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Craig John Fairbrass (born 15 January 1964) is an English actor, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for his roles as Delmar in the thriller film ''
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...
'' (1993),
Dan Sullivan Dan, Danny, or Daniel Sullivan may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Daniel J. Sullivan (born 1940), American film and theater director
* Daniel G. Sullivan, American screenwriter
* Dan Sullivan (musician), indie rock musician
* Dan Panic, Amer ...
in 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. ...
...
soap opera ''
EastEnders
''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...
'' (1999–2001), Pat Tate in the ''
Rise of the Footsoldier
''Rise of the Footsoldier'' is a British crime film, crime and gangster film franchise written and directed by Julian Gilbey, Will Gilbey, Ricci Harnett, Zackary Adler, Andrew Loveday and Nick Nevern, distributed by Optimum Releasing. The franc ...
'' film series (2007–present), and the original voice of
Simon "Ghost" Riley in the ''
Call of Duty
''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game Media franchise, franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold W ...
'' video game series (2007–present).
Early life
Craig John Fairbrass was born at
Mile End Hospital
Mile End Hospital is a community hospital in the Mile End area of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in England. It is managed by Barts Health NHS Trust.
History
The hospital was established as the infirmary for the local workhouse in 1859. ...
in
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
on 15 January 1964, the son of seamstress Maureen and dock worker Jack Fairbrass. He grew up in
Stepney
Stepney is a district in the East End of London in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The district is no longer officially defined, and is usually used to refer to a relatively small area. However, for much of its history the place name appl ...
and has a younger sister named Lindsey.
[https://craigfairbrass.co.uk/resume-of-work] After being expelled from Eaglesfield Boys Comprehensive School in
Woolwich
Woolwich () is a district in southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich.
The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was maintained throu ...
at the age of 15, he successfully auditioned for the
National Youth Theatre
The National Youth Theatre of Great Britain (NYT) is a youth theatre and registered charity in London. Its aim is to develop and nurture young people through creative arts and theatrical productions. Founded in 1956 as the world's first youth th ...
. He then began searching for a talent agent to represent him, supporting himself financially for the next five years by working as a roofer in the daytime and working evenings as a doorman at what he would later call some of the "less desirable nightspots" in southeast London.
From these jobs, he saved enough money to buy a small sandwich shop at
Woolwich Market
Beresford Square is a pedestrianised town and market square in Woolwich in the Royal Borough of Greenwich in London, England. It was formed in the early 19th century and was named after the Anglo-Irish general William Beresford, Master-Genera ...
, which he then used as his primary source of income until he began to secure acting roles more steadily.
Career
After a few years of walk-on roles in ''Emmerdale'', ''Three Up Two Down'', and ''Shelley'', Fairbrass made his first real TV appearance as an actor in the 1984 BBC television series ''
Big Deal'' as Nev in the episode "Fighting chance" followed by another BBC role in ''
Tucker's Luck
''Tucker's Luck'' is a British television series made by the BBC between 1983 and 1985.
The series is a spin-off from the school drama ''Grange Hill (TV series), Grange Hill'' and capitalised on the popularity of one of the series' original char ...
''. He made his feature film acting debut as D.I Challoner in the 1989 Working title thriller ''
For Queen and Country
''For Queen and Country'' is a 1988 crime drama film co-written and directed by Martin Stellman and starring Denzel Washington in Panavision. Washington stars as Reuben James, a Black British former paratrooper, who joined the British Army to esc ...
'' opposite Academy Award winner
Denzel Washington
Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has been described as an actor who reconfigured "the concept of classic movie stardom". Throughout his career spanning over four decades, Washington ha ...
. Film and television appearances quickly followed, including the
Ray Winstone
Raymond Andrew Winstone (; born 19 February 1957) is an English television, stage and film actor with a career spanning five decades. Having worked with many prominent directors, including Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg, Winstone is perha ...
film ''Tank Malling'', and the Channel 4 Film, ''The Final Frame'' playing Suggs's right-hand man, Franklin. He also landed a regular role as Gary 'Technique' Pagnall in the ITV drama series ''
London's Burning'' in 1990. That same year Fairbrass was cast opposite
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...
as Detective Inspector Frank Burkin in the Bafta/Emmy Award-winning original ''
Prime Suspect
''Prime Suspect'' is a British police procedural television drama series devised by Lynda La Plante. It stars Helen Mirren as Jane Tennison, one of the first female Detective Chief Inspectors in Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, who ...
1 and 2''.
In 1991, he travelled to Los Angeles and secured his first Hollywood acting role in the 1992 action blockbuster ''
Cliffhanger
A cliffhanger or cliffhanger ending is a plot device in fiction which features a main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma or confronted with a shocking revelation at the end of an episode or a film of serialized fiction. A cliffhang ...
'' with
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...
. This led to roles in independent films with lead roles in ''
Beyond Bedlam'' (1994) with
Elizabeth Hurley
Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born 10 June 1965) is an English actress and model.
As an actress, her best-known film roles have been as Vanessa Kensington in ''Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997) and as the Devil in ''Bedazzled (2000 ...
, ''
Galaxis
''Galaxis'' is a 1995 science fiction action film directed by William Mesa and written by Nick Davis. It stars Brigitte Nielsen, Richard Moll and Craig Fairbrass. It was also released under the name ''Terminal Force''.
The film received a negat ...
'' (1995) with
Brigitte Nielsen
Brigitte Nielsen (; born Gitte Nielsen; 15 July 1963) is a Danish actress, model, and singer. She began her career modelling for Greg Gorman and Helmut Newton. She subsequently acted in the 1985 films ''Red Sonja'' and ''Rocky IV'', later retu ...
, ''Proteus'', ''Killing Time'', and ''Darklands''.
In 1999, Fairbrass landed the regular role of
Dan Sullivan Dan, Danny, or Daniel Sullivan may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Daniel J. Sullivan (born 1940), American film and theater director
* Daniel G. Sullivan, American screenwriter
* Dan Sullivan (musician), indie rock musician
* Dan Panic, Amer ...
in ''
EastEnders
''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...
''. He left the show in August 2001. He then took the lead role of Ray Betson in the Channel Five crime drama ''The Great Dome Robbery''.
Fairbrass returned to the U.S., starring in the
Chris Klein comedy, ''The Long Weekend'', and as Henry Caine opposite
Nathan Fillion
Nathan Fillion (; born March 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American actor. He played the leading roles of Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds on '' Firefly'' and its film continuation '' Serenity'', and Richard Castle on '' Castle''. , he was starring as J ...
in ''
White Noise 2''. In February 2007, he appeared as the renegade
Jaffa
Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...
, Arkad, in the episode "
Talion" in the final season of ''
Stargate SG-1
''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction Adventure fiction, adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's Stargate, ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wrigh ...
'', as a guest lead in ''The Sarah Connor Chronicles'' opposite
Lena Headey
Lena Kathren Headey ( ; born 3 October 1973) is a British actress. She gained international recognition and acclaim for her portrayal of Cersei Lannister on the HBO epic fantasy drama series '' Game of Thrones'' (2011–2019), for which she re ...
, and as guest lead Devon Burke, a rogue MI5 agent in
David Mamet
David Alan Mamet (; born November 30, 1947) is an American playwright, filmmaker, and author. He won a Pulitzer Prize and received Tony Award, Tony nominations for his plays ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' (1984) and ''Speed-the-Plow'' (1988). He first ...
's hit show ''
The Unit
''The Unit'' is an American action-drama television series created by David Mamet that aired on CBS from March 7, 2006, to May 10, 2009 with the total of four seasons and 69 episodes. The series focuses on a top-secret military unit modeled aft ...
''.
In 2007, he starred in the feature film ''
Rise of the Footsoldier
''Rise of the Footsoldier'' is a British crime film, crime and gangster film franchise written and directed by Julian Gilbey, Will Gilbey, Ricci Harnett, Zackary Adler, Andrew Loveday and Nick Nevern, distributed by Optimum Releasing. The franc ...
'' as real life gangster Pat Tate, and opposite
Jason Statham
Jason Statham (; born 26 July 1967) is an English actor. He is known for portraying characters in various action-thriller films who are typically tough, hardboiled, gritty, or violent.
Statham began practising Chinese martial arts, kickboxing ...
in ''
The Bank Job
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
''. The following year he joined
Til Schweiger
Tilman Valentin Schweiger (; born 19 December 1963) is a German actor, voice actor and filmmaker. He runs his own production company, Barefoot Films, in Berlin.
Early life
Schweiger was born in Freiburg, West Germany, to two teachers. He grew ...
in the game-based action film ''
Far Cry
''Far Cry'' is an anthology franchise of first-person shooter games, all of which have been published by Ubisoft. The first game, ''Far Cry'', was developed by Crytek to premiere their CryEngine software, and released in March 2004. Subsequent ...
'' (2008). Fairbrass provided additional voices in the video game ''
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare'' (2007), then again as one of the most iconic characters in the game's history as
Ghost
A ghost is the soul or spirit of a dead person or animal that is believed to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely from an invisible presence to translucent or barely visible wispy shapes, to rea ...
in ''
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2'' (2009) and as various characters in ''
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3''. In 2011, Fairbrass took the co-lead in the crime thriller ''St Georges Day'', other lead roles included ''Vikingdom 3D'', ''House of the Rising Sun'', opposite
Dave Bautista
David Michael Bautista Jr. (born January 18, 1969) is an American actor and retired professional wrestler. He had several stints in WWE between 2002 and 2019. In his acting career, he is most widely known for his portrayal of Drax the Destro ...
, ''Hijacked'', and ''Get Lucky and Let me Survive''. In 2012, Fairbrass took his first lead role in a US action thriller ''The Outsider'', which starred
Jason Patric
Jason Patric (born June 17, 1966) is an American film, television and stage actor. He is known for his roles in films such as ''The Lost Boys'', ''Rush (1991 film), Rush'', ''Sleepers (film), Sleepers'', ''Geronimo: An American Legend'', ''Your ...
,
James Caan
James Edmund Caan ( ; March 26, 1940 – July 6, 2022) was an American actor. He came to prominence playing Sonny Corleone in ''The Godfather'' (1972) – a performance which earned him Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor, Academy Award an ...
and
Shannon Elizabeth
Shannon Elizabeth Fadal (born September 7, 1973) is an American actress, conservationist, animal activist, model and poker player. A popular sex symbol and teen idol of the 1990s and 2000s, Elizabeth is best known for her roles in the films '' A ...
. In ''
Bula Quo!
''Bula Quo!'' is a 2013 British adventure film, adventure comedy film directed by Stuart St Paul, starring Jon Lovitz, Craig Fairbrass, Laura Aikman and Status Quo (band), Status Quo musicians Francis Rossi and Rick Parfitt.
Plot
The film is s ...
'', he co-starred alongside
Rick Parfitt
Richard John Parfitt, (12 October 1948 24 December 2016) was an English musician, best known as a singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist with rock band Status Quo.
Parfitt began his career in the early 1960s, playing in pubs and holiday cam ...
and
Francis Rossi
Francis Dominic Nicholas Michael Rossi, (born 29 May 1949) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He is the co-founder, lead singer, lead guitarist and the sole continuous member of the rock band Status Quo.
Early life
Rossi was born o ...
. In 2014 he took the lead in the psychological thriller, ''
Breakdown
Breakdown may refer to:
Breaking down
*Breakdown (vehicle), failure of a motor vehicle in such a way that it cannot be operated
*Chemical decomposition, also called chemical breakdown, the breakdown of a substance into simpler components
*Decompo ...
'', alongside
James Cosmo
James Ronald Gordon Copeland , known professionally as James Cosmo (b. 1947), is a Scottish film and television actor known for his appearances in films including ''Highlander'', ''Braveheart'', '' Trainspotting'', ''Jagame Thandhiram'', ''Tro ...
,
Bruce Payne
Bruce Martyn Payne (born 22 November 1958) is an English actor, producer, screenwriter, film director and theatre director. Payne is best known for portraying villains, such as Charles Rane in '' Passenger 57'', Jacob Kell in '' Highlander: En ...
,
Emmett Scanlan,
Olivia Grant. In 2015, he played the lead role of Jack Cregan in the revenge thriller ''
London Heist'' alongsoide
Steven Berkoff, which he also co-wrote. The film was produced by his own son, Luke Fairbrass. Craig Fairbrass went on to win the Best Actor Award at the 2016
Marbella International Film Festival
The Marbella International Film Festival has been held in Marbella
Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol a ...
for the role.
In 2017, Fairbrass reprised his role of Pat Tate in ''Rise of the Footsoldier 3: The Pat Tate Years'', a prequel to the 2007 original and proved to be Fairbrass's most powerful performance to date, winning him the best actor award at the 2018
National Film Awards
The National Film Awards is the most prominent film award ceremony in India. Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India and the Indian Panorama, by the Indian government's Directorat ...
in London.
In 2020, Fairbrass played Eddie Franks in the critically acclaimed, London crime thriller ''
Villain
A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...
''. He reprised his role of Pat Tate in the fifth installment of ''Rise of the Footsoldier'' Origins, directed by
Nick Nevern
Nick Nevern (born 8 December 1980) is a British actor, screenwriter and director. He is best known for his roles in Eastenders first as Rennie, then as Don , Shameless as Rogowski,and The Hooligan Factory as Dex.
Early life
Nevern was born an ...
.
In 2022, Fairbrass starred in Ross McCall's ''A Violent Man''. Fairbrass' performance was praised by Leslie Felperin, writing for ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', but the film itself was negatively reviewed, earning 2/5 stars.
Personal life
Fairbrass married former
Page Three
Page 3, or Page Three, was a British newspaper convention of publishing a large image of a topless female glamour model (known as a Page 3 girl) on the third page of mainstream red-top tabloids. '' The Sun'' introduced the feature, publishing ...
glamour model Elke Kellick in 1987.
They have two sons together.
While he enjoys the roles in films revolving around knife crime, criminal gangs, and violence, Fairbrass stated in a 2020 interview, I'm very wary of the violence that is in the films. It's like playing ''Call of Duty''
..people say to me, 'How do you feel that you're
..voicing characters in games that could be the instigation for someone to go out and commit murder?' I am just an actor. In the end of the day, it's all make believe. Some people take it a step further."
Filmography
Film
Television
Video games
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairbrass, Craig
1963 births
Living people
English male film actors
English male soap opera actors
English male voice actors
Male actors from London
People from Stepney