Peter Alexander (born 15 October 1952,

Midsomer Norton Midsomer Norton is a town near the Mendip Hills in Bath and North East Somerset, England, south-west of Bath, north-east of Wells, north-west of Frome, west of Trowbridge and south-east of Bristol. It has a population of around 13,000. ...

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

) is an English actor and director. He is probably best known for playing the character of

Phil Pearce This list contains former characters and cast members of the ITV soap opera ''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 B ...

in ''

Emmerdale Farm ''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, '' ...

'' for three years. He holds the unusual distinction of having appeared in all the main UK-made TV soap operas of the last 25 years, including ''

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 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

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 ...

'', ''

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, '' ...

'' and ''

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 ...

''. He returned briefly to ''

'' as a different character in 2006 for the King's River House explosion plotline. He has appeared in many national touring theatrical productions, and in recent years has directed and starred in many pantomimes.

Early life

He was born in

but spent the first seven years of his life in nearby

Peasedown St John Peasedown St John (commonly referred to as Peasedown) is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England, standing on a hilltop roughly south-southwest of the city of Bath, and north-east of the town of Radstock at the foot of the Mendip Hills. ...

. He was one of five children, and his parents were May Alexandra and Thomas Henry Carlile. He attended boarding school at

Woolverstone Hall School In the early 1950s the London County Council obtained use of Woolverstone Hall near Ipswich, Suffolk, and some of adjoining land for the purpose of establishing a secondary grammar boarding school for London boys. The premises were previously o ...

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

. After a spell at

Chichester College Chichester College is a college of further education in Chichester, West Sussex, England. It has a second campus at Brinsbury, near Pulborough. It is a member of the Collab Group which represents the largest colleges in England. Chichester Coll ...

he trained in drama at the

Guildford School of Acting Guildford School of Acting (GSA) is a drama school in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is an academic school in the University of Surrey. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools The Federation of Drama Schools functions to facilitate ...

Career

He has appeared in many UK TV series, notably as

in ''

''. More recently he has carved out a career as a performer and director of pantomime, notably at

Leeds City Varieties The Leeds City Varieties is a Grade II* listed music hall in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. History Leeds City Varieties was built in 1865 as an adjunct to the White Swan Inn in Swan Street by architect George Smith for Charles Thornton. Alon ...

theatre, Leeds and in

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

. In 2008 he was employed as voice coach at

Glyndebourne Festival Opera Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, e ...

, with Sir Peter Hall's production of ''

Albert Herring ''Albert Herring'', Op. 39, is a chamber opera in three acts by Benjamin Britten. Composed in the winter of 1946 and the spring of 1947, this comic opera was a successor to his serious opera ''The Rape of Lucretia''. The libretto, by Eric Cr ...

''.

TV and film appearances

* ''Premiere'' (1979) * ''

'' (1982) * ''

Minder A minder is the person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e. a person who " minds". Government-appointed persons to accompany foreign visitors are of ...

'' (1984) * '' Affairs of the Heart'' * ''

'' (1983–1986) * '' All Creatures Great and Small'' (1990) * ''

Medics A medic is a person involved in medicine such as a medical doctor, medical student, paramedic or an emergency medical responder. Among physicians in the UK, the term "medic" indicates someone who has followed a "medical" career path in postgradu ...

'' (1990) * ''Flash Back'' (1991) * ''

Singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

'' (1991) * ''

'' (1993) * ''

Mission Top Secret ''Mission Top Secret'' is an Australian TV series aired between 1992 and 1995. The pilot for the series was a 1991 telemovie of the same name. This was part of the ''South Pacific Adventure'' series on a budget of $1 million.Ed. Scott Murray, ' ...

'' (1994) * ''

'' (1996) * ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'' (1995–2000) * ''

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 ** ...

'' (2003) * '' Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit'' (2005) * ''

'' (2006) * ''The Marchioness Disaster'' (2006) * ''

'' (2006) * ''

Heartbeat A heartbeat is one cardiac cycle of the heart. Heartbeat, heart beat, heartbeats, and heart beats may refer to: Computing *Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system *Heartbeat, clus ...

'' (1993–2007) * ''

The Royal Today ''The Royal Today'' is a British medical soap opera, and a spin-off of the similarly themed drama, ''The Royal''. The concept is that whilst ''The Royal'' is set in the late 1960s, ''The Royal Today'' featured the same hospital in the present da ...

'' (2008) * ''

Last Tango in Halifax ''Last Tango in Halifax'' is a British comedy-drama series that began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 November 2012 until its final episode which was broadcast on 15 March 2020. Screenwriter Sally Wainwright loosely adapted the story of her mothe ...

'' (2016)

Theatre career

He has appeared in many theatrical productions during his acting career. Notable examples include: * ''Cinderella'', Gracie Fields Theatre, Rochdale (2001) * ''Allo Allo'', national tour (2008) *'' Porridge'',

The Lowry The Lowry is a theatre and gallery complex at Salford Quays, Salford, Greater Manchester, England. It is named after the early 20th-century painter L. S. Lowry, known for his paintings of industrial scenes in North West England. The complex ope ...

Theatre, Salford (part of national tour) (2010)

Personal life

He is married to Penny Stevenson, who runs a dance school in Halifax. For more than 25 years they have lived in

Luddendenfoot Luddendenfoot or Luddenden Foot is a community in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England. The population of Luddendenfoot is 2,547, with the wider Calderdale Ward (of the same name) at the 2011 Census as 10,653. It lies along the Upper Calder Valle ...

Calderdale Calderdale is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England, whose population in 2020 was 211,439. It takes its name from the River Calder, and dale, a word for valley. The name Calderdale usually refers to the borough through which the u ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. He has two children, Emily, an actress, and Nicholas, a doctor. He is also a magistrate. He has been involved in relief work in

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Peter 1952 births Living people English male soap opera actors People from Midsomer Norton British entertainers Pantomime dames English theatre directors Alumni of the Guildford School of Acting