Ian Cameron Mercer (born 10 July 1961) is an English actor. He is known for playing Gary Mallett in the

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 ...

soap opera ''

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 ...

'' from 1995 to 2000, having previously appeared in 1987 as Pete Jackson. His other television credits include ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Br ...

'' (1982–83), '' Cracker'' (1993), and ''

The Street The Street may refer to: Geographical *Wall Street in New York City's Financial District * The Street, Lawshall, Suffolk, England * The Street (Heath Charnock), a building and bridleway in Rivington, Lancashire, England Film and television * ''The ...

'' (2007).

Career

Mercer was born in

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

, Lancashire. On leaving school, Mercer trained as an electrical engineer but decided to become an actor when he became an assistant stage manager at the

Oldham Coliseum Oldham Coliseum Theatre is a theatre in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Found on Fairbottom Street in the town centre, Oldham's Coliseum is a repertory theatre which celebrated its centenary in 1987. Its interior makes it a great period ...

in 1979. His first television appearance was as Mile in ''

Starting Out ''Starting Out'' is an Australian television soap opera made for the Nine Network by the Reg Grundy Organisation in 1983. Background The five-night-a-week series was created by Reg Watson as the network's replacement for the long-running s ...

'' (1982), a series made by ATV for schools and written by Grazyna Monvid. Mercer went on to work in such stage productions as '' Bent'', ''

Spend Spend Spend ''Spend Spend Spend'' is a musical with a book and lyrics by Steve Brown and Justin Greene and music by Brown. The musical is inspired by the life of Viv Nicholson. Productions ''Spend Spend Spend'' premiered in 1998 at the West Yorkshire Pla ...

'', ''Saturday Night, Sunday Morning'', '' Billy Liar'', ''Stop The Children's Laughter'', ''Welcome Home'', ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'', ''The Fancy Man'', ''

The York Realist ''The York Realist'' is a 2001 play by Peter Gill. It was premiered at the Lowry in November 2001 before moving to the Bristol Old Vic and the Royal Court Theatre in January 2002 by English Touring Theatre, with Gill himself directing. It tran ...

'', ''

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' (''The Young American and Marine ...

'' and ''

Revengers Tragedy ''Revengers Tragedy'' is a 2002 film adaptation of the 1606 play ''The Revenger's Tragedy'' (attributed to Thomas Middleton in the credits, following the scholarly consensus). It was directed by Alex Cox and adapted for the screen by Cox's fello ...

''.Mercer
on the

Internet Movie Database IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

His television and film acting credits include leading roles as a butcher in ''Blue Money'' (1985), ''

'' (as

Gary Mallett The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the ITV soap opera '' Coronation Street'' in 1995, by order of first appearance. Daniel Osbourne Daniel Osbourne is the son of Ken Barlow ( William Roache) and Denise Osbourne ( ...

and in 1987, Pete Jackson), '' Shackleton'' (with

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus ...

), '' Heartbeat'', ''

The Monocled Mutineer ''The Monocled Mutineer'' is a 1986 BBC television drama series starring Paul McGann about the Étaples mutiny in 1917 during the First World War. The four-part serial, which was the first historical screenplay written by Alan Bleasdale, dramat ...

'', ''

A Touch of Frost A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes' ...

'', '' Cracker'', '' Common As Muck'', ''

Peak Practice ''Peak Practice'' is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale—a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District—and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most ...

'', ''

New Tricks ''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural The police show, or police crime drama, is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasizes the investigative procedure of a police officer or department as the ...

'' and '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'' (with

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor. He was born in New Zealand, spent ten years of his childhood in Australia, and moved there permanently at age twenty one. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maxi ...

). In 2009 he appeared in an episode of ''

Doctors Doctor or The Doctor may refer to: Personal titles * Doctor (title), the holder of an accredited academic degree * A medical practitioner, including: ** Physician ** Surgeon ** Dentist ** Veterinary physician ** Optometrist *Other roles ** ...

'' and two episodes of '' Waking the Dead''. He appeared as Blackbeard's chief zombie henchman in '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides''. During August and September 2015 he returned to ''

'' playing the recurring role of Andy Weston in an ongoing sub-plot. In 2007, he completed three years of study at Northumbria University, gaining a degree in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

and

Art History Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

. He lives in Northumberland with his two daughters, Scarlett Rae (1997) and Carmine Mae (2000). In 2018, Mercer appeared in the

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English film and theatre director, screenwriter and playwright. He studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) and further at the Camberwell School of Art, the Central School of Art and Design ...

film, ''

Peterloo The Peterloo Massacre took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, Lancashire, England, on Monday 16 August 1819. Fifteen people died when cavalry charged into a crowd of around 60,000 people who had gathered to demand the reform of parliamen ...

'', playing the "buffoonish" Dr Healey. In May 2011, he was convicted of benefit fraud, having falsely claimed £2,300 in council tax benefit despite being in work at the time. He was fined £165 with a £15 victim surcharge and £100 costs.'Pirates of the Caribbean star convicted of benefit fraud'
''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'' – 27 May 2011

Film

Television

Theatre

References

External links

*
Mercer on Corrie.netInterview with MercerMercer on Filmbug.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercer, Ian 1961 births English male film actors English male soap opera actors Living people Male actors from Oldham 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of Northumbria University English male stage actors