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Ross Maxim Boatman (born 3 March 1964) is an English actor, professional
poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...
player and a member of the poker-playing group
the Hendon Mob The Hendon Mob are a group of four professional poker players from London, England: Joe Beevers, Barny Boatman, Ross Boatman, and Ram Vaswani. The name of the group was first publicised by the ''Evening Standard'' newspaper in September 2000. J ...
. He is known for the role of Firefighter Kevin Medhurst 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 ...
drama series '' London's Burning'' from 1988 to 1995 and again in 2000. In 2021, he starred in ‘Stay Close’ on Netflix and also joined the cast 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. ...
...
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 ...
'' as
Harvey Monroe The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the British soap opera '' EastEnders'' in 2021, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by the show's senior executive producer, Kate Oates, and executive produce ...
.


Acting

Boatman was born in Camden,
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 ...
. After completing his training at RADA, Boatman began his acting career in
fringe theatre Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fre ...
. He began working as a television actor in 1988, appearing in an episode of '' The Storyteller'' ("The Luck Child") and ''
Dramarama Dramarama is an American, New Jersey–based alternative rock/power pop band, who later moved to Los Angeles. The band was formed in New Jersey in 1982 and disbanded in 1994. The band formally reunited in 2003 following an appearance on VH1's ...
'', before earning his best-known role as
Fireman A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...
Kevin Medhurst in the long-running
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
'' London's Burning''. Boatman portrayed Medhurst in over 100 episodes between 1988 and 1995, and again in 2000. His other television roles include ''
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'' ...
'', three episodes of ''
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 ...
'' (in 2006 and 2 episodes in 2009), '' Murder in Mind'', ''
Dream Team Dream Team may refer to: Sport Basketball * Dream Team, the 1992 United States men's Olympic basketball team in Barcelona * Dream Team II, the 1994 U.S. men's national basketball team at the FIBA World Championship * Dream Team III, the 1996 ...
'',
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 2005 drama ''Planespotting''. He appeared in the award-winning West End play ''
Dealer's Choice Dealer's choice is a style of poker where each player may deal a different variant. As the deal passes clockwise around the table, each player occupying the dealer position chooses a variant which is either played just for the current hand or ...
'' by
Patrick Marber Patrick Albert Crispin Marber (born 19 September 1964) is an English comedian, playwright, director, actor, and screenwriter. Early life Marber was born and raised in a middle-class Jewish family in Wimbledon, London, the son of Angela (Benjam ...
. Boatman starred in a
NatWest National Westminster Bank, commonly known as NatWest, is a major retail and commercial bank in the United Kingdom based in London, England. It was established in 1968 by the merger of National Provincial Bank and Westminster Bank. In 2000, it ...
bank television advertisement in 2015 playing a father who struggled with his utility bills. On the big screen, Boatman has appeared in the
gangster film A gangster film or gangster movie is a film belonging to a genre that focuses on gangs and organized crime. It is a subgenre of crime film, that may involve large criminal organizations, or small gangs formed to perform a certain illegal act. The ...
''
Hard Men ''Hard Men'' is a 1997 British crime gangster black comedy film directed by J. K. Amalou. A forerunner to ''Lock, Stock And Two Smoking Barrels'', it was originally shown at the London Film Festival on 28 October 1996. It was released in cinemas ...
'' and as a rock star in the
comedy Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
''
Bring Me the Head of Mavis Davis ''Bring Me the Head of Mavis Davis'' is a British comedy film directed by John Henderson, originally released in 1997. The film stars Rik Mayall, Jane Horrocks, Danny Aiello and Ross Boatman. The title and plot reference Peckinpah's ''Bring Me ...
''. He famously turned down a role in ''
Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels ''Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels'' is a 1998 British black comedy crime film written and directed by Guy Ritchie, produced by Matthew Vaughn and starring an ensemble cast featuring Jason Flemyng, Dexter Fletcher, Nick Moran, Steven Mackinto ...
'' as he had just completed filming ''Hard Men'' and feared being
typecast In film, television, and theatre, typecasting is the process by which a particular actor becomes strongly identified with a specific character, one or more particular roles, or characters having the same traits or coming from the same social or ...
. More recently, Boatman has appeared in alongside
Clive Owen Clive Owen (born 3 October 1964) is an English actor. He first gained recognition in the United Kingdom for playing the lead role in the ITV series '' Chancer'' from 1990 to 1991. He received critical acclaim for his work in the film '' Close ...
and
Charlotte Rampling Tessa Charlotte Rampling (born 5 February 1946) is an English actress, known for her work in European arthouse films in English, French, and Italian. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, she began her career as a model. She was cast in the role ...
in the
Mike Hodges Michael Tommy Hodges (29 July 1932 – 17 December 2022) was a British screenwriter, film and television director, playwright and novelist. His films as writer/director include ''Get Carter'' (1971), ''Pulp'' (1972), ''The Terminal Man'' (1974 ...
film '' I'll Sleep When I'm Dead''. Boatman has maintained he has a preference for acting rather than poker, although he finds poker easier to profit from. In June 2021, his casting on the BBC 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 ...
'' was announced. Boatman made his debut appearance as
Harvey Monroe The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the British soap opera '' EastEnders'' in 2021, by order of first appearance. All characters are introduced by the show's senior executive producer, Kate Oates, and executive produce ...
in July 2021. For his portrayal of the role, he won the
British Soap Award for Best Newcomer The British Soap Award for Best Newcomer is an award presented annually by the British Soap Awards. Unlike awards that are voted for by the general public such as Best Actress, Best Actor, Best British Soap and Best Leading Performer, the awar ...
.


Poker

In the 1970s, Boatman observed his older brother
Barny Barny is a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name *Barny Boatman (born 1956), English poker player Surname *Junes Barny (born 1989), Swedish football player *Bernard Barny de Romanet (1894–1921), French W ...
playing poker against his friends at their house. He begged to become involved in the game, and although initially dissuaded by his brother, he sat down and played his first poker session. Barny went on to teach him in the mid-'70s, and by the age of 12 Boatman was gambling at "pitch and toss" behind his school gym. In the early 1980s, he regularly observed a poker game in his local
pool hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serve ...
, where he learnt the basics of poker strategy. Soon after he began playing poker events whenever he had the opportunity, and turned professional in 1992. Together with his brother, Boatman began attending a poker game in
North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...
run by
Joe Beevers Joseph Charles Beevers (born 9 December 1967 in Marylebone, London) is an English professional poker player and a member of The Hendon Mob. During his lengthy poker career, Beevers became one of the pioneers of poker on television by appearing ...
and
Ram Vaswani Ram "Crazy Horse" Vaswani (born 1 September 1970 from Finchley, Greater London) is an former professional poker and snooker player and the youngest member of The Hendon Mob, a group of professional poker players. He resides in Finchley wi ...
. The four quickly formed an ongoing friendship, and began travelling to poker events throughout Europe together. This became such a regular sight that the four were later dubbed "The Hendon Mob". Ross and the rest of the Hendon Mob were invited by
Nic Szeremeta Nic Szeremeta (1943 - 25 January 2021) was a poker player of English and Polish descent, the publisher of ''Poker Europa'' magazine, and creator of the ''Late Night Poker'' television series (and commentator with Jesse May during its first thr ...
to appear in the brand new
Late Night Poker ''Late Night Poker'' is a British television series that helped popularize poker in the 2000s. It used "under the table" cameras that enabled the viewer to see each player's cards. The show originally ran for six series between 1999 and 2002 ...
television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...
, and supported the then-questionable idea of using a
hole cam In poker, a hole cam (or pocket cam) is a camera that displays a player's face-down cards (known as "hole cards") to television viewers. The hole cam became popular in 1999 when the ''Late Night Poker'' program began using it in televised tournam ...
to make poker into a spectator sport. He appeared in all 6 series of the show, but had his best run at the title in the second season. He reached the final by defeating Hemish Shah in the runners-up final to advance to the grand final, where he finished 2nd to
Simon Trumper Simon Trumper (born 31 May 1963) is an English professional poker player from South Kensington, London, England. He is chiefly noted as the winner of Late Night Poker series 2 and runner-up of series 4. Trumper also commentated on the Late N ...
. Like the rest of the Hendon Mob, Boatman has become a regular fixture at the
World Series of Poker The World Series of Poker (WSOP) is a series of poker tournaments held annually in Paradise, Nevada and, since 2004, sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. It dates its origins to 1970, when Benny Binion invited seven of the best-known poker pla ...
(WSOP), where he made his first final table in
2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
in the
pot limit In the game of poker, the play largely centers on the act of betting, and as such, a protocol has been developed to speed up play, lessen confusion, and increase security while playing. Different games are played using different types of bets, ...
Omaha event. He finished 7th in the event, where he and Barny became the first brothers to make the same WSOP final table. In the same year he finished
in the money In finance, moneyness is the relative position of the current price (or future price) of an underlying asset (e.g., a stock) with respect to the strike price of a derivative, most commonly a call option or a put option. Moneyness is firstly a thr ...
of the $10,000
no limit No Limit may refer to: Music Record labels *No Limit Records, a record label founded by Master P * No Limit Forever Records, a record label founded by Romeo Miller, son of Master P Albums * ''No Limit'' (Art Pepper album), 1977 * ''No Limit'' ...
Texas hold 'em Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is one of the most popular variants of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five Community card poker, communit ...
main event, eventually going out in 34th place out of 631 entrants. Boatman has also had success in the
European Poker Tour The European Poker Tour (EPT) is a series of poker tournaments similar to those in the World Poker Tour (WPT), created by John Duthie, winner of the inaugural Poker Million tournament. It began in 2004 as part of the worldwide explosion in Tex ...
(EPT), where he made the final table of its largest ever event – the second grand final, finishing in 6th place for €140,000. His titles include: * FF 3,000 no limit hold 'em, Autumn Tournament 1999; * £100 pot limit hold 'em, Christmas Cracker 2001; * €300 pot limit Omaha, Austrian Masters 2002; * £2,000 no limit hold 'em, European Poker Championships 2002; * €400 pot limit Omaha, Irish Winter Tournament 2002; * £200 pot limit Omaha hi-lo, British Open 2004. In addition to the above, Boatman has written over 20 articles on The Hendon Mob's
website A website (also written as a web site) is a collection of web pages and related content that is identified by a common domain name and published on at least one web server. Examples of notable websites are Google Search, Google, Facebook, Amaz ...
and also authored a poker lesson fo
internettexasholdem.com
After 3 years of sponsorship by the Prima Poker Network, he is now sponsored by
Full Tilt Poker Full Tilt Poker is an Irish online poker card room and online casino that opened in June 2004. Formerly privately owned by Tiltware, LLC and later by the Rational Entertainment Group, the site was acquired by The Stars Group (then known as Amaya ...
. As of 2009, his total live tournament winnings exceed $2,000,000. Boatman resides in Holloway with his children Billie Joe and Rocky Joe. He also has a daughter Alabama Rose.


Personal life

His partner is photographer Sarah Jeynes.


Filmography


Film


Television


References


External links


Hendon Mob tournament results
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Boatman, Ross 1964 births Living people English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors The Hendon Mob Male actors from London People from Kings Cross, London 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art