Neil Bell (born 4 February 1970) is an English

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), lit ...

, mainly on British television and occasionally in films. Bell studied drama at Oldham College and has played character roles in such TV series as '' Buried'', '' Shameless'', '' Murphy's Law'', ''

Ideal Ideal may refer to: Philosophy * Ideal (ethics), values that one actively pursues as goals * Platonic ideal, a philosophical idea of trueness of form, associated with Plato Mathematics * Ideal (ring theory), special subsets of a ring considered ...

'', ''

City Lights ''City Lights'' is a 1931 American silent romantic comedy film written, produced, directed by, and starring Charlie Chaplin. The story follows the misadventures of Chaplin's Tramp as he falls in love with a blind girl (Virginia Cherrill) and ...

'', ''

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 o ...

'' and '' Casualty'', and the films ''

24 Hour Party People ''24 Hour Party People'' is a 2002 British biographical comedy-drama film about Manchester's popular music community from 1976 to 1992, and specifically about Factory Records. It was written by Frank Cottrell Boyce and directed by Michael Wint ...

'' (2002), '' Dead Man's Shoes'' (2004) and ''

Wait For Me Wait for Me may refer to: Albums * ''Wait for Me'' (Moby album), 2009 * ''Wait for Me'' (The Pigeon Detectives album), 2007 * ''Wait for Me'' (Susan Tedeschi album), 2002 * '' Wait for Me: The Best from Rebecca St. James'', a 2003 album Songs ...

'' (2023). . He also had a small role in the acclaimed TV series '' State of Play'', playing the colleague of Polly Walker's character. He has recently had a main role in ''

'' playing the role of a killer. In 2010, he had a role in the ITV comedy-drama '' Married Single Other''. He has appeared in ''

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. Orig ...

'', and in 2012, he had a regular role in ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States o ...

'' as Durrant. In 2013, he appeared in the first series of BBC2's ''

Peaky Blinders The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1910s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to middle-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racke ...

'' as Publican Harry Fenton. In February 2016, he appeared in the BBC drama series '' Moving On''. In 2004, he wrote, directed and starred in a biographical play about the Salford-born poet

John Cooper Clarke John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet, who first became famous as a " punk poet" in the late 1970s. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he released several albums. Around this time, he performed on stage with se ...

called "36 Hours". He also in 2007 directed a play at the

Contact Theatre Contact is an arts organisation in Manchester, England that focuses on youth leadership. History Contact was founded in 1972 by Barry Sheppard (General Manager of what was then Manchester University Theatre) and Hugh Hunt (Professor of Drama) ...

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 ...

, entitled "Fair". In 2016, he directed the biopic of Manchester band

Joy Division Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris. Sumner and Hook formed the band after atte ...

called "New Dawn Fades" at the Dancehouse Theatre Manchester and in 2017 he directed a play entitled "Old Ground" which centred around the re-opening of the Moors Murders case in the mid-1980s. In 2018, he played the reformer Samuel Bamford in the 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 parliame ...

'', directed by

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 Des ...

. In 2020, Bell re-joined the cast of ''

'' to play the role of gangster Mick Chaney. Bell played the role of the Sardaukar Bashar in 2021

Denis Villeneuve Denis Villeneuve (; born October 3, 1967) is a Canadian filmmaker. He is a four-time recipient of the Canadian Screen Award (formerly Genie Award) for Best Direction, winning for '' Maelström'' in 2001, '' Polytechnique'' in 2009, ''Incendies ...

film ''

Dune A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, f ...

''. He also played the "Time Grappler" in '' Star Wars: Andor'' - a prominent role with no speaking lines.

References

External links

* 1970 births Living people 21st-century English male actors English male film actors Male actors from Oldham English male soap opera actors English male stage actors English theatre directors {{England-tv-actor-stub