John Bowe (born John Wilson, 1 February 1950) is a British actor best known for his roles in ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, '' ...

'' as Lawrence White and ''

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 ...

'' as

Duggie Ferguson The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'' in 1999, by order of first appearance. Ian Bentley Ian Bentley, played by Jonathan Guy Lewis, first appeared on 29 January 1999. He is introd ...

Early life and career

Bowe was born in

Greasby Greasby () is a large village on the Wirral Peninsula, Merseyside, England. A predominantly residential area, it is contiguous with Upton to the east and Saughall Massie to the north. The small village of Frankby is to the immediate west. Hist ...

, on the Wirral in

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

, England. His highest profile role was probably that of George Marlow in the first ''

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 ...

'' serial in 1991. He also played Duggie Ferguson in ''Coronation Street'' from 1999 to 2002, having previously appeared in another of

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...

's soap operas, ''

Families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Ideal ...

''. Other TV credits include: ''

Warship A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...

'', '' Secret Army'', ''

Boon Boon may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Boon (game), a trick-taking card game * ''Boon'' (novel), a 1915 satirical work by H. G. Wells * ''Boon'' (TV series), a British television series starring Michael Elphick * The Ultimate Boo ...

'', ''

The New Statesman The ''New Statesman'' is a British political and cultural magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first connected with Sidney and Beatrice Webb and other leading members ...

'', ''

Capital City A capital city or capital is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, Department (country subdivision), department, or other subnational entity, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city ...

'', ''

Class Act ''Class Act'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Randall Miller and starring hip-hop duo Kid 'n Play. An urban retelling of Mark Twain's ''The Prince and the Pauper'', the film was written by Cynthia Friedlob and John Semper from a sto ...

'', ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

The Royal ''The Royal'' is a British period medical drama, produced by Yorkshire Television (later part of ITV Studios), and broadcast on ITV1 from 2003 until its cancellation in 2011. The series is set in the 1960s and focuses on the lives of the st ...

'', ''

Dalziel and Pascoe Detective Superintendent Andrew "Andy" Dalziel and Detective Sergeant, later Detective Inspector, Peter Pascoe are two fictional Yorkshire detectives featuring in a series of novels by Reginald Hill. Characterisation and style Dalziel is ...

'', ''

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

'' and ''

Einstein and Eddington ''Einstein and Eddington'' is a British single drama produced by Company Pictures and the BBC, in association with HBO. It featured David Tennant as British scientist Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington, and Andy Serkis as Albert Einstein. This is th ...

'', ''

Tipping the Velvet ''Tipping the Velvet'' (1998) is a historical novel by Sarah Waters; it is her debut novel. Set in England during the 1890s, it tells a coming of age story about a young woman named Nan who falls in love with a male impersonator, follows her ...

'', '' The Hour'' and ''

DCI Banks ''DCI Banks'' is a British television crime drama series produced by Left Bank Pictures for the ITV network. Originally broadcast over five series in 2010–2016, the series was based on Peter Robinson's Inspector Alan Banks novels and ...

'' and ''Soldier Soldier.'' Film credits include ''

The Living Daylights ''The Living Daylights'' is a 1987 spy film, the fifteenth entry in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first of two to star Timothy Dalton as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by John Glen, the film's ...

'' (1987), '' Resurrected'' (1989), ''

County Kilburn ''County Kilburn'' is a 2000 British comedy film directed by Elliot Hegarty and starring Ciarán McMenamin, Rick Warden and John Bowe. Plot A young man takes a job working at The Waggon and Horses, an Irish bar in Kilburn in North London, wh ...

'' (2000) and ''Gozo'' (2015). In 2007, Bowe played Dr Morgan in the BBC series '' Cranford''. in 2009 he played Ralph Jarvis in episode 4 series 2 of Ashes to Ashes. In April 2010, Bowe joined the cast of London's West End production '' Priscilla, Queen of the Desert – The Musical'', playing the part of Bob. In September 2011, he appeared as Judge Turpin in ''Sweeney Todd'' at

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

, a role he continued in the West End transfer. In September 2014, Bowe joined the cast of ''

'', playing Lawrence White, the former lover of Harold Birch, the husband of

Edna Birch Edna Birch is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', played by Shirley Stelfox. She made her first appearance during the episode first broadcast on 25 May 2000. Edna is characterised as a proud and independent Ch ...

(

Shirley Stelfox Shirley Rosemary Stelfox (11 April 1941 – 7 December 2015) was an English actress, known for her portrayal of the character Edna Birch, a moralising busybody in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', and as Rose, the vampy sister of the snobby ...

). He arrived with his daughter Chrissie (

Louise Marwood Louise Marwood (born 13 March 1979) is an English actress and comedian, known for portraying the role of Chrissie White in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'', which she played from 2014 until 2018. Early life Marwood was born on 13 March 1979 i ...

), his grandson Lachlan (Thomas Atkinson) and Chrissie's fiancé,

Robert Sugden Robert Sugden (also Sugden-Dingle) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale''. The character originally appeared on the show regularly between 22 April 1986 and 3 October 2005. During that time he was first played ...

(

Ryan Hawley Ryan Alexander Hawley (born 21 September 1985) is an English actor, known for his portrayal of Robert Sugden in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' from 2014 to 2019. Early life Hawley, son of Christine and Steve, spent his childhood partly in ...

), whom he openly despised. Bowe's departure from ''Emmerdale'' was announced in April 2017, however he did not leave until January 2018, when his character was killed off in a car accident. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Bowe initially supported UK government measures. In April 2020 he reported contracting Covid-19 and "nearly dying" of the disease. However, over time Bowe started objecting to the ongoing restrictions. In November 2021 Bowe announced he had joined the Reform UK Party and was campaigning against government restrictions.

Personal life

Bowe has been married three times. His son from his first marriage is fellow actor

Joseph Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ken ...

. His third marriage is to actress Emma Bowe, daughter of Michael N. Harbour and sister of

Kate Harbour Kate Harbour is an English voice actress who provides many voices for the television series ''Bob the Builder'', including Wendy, Dizzy, Mrs. Potts, Mrs. Broadbent, Mrs. Percival, and Pilchard. Biography She is the daughter of actor Michae ...

. In his November 2021 tweets announcing his retirement from acting, Bowe said that he had joined the

Reform UK Reform UK is a right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. It was founded with support from Nigel Farage in November 2018 as the Brexit Party, advocating hard Euroscepticism and a no-deal Brexit, and was briefly a significant po ...

party.

Filmography

* ''

'' (1987) - Colonel Feyador * '' Resurrected'' (1989) - Colonel * ''

'' (1991) - George Marlow (series 1) * ''

'' (1999–2002, soap opera) -

* ''

'' (2000) - Black Jack * ''Heartbeat'' (2006) - Henry Stoddard * ''The Bill'' (2008) - Tom * ''

Ashes to Ashes (British TV series) ''Ashes to Ashes'' is a British fantasy crime drama and police procedural drama television series, serving as the sequel to ''Life on Mars''. The series began airing on BBC One in February 2008. A second series began broadcasting in April 2009. ...

'' (2009) - Ralph *

Series 13, Episode 6, 'Run'
2009) - D.I. Barry Neill * ''

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 ...

'' (2011) - Alan King * ''

Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...

'' Series 28, Episode 35 'Carrot not Stick' (2014)- Stanley Hogg * ''

'' (2014–2018, soap opera) - Lawrence White * ''Gozo'' (2015) - Johnno * ''Safe and Effective: A Second Opinion'' (2022) - Narrator.

References

External links

* 1950 births Living people English male television actors People from the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral {{UK-tv-actor-1950s-stub