Shameless

Elliott Tittensor (Actor) .. Carl Gallagher

Valerie Lilley (Actor) .. Patty Croker

Pauline McLynn (Actor) .. Libby Croker

Robbie Conway (Actor) .. Aidan Croker

Kira Martin (Actor) .. Letitia Powell

Emmanuel Ighodaro (Actor) .. Jackson Powell

David Threlfall (Actor) .. Frank Gallagher

Born: October 12, 1953 in Manchester

Best Known For: Playing foul-mouthed Frank Gallagher in Shameless.

Early-life: Born in Manchester on October 12, 1953. He has a brother; their father was a plumber. David never wanted to be an actor, his first love was football, but thanks to a little encouragement from teachers, he trod the boards in a school production of The Crucible. After a short stint at art college in Sheffield, and a few months labouring, he became a student at Manchester Polytechnic School of Drama. His breakthrough role came in the gritty 1977 drama Scum.

Career: Aside from a lean period at the back end of the 1990s, Threlfall has rarely been out of work. His small-screen work includes roles in Mike Leigh's Kiss of Death, a 1984 staging of King Lear (opposite Laurence Olivier), Conspiracy and The Queen's Sister. His most famous on-screen character is that of chain-smoking patriarch Frank Gallagher, a role he held in Channel 4 drama Shameless between 2004 and 2013. Other projects include The Russia House, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, Housewife 49, Hot Fuzz, Nowhere Boy and The Ark. He was also made a surprisingly good Tommy Cooper in the ITV biopic Not Like That, Like This.

Quote: On acting: 'I just like getting up and pretending. It's the game of pretending you're other people, that's the liberating thing.'

Trivia: He supports Manchester City. He received an honorary doctorate from Manchester Metropolitan University in 2013.

Qasim Akhtar (Actor) .. Chesney Karib

Nicky Evans (Actor) .. Shane Maguire

Born: April 20, 1979 in Bradford

Rebecca Atkinson (Actor) .. Karen Maguire

Aaron McCusker (Actor) .. Jamie Maguire

Tina Malone (Actor) .. Mimi Maguire

Born: January 30, 1963 in Liverpool

Best Known For: Shameless.

Early-life: Tina Malone was born in Liverpool on January 30, 1963. She attended Liverpool Institute High School for Girls and showed a passion for acting. After some minor TV roles, she landed parts in Brookside and Blonde Fist, as well as appearing in Victoria Wood's dinnerladies, before landing a part as the terrifying Mimi Maguire in Shameless in 2005.

Career: Malone has been praised for her acting but her own personality came to the fore when she was a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother in 2009, where she was one of the more popular housemates. Since then, she has also received recognition for her extraordinary weight loss - having a gastric balloon fitted to help her lose four stone in weight. She has been outspoken about her bipolar disorder and health problems. She also runs a theatre school in Liverpool.

Quote: 'You can go on forever about ‘my metabolism slower than yours.' The point is: you need to exercise to speed up your metabolism and then you can eat anything you want in life. But just have a bite, not the whole box which is what I've done for 15 years.'

Trivia: In December 2013, at the age of 50, she gave birth to a daughter.

Sally Carman-Duttine (Actor) .. Kelly Maguire

Ciaran Griffiths (Actor) .. Micky Maguire

Alice Barry (Actor) .. Lillian Tyler

Aysha Kala (Actor) .. Sita Desai

Paul Kaye (Actor) .. Kermit

Born: December 15, 1964 in Dulwich

Best Known For: His character Dennis Pennis - the spoof reporter who pretended to interview celebrities so he could insult or make fun of them.

Early-life: Paul Kaye was born as Ralph Zang on December 15, 1964, in Dulwich, and raised in Wembley, where he studied theatre design and became obsessed with punk rock. Kaye became an avid fan of Arsenal FC at the age of 14. He used to be an in-house graphic designer for rival team Tottenham Hotspur in the late 1980s, but was given the boot for sticking the odd subliminal cannon into their merchandising catalogues. In real-life he's extremely well-spoken - unlike many of his alter-egos.

Career: Kaye got his TV break working on BBC Two's Sunday Show when he was 24, playing Dennis Pennis, a character he invented during evenings out with his friends, never expecting anything to come of it. Despite being a cult hit, Kaye decided to quit playing him when he found it difficult to get interviews with stars. Away from Pennis, he's appeared in comedy series Perfect World and Citizen Kaye, and hosted game show Liar. He has also starred in It's All Gone Pete Tong, Two Thousand Acres of Sky, Kingdom, Skins, Mongrels, Shameless and Being Human.

Quote: Talking to Pierce Brosnan at a celebrity bash: 'When I went to see GoldenEye, I was glued to my seat - otherwise I would have left.''

Trivia: He has starred in a number of commercials for betting website BetVictor.

Darren Fairhurst (Writer)

Lawrence Till (Producer)

Metin Huseyin (Director)

10:00 pm - 10:55 pm, Thursday, April 23 on That's TV (56)

About this Broadcast

Season 8, Episode 6

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