Billy Murray (actor)

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Billy Murray

Born October 1941 (age 66–67)
London, England
Occupation Actor
Years active 1963–present
For the American actor see Bill Murray

Billy Murray (born October 1941) is an English actor.

Contents

[edit] Career

Murray was born in East London and knew the Krays from Bethnal Green, who paid £400[1] for him to go to the East 15 Acting School, London as a teenager, because they "liked his attitude".[2]

Billy made his acting debut in the 1963 film Two Left Feet where he played a minor uncredited role. He then had a small roles in the films Poor Cow (1967), Corruption (1967) and Up the Junction (1968).

In the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s he made appearances in many television series such as Softly, Softly, The Sweeney, The Professionals, Minder, Bergerac and Casualty. He was among those considered for the role of Del Boy Trotter in the BBC TV series Only Fools and Horses[3] before it finally went to David Jason.

In 1980, Murray played the part of "Joey" in the hit film McVicar. In the film, he was to help McVicar hide after escaping from prison.

Murray went on to play the corrupt DS Don Beech in the ITV police drama series The Bill from 1995 to 2000. In 2001 he returned as Don Beech in a one-off special episode titled Beech on the Run and later that year in a spin-off six-part mini-series entitled Beech is Back. In 2004 he returned as Don Beech once again for a guest stint in five episodes, in which his character escaped from prison and is now back 'on the run'. Before playing Don Beech, Murray played a different character, DI Jackson, in an episode in 1989.

In late 2004, he joined the cast of popular BBC soap opera EastEnders, playing gangster Johnny Allen. His first scenes were aired in January 2005. He was reported[citation needed] to be the nastiest gangster ever to appear in the soap, but a new executive producer ordered a change in planned story lines, and Johnny "retired" from gangster life a few months after arriving. Murray's character terrorised numerous characters on the programme, including Peggy Mitchell, Phil Mitchell, Grant Mitchell Sharon Rickman and Pauline Fowler. He also murdered Andy Hunter by pushing him from a motorway flyover, and ordered the killing of Dennis Rickman (carried out by Danny Moon, played by Jake Maskall).

He departed from the show in March 2006 when his character was jailed after confessing to ordering the murder of Dennis Rickman and carrying out the murder of Andy Hunter. He won the 'Best Villain' award at the British Soap Awards in May 2006 for his role as Johnny Allen. He made a brief return to EastEnders in October that year when his character was seen in prison and later died of a heart attack. Before playing Johnny Allen in EastEnders he also appeared as Mr X in 1991.

Recently he appeared in the films Rollin' with the Nines and Rise of the Footsoldier and played the character (voice) of Captain Price in the video game Call of Duty 4.

In January 2008, he returned to screens across the UK, by appearing in an advert for InjuryLawyers4U.

[edit] Personal life

Murray has a daughter, Jaime Murray, who is also an actress. She is best known for starring in the series Hustle. She also plays Lila in season 2 of the Showtime series Dexter.

Murray currently lives in Brentwood, Essex.

He is a West Ham United fan.

Murray was inducted into the Grand Order of Water Rats show business fraternity and charitable organisation in 2007. He is currently the newest member, known affectionately as "baby rat".

[edit] Selected filmography

[edit] References

  1. ^ Nathan, Sarah. "Billy's a Kray-zy gangster", The Sun, 2005-01-24. Retrieved on 2008-01-02. 
  2. ^ Sunday Mirror, 23 January 2005
  3. ^ Clarke, Steve. "ONLY FACTS and HORSES", Sunday Mirror, CNET.com, 1998-09-27. 

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Murray, Billy
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Actor
DATE OF BIRTH October, 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH London, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH