Dalziel & Pascoe - Ruling Passion - 11:20 pm Wednesday, April 15 on U&Drama

Warren Clarke (Actor) .. Det Supt Andy Dalziel

Born: April 26, 1947 in Oldham

Best Known For: Dalziel & Pascoe (he played Dalziel).

Early-life: Born Alan Clarke on April 26, 1947, in Oldham, where his father's job involved putting stained glass in church windows. He left school at 15 and became a runner at the Manchester Evening News while doing amateur dramatics in his spare time. He changed his first name to Warren because a girlfriend admired Warren Beatty. After realising he wanted to act, he got his first break in a radio play for BBC Manchester.

Career: Clarke made his TV debut in the late 1960s, and went on to appear in episodes of Coronation Street, The Avengers, Callan, and The Virgin Soldiers before getting his big break with a prominent role in the controversial A Clockwork Orange in 1971. A variety of TV and movie work followed, including Shelley, SOS Titanic, Ishtar (alongside his namesake, Beatty) and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. High-profile roles later came in The Manageress, ID, The Mystery of Men, The Deputy, and Down to Earth. He became a household name thanks to a starring role in Dalziel & Pascoe, which first aired in 1996. He also appeared in Bleak House, Christmas at the Riviera, The Invisibles, Red Riding, Just William, and In with the Flynns. He died peacefully in his sleep on November 12, 2014 at the age of 67.

Quote: 'My headmaster told me: 'Don't become an actor. It's a ridiculous job. Anyway, you can't even speak properly. Why don't you become a bus driver or something?''

Trivia: He supported Manchester City.

Colin Buchanan (Actor) .. Det Insp Peter Pascoe

Susannah Corbett (Actor) .. Ellie Pascoe

David Royle (Actor) .. Det Sgt Edgar Wield

Navin Chowdhry (Actor) .. Police cadet Sanjay Singh

Joseph Morton (Actor) .. Carlo

Michael Pennington (Actor) .. Hartley Culpepper

Patrick Ryecart (Actor) .. Anton Davenant

Peter Blythe (Actor) .. Supt Derek Backhouse

Freddie Jones (Actor) .. French

Born: September 12, 1927 in Stoke-on-Trent

Best Known For: Appearing in several David Lynch films.

Early-life: Born Frederick Charles Jones on September 12, 1927, in Stoke-on-Trent. He never intended to become an actor; in fact, he spent the first decade of his working life as a laboratory assistant at a ceramics factory, only taking to the stage in amateur productions. On eventually deciding on a career-change, Jones won a scholarship to study at the Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama in Kent. He then spent time working with repertory companies.

Career: Jones quickly gained a reputation as a fine character actor while working with the Royal Shakespeare Company. Early TV roles came in Z Cars, The Baron and The Avengers. His first film was Marat/Sade in 1967. He and Dudley Sutton are the only actors to have appeared in the original and revamped versions of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased). Other TV work has come in the likes of Jackanory, Inspector Morse, The District Nurse and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. Jones has become a cult hero thanks to his film work for legendary studio Hammer (Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed and The Satanic Rites of Dracula) and director David Lynch (The Elephant Man, Dune, Wild at Heart, On the Air and Hotel Room). Jones has played Sandy in Emmerdale since 2005.

Quote: "Time has eroded my memory of those early films. All I remember is not being paid very much!"

Trivia: He is the father of actor Toby Jones.

Mark Benton (Actor) .. Jonathan Etherege

Born: November 16, 1965 in Guisborough

Best Known For: Northern Lights, and Waterloo Road.

Early-life: Born on 16 November, 1965, in Guisborough in the North East, Mark hoped to follow in the footsteps of his uncle, actor Michael Gunn. Always the class clown, he fell in love with the theatre and spent many years trying to make a career out of acting. He was in the same drama class at the Stockton-Billingham Tech as actress Elizabeth Carling. Some of his early acting experience came with the Middlesbrough Youth Theatre, with performances in plays such as Atmos Fear and Twist.

Career: Benton's big break came in the 1997 Mike Leigh film Career Girls. For the past decade he has barely been off our screens. He had a recurring role as Father McBride in the James Nesbitt series Murphy's Law. He has starred with Vic and Bob in their remake of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased), Catterick, and Monkey Trousers. He was comedy gold in Craig Cash's Early Doors and The Booze Cruise trilogy. His biggest role was alongside Robson Green in Christmas Lights, Northern Lights, City Lights and Clash of the Santas. He was also a regular on Waterloo Road and is the host of game show The Edge. In 2013, he was a contestant on Strictly Come Dancing.

Quote: 'I think sometimes you have to ask if you want to be an actor or do you want to be a celebrity? I was tempted to do Celebrity Mastermind but I couldn't think of a specialist subject.'

Trivia: Benton is a die-hard supporter of Middlesbrough FC and has featured in the club's official season ticket advertising campaign.

Mary Chester (Actor) .. Miss Langdale

Meg Davies (Actor) .. Marianne Culpepper

Gareth Davies (Director)

Malcolm Bradbury (Writer)

Dalziel & Pascoe: Ruling Passion

11:20 pm - 01:20 am, Wednesday, April 15 on U&Drama (20)

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Ruling Passion
Season 2, Episode 1

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