC's Elstree Studios in south Hertfordshire, where Eastenders is filmed. Despite hailing from the South East of England, Woodyatt supports Liverpool F.C.,[5] and has a keen appreciation for sport.
An avid fan of science fiction, he took part in a special BBC evening dedicated to Star Trek and has attended some of the 'Series Launches' of Doctor Who alongside many other celebrities. He appeared in Casualty as Paul Brown in 1995.
Charity
Inspired by his father's death from cancer aged 58, Woodyatt has helped raise money for various cancer research initiatives, and broke his collar bone in June 2003 whilst training for one such charity cycle ride.[6]
Woodyatt was also instrumental in launching an Aid for Haiti event at Coventry's Ricoh Arena in February 2010, with many of his soap star colleagues posing for photographs, signing autographs, and providing items for an auction, which raised £30,000. Woodyatt is also a supporter of Warwickshire & Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.[7]
Filmography
Television
- The Witches and the Grinnygog as Dave Firkettle – (1983)
- The Baker Street Boys as Shiner (1983)
- EastEnders (1985—)
- Motormouth (1990)
- EastEnders: E20 (2010)
- The Bill as Patrick Kenzie (1 episode)
- Casualty as Paul Brown (1 episode)
Theatre
Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs.
Miscellaneous
- Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway
- Children in Need
- Dick and Dom in da Bungalow
- Dreamhouse
- The Kumars at No. 42
- National Lottery
- A Question of Sport
- Ready Steady Cook
- Robot Wars
- Strictly Come Dancing
- They Think It's All Over
- The Weakest Link
- School's Out
References
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- ↑ Architectural Society Photographer of the Year 2008
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- ↑ [1] Archived 11 December 2004 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ [2] Archived 23 May 2007 at the Wayback Machine
External links
- Official website
- BBC profile for character Ian Beale and actor Adam Woodyatt
- Adam Woodyatt at the Internet Movie Database
- Adam Woodyatt on TwitterLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 28: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Adam Woodyatt at BFI Film & TV Database
- EngvarB from August 2014
- Use dmy dates from August 2014
- Articles with hCards
- Articles with unsourced statements from January 2011
- English male television actors
- English male soap opera actors
- People from Walthamstow
- 1968 births
- People educated at Forest School (Walthamstow)
- Living people
- Alumni of the Sylvia Young Theatre School
- English photographers
- People educated at Llanidloes High School
- Male actors from London