John Axon (10 September 1960 – 25 October 2008) was an English

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

and stage actor. Axon trained at the Guildhall school of music and drama after briefly training as a graphic designer. He had a small part in Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights series 1 episode 3. He was perhaps best known for his role as the hospital administrator, Nigel Harper, on the

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

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, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

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 ...

''. Axon played Harper as a recurring role on the show from 2003 until 2005. Other television credits include Prime Suspect, City Central, Lilies and Monsignor Renard. Axon was named after his grandfather, John Axon, an

engine driver A train driver, engine driver, engineman or locomotive driver, commonly known as an engineer or railroad engineer in the United States and Canada, and also as a locomotive handler, locomotive operator, train operator, or motorman, is a pers ...

who was posthumously awarded the George Cross in 1957 after he died while attempting to stop his train before it crashed at

Chapel-en-le-Frith Chapel-en-le-Frith () is a town and civil parish in the Borough of High Peak in Derbyshire, England. It has been dubbed the "Capital of the Peak", in reference to the Peak District, historically the upperland areas between the Saxon lands (belo ...

. His theatre credits included ''Dimas in The Triumph of Love'', which opened at the Royal Exchange in

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

in 2007. He travelled to

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

in 2008 where he filmed an American television series, ''

Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire ''Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire'' is a British-American comedic sword and sorcery series created by Peter A. Knight, co-produced by Hat Trick Productions and Media Rights Capital for Comedy Central and BBC Two, which premiered on ...

'', starring

Matt Lucas Matthew Richard Lucas (born 5 March 1974) is an English actor, comedian, writer, and television presenter. He is best known for his work with David Walliams on the BBC sketch comedy series ''Little Britain'' (2003–2006, 2020) and '' Come Fl ...

. Axon collapsed and died of a suspected

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

near his home in Stockport on 25 October 2008 at the age of 48. He was preparing to play a ballroom dancer in the comedy drama television series, '' Shameless'', at the time of his death. Axon was a

Stockport County Stockport County Football Club are a professional football club in Stockport, England, who compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport Co ...

season ticket holder. He never married and had no children.

References

External links

* 1960 births 2008 deaths English male television actors English male stage actors Actors from Stockport Male actors from Greater Manchester 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors {{UK-tv-actor-1960s-stub