Karl Howman (born 13 December 1953) is an English writer, actor and director. Howman's first book, ''Secret Spitfires'', co-written with Ethem Cetintas and Gavin Clarke, went to paperback from hardback in 2022; he also co-directed and produced the film of the same name. Howman's second book, ''A Million Ways to stay on the Run'' () which he co-wrote with Donal Macintyre, was a ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

'' bestseller two weeks after publication in early 2023. The audio book, which is narrated by Howman, won the Best Audio Book 2024 at True Crime Awards. Howman has been an actor since 1968, where he started with the National Youth Theatre. Howman is best known for playing Jacko in the sitcom '' Brush Strokes'' from 1986 to 1991, Mulberry in ''

Mulberry ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of 19 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 subordinat ...

'' from 1992 to 1993 and Buster Briggs 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 ...

'' from 2014 to 2016.

Career

Howman appeared in many TV shows and films throughout his career. He is an established British comedy actor. Howman took over the role of Jakey Smith from Robert Lindsay (with whom he shares a birthday) in '' Get Some In!'' in its final series in 1978. He then appeared in the episode "Shadow" in the BBC series ''

Blake's 7 ''Blake's 7'' is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. Four series of thirteen 50-minute episodes were broadcast on BBC1 between 1978 and 1981. It was created by Terry Nation, who also wrote the first series, prod ...

'', in the '' Minder'' episode " All About Scoring, Innit?" playing Danny Varrow, and in '' The Sweeney'' episode "May," playing Davey Holmes. On 25 September 2014, it was announced that Howman had been cast in long-running BBC soap ''

''. Howman appeared as the character Buster Briggs. In his time on the show, Buster's storylines included his relationship with Shirley Carter ( Linda Henry), his relationship with his two sons Mick Carter (

Danny Dyer Danial John Dyer (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in ''Human Traffic'' (1999), with other notable roles Billy the Limpet in ''Mean Machine (film), Mean Machine'' (2001) and as Tommy J ...

) and Dean Wicks ( Matt Di Angelo), running a fish stall and having an affair with Kathy Sullivan ( Gillian Taylforth). In July 2016, it was announced that Howman would be leaving the show after nearly two years. Buster left the show after his relationship with Shirley and his affair with Kathy both ended, with Howman's last episode airing on 23 September 2016. On the radio he also appeared in '' King Street Junior'' as Mr Philip Sims and in ''Coming Alive'' as Terry King.

Personal life

Howman married Clare Lightfoot in 1976. They have two children, actresses Chloe Howman and Katy-Jo Howman, and six grandchildren. Howman supports Charlton Athletic.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Howman, Karl 1953 births Living people English male soap opera actors English male radio actors Actors from the Royal Borough of Greenwich Male actors from London People from Woolwich