Clive Russell (born 7 December 1945) is a Scottish actor. He is known for his roles as Chief Inspector
Frederick Abberline
Frederick George Abberline (8 January 1843 – 10 December 1929) was a British chief inspector for the London Metropolitan Police. He is best known for being a prominent police figure in the investigation into the Jack the Ripper serial killer ...
in ''
Ripper Street
''Ripper Street'' is a British mystery drama television series set in Whitechapel in the East End of London starring Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, and MyAnna Buring. It begins in 1889, six months after the infamous Jack the ...
'', Angus O'Connor in ''
Happiness
Happiness, in the context of Mental health, mental or emotional states, is positive or Pleasure, pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishin ...
'' and
Brynden Tully
George R. R. Martin's ''A Song of Ice and Fire'' saga features a large cast of characters. The series follows three interwoven plotlines: a dynastic war for control of Westeros by several families; the rising threat of the superhuman Others bey ...
in the
HBO
Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...
series ''
Game of Thrones
''Game of Thrones'' is an American fantasy drama television series created by David Benioff and D. B. Weiss for HBO. It is an adaptation of ''A Song of Ice and Fire'', a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin, the first ...
''.
He also appeared in the Scottish sitcoms ''
Still Game'' and ''
Rab C Nesbitt
''Rab C. Nesbitt'' is a Scottish comedy series which began in 1988. Produced by BBC Scotland, it stars Gregor Fisher as an alcoholic Glaswegian who seeks unemployment as a lifestyle choice. Rab C. Nesbitt was originally a recurring character i ...
'', teen drama ''
Hollyoaks
''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. Since 2005, episodes have been aired on ...
'' as
Jack Osborne
Jack Osborne is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', played by Jimmy McKenna. He first appeared on 18 November 1996 and is the second longest serving character in the serial. He was introduced as part of ...
's brother
Billy Brodie
''Hollyoaks'' is a British television soap opera that was first broadcast on 23 October 1995. The following is a list of characters that appeared in the serial in 2016, by order of first appearance. All characters were introduced by executive prod ...
and British crime drama ''
Cracker'' as Danny Fitzgerald.
Life and career
Russell was born in the
North Riding of Yorkshire
The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres).
From the Restoration it was used as ...
, England but brought up in
Fife
Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross (i ...
, Scotland.
Russell first performed before an audience in 1960 on ''
The Shari Lewis Show
''The Shari Lewis Show'' is a children's television program that first appeared on NBC Saturday mornings from 1960 to 1963.
Premise
The show starred Shari Lewis, who was both the show's host and the puppeteer for the characters Lamb Chop, Hush ...
'', but it was not until 1980 that he had his first real acting job – performing on the London stage as the superintendent in Nobel Prize-winner
Dario Fo
Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. I ...
's satire ''
Accidental Death of an Anarchist
''Accidental Death of an Anarchist'' ( it, Morte accidentale di un anarchico) is a play by Italian playwright Dario Fo that premiered in 1970. Considered a classic of 20th-century theater, it has been performed across the world in more than for ...
'', about police corruption in Italy. The reviews were good, and he reprised that role for television in 1983. After further honing his skills in various British TV productions and a handful of films – including ''Jute City'', ''
The Power of One'', ''
The Hawk'' and ''
Seconds Out
''Seconds Out'' is the second live album by English progressive rock band Genesis. It was released as a double album on 14 October 1977 on Charisma Records, and was their first with touring drummer Chester Thompson and their last with guitarist ...
'' – Russell received exposure before international audiences as Caleb Garth in the celebrated BBC miniseries ''
Middlemarch
''Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life'' is a novel by the English author Mary Anne Evans, who wrote as George Eliot. It first appeared in eight installments (volumes) in 1871 and 1872. Set in Middlemarch, a fictional English Midland town, ...
'', based on the
George Eliot
Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wro ...
novel of the same name. A year later, he fell in love on the movie screen with
Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter (born 26 May 1966) is an English actress. Known for her roles in blockbusters and independent films, particularly period dramas, she has received various awards and nominations, including a British Academy Film Award a ...
in ''
Margaret's Museum
''Margaret's Museum'' is a 1995 British-Canadian drama film, directed by Mort Ransen and based on Sheldon Currie's novel '' The Glace Bay Miners' Museum''.
Plot
Set in the 1940s in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, the film tells the story of ...
'', for which he earned a
Genie
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...
nomination at the
16th Genie Awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. After more TV roles and another film, Russell played
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal Shak ...
' father in another critically acclaimed film, ''
Oscar and Lucinda
''Oscar and Lucinda'' is a novel by Australian author Peter Carey which won the 1988 Booker Prize and the 1989 Miles Franklin Award. It was shortlisted for The Best of the Booker.
Plot introduction
It tells the story of Oscar Hopkins, th ...
''. Growing recognition of his acting skills then brought him major roles in four major TV miniseries: ''
Great Expectations
''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...
'', ''
Oliver Twist
''Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress'', Charles Dickens's second novel, was published as a serial from 1837 to 1839, and as a three-volume book in 1838. Born in a workhouse, the orphan Oliver Twist is bound into apprenticeship with ...
'', ''
The Railway Children
''The Railway Children'' is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in ''The London Magazine'' during 1905 and published in book form in the same year. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 fil ...
'' and ''
The Mists of Avalon
''The Mists of Avalon'' is a 1983 historical fantasy novel by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which the author relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters. The book follows the trajectory of Morgaine (Mo ...
''.
Television
Standing 6' 6", Russell is a familiar and unforgettable face on British television and has appeared in numerous television series including ''
Boys from the Blackstuff
''Boys from the Blackstuff'' is a British drama television series of five episodes, originally transmitted from 10 October to 7 November 1982 on BBC2.
The serial was written by Liverpudlian playwright Alan Bleasdale, as a sequel to a televisio ...
'', ''
Hope and Glory'', ''
Neverwhere
''Neverwhere'' is an urban fantasy television miniseries by Neil Gaiman that first aired in 1996 on BBC 2. The series is set in "London Below", a magical realm coexisting with the more familiar London, referred to as "London Above". It was d ...
'', ''
Great Expectations
''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...
'', ''
The Mists of Avalon
''The Mists of Avalon'' is a 1983 historical fantasy novel by American writer Marion Zimmer Bradley, in which the author relates the Arthurian legends from the perspective of the female characters. The book follows the trajectory of Morgaine (Mo ...
'', ''
Heartburn Hotel
''Heartburn Hotel'' is a British sitcom that ran for two series on BBC One from 1998 to 2000.
The programme concerns the owner-operator and tenants of the Olympic Hotel—an establishment named in anticipation of a successful Olympic bid by t ...
'', ''
Roughnecks'', ''
Monarch of the Glen'', ''
Midsomer Murders
''Midsomer Murders'' is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the '' Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series (created by Caroline Graham), and broadcast on two channels of I ...
'', ''
Waking the Dead'', ''
Silent Witness
''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC, which focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, the series was created by Nigel McC ...
'', ''
Rockface
In geography and geology, a cliff is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. Cliffs a ...
'', and ''
Spaced
''Spaced'' is a British television sitcom created, written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright, about the (comedic and sometimes farcical and action-packed) misadventures of Daisy Steiner and Tim Bis ...
''. Russell has also made appearances in ''
Still Game'', ''
Happiness
Happiness, in the context of Mental health, mental or emotional states, is positive or Pleasure, pleasant emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy. Other forms include life satisfaction, well-being, subjective well-being, flourishin ...
'', ''
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' () is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in ...
'', ''
Cracker'' and ''
The Railway Children
''The Railway Children'' is a children's book by Edith Nesbit, originally serialised in ''The London Magazine'' during 1905 and published in book form in the same year. It has been adapted for the screen several times, of which the 1970 fil ...
''. From 2005 to 2006, Russell played
Phil Nail
The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' in 2005, by order of first appearance.
Scooter Makuna
Hiren "Scooter" Makuna, first appeared in early 2005 as the boyfriend of Sarah Platt ...
in
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
's ''
Coronation Street
''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford.
Origi ...
''. Russell made an appearance in ''
Waterloo Road'' as Lisa and Lenny Brown's grandfather for one episode, also playing Billy Wilson for two in Shameless.
He has appeared as Jock in the third series of the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
'' as an artist forced to fake his own death when he is in debt. In 2012, he joined the cast of the
.
In January 2017 he had a small role in the BBC Three comedy "Uncle", portraying Sam and Andy's father and later in the year appeared in ''
''. He played Ken Hollister.
In 2020, he appeared as Wroth, Chief of a Fey tribe called the Tusks, a recurring character for 5 episodes in the
''.
-speaking Neil Currie. Russell's other film credits include ''
''. He appeared in the 2010 film ''
'' as MacQueen. Russell also appeared in
'' which was released in the first quarter of 2012, playing the character of Beame alongside the ''Hobbit'' star
''. He played Tyr in the live-action film ''
'' (2013).
In 2010, Russell made his debut one-man show ''Touching the Blue''.