Devon Carlo Anderson (born 25 August 1987) is an English actor. Anderson's roles include Billie Jackson in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television 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 East End of London, the ...

'' and Sonny Valentine in ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally 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''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

''.

Early life

Anderson was born on 25 August 1987 in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Acting career

Anderson made his acting debut when he played three-year-old Glenn in '' Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould''. He then went on to appear in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

soap ''

'' where he played the character Billie Jackson from 1993 to 1997. He made an appearance in the 1997 film '' Spiceworld'' as one of the competition winners that falls into the river during a video shoot. He then played David in the television drama, '' The Greatest Store in the World''. In 2002, he appeared in the children's comedy film ''

Thunderpants ''Thunderpants'' is a 2002 family absurdist comedy film about a boy whose incredible capacity for flatulence gets him a job as an astronaut. The film was directed by Pete Hewitt, whose previous work included '' Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey'' (19 ...

'' playing the character of Dan. His next role was in 2002's

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

programme ''

Ace Lightning ''Ace Lightning'' is a children's television series co-produced by the BBC and Alliance Atlantis. The series was originally broadcast in the United Kingdom, but also aired in other countries, including the United States, Australia, New Zealand a ...

'' where he played Pete, the British friend of the main character, Mark. The character appeared in internet talks with Mark at the start of the programme and sometimes at the end. In 2003, Anderson starred as the lead character in the CBBC sitcom '' Kerching!'', Taj Lewis, an Internet whizzkid who was trying to make a million pounds for his widowed mother. In 2006, he won the role of Sonny Valentine in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

soap ''

'', but his contract was terminated by the show's producer Bryan Kirkwood on 6 January 2007. He has also made an appearance on the television show '' TMi'', and appeared on ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' on 15 May 2008. In summer 2009, Anderson starred as Kian Oduya in the online drama ''Who Killed Summer'' sponsored by Vodafone which saw six young characters travelling Europe and the UK culminating in a murder mystery. It was confirmed in November 2009 that Anderson would reprise the role of Billie Jackson in ''EastEnders'', 15 years after he was last seen on the soap. He remained in the soap until October 2010 when Anderson was sacked, once again, by Bryan Kirkwood, who was the EastEnders producer at the time, and his character Billie was killed off. In 2012, he was in a production at the Riverside Studios, Hammersmith called 'Concrete Jungle'. He also starred as Sinbad's brother, Jamil, in BBC's series "Sinbad" for one series, July–September, 2012. Anderson appeared in one episode of ''

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 ...

'' in December 2018 as homeless man Robby Watts.

Presenting career

Following his role in ''Kerching!'', Anderson became a CBBC presenter. He presented on both the

BBC1 BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and Flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includ ...

CBBC show and the

CBBC Channel CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

References

External links

*
Kerching writeupWho Killed Summer 2009
{{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Devon 1987 births English people of Saint Kitts and Nevis descent English male soap opera actors English male child actors English television presenters Black British male actors Alumni of the Sylvia Young Theatre School Male actors from London People from Greenwich Living people 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Actors from the Royal Borough of Greenwich