Nigel Harman
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Nigel Harman (born August 11, 1973 in Purley, London, England) is a British actor who is most famous for his role as Dennis Rickman in the UK soap opera EastEnders.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early career
Harman started acting at an early age. His father was a bank manager, but was involved in amateur dramatics, and this interest passed on to Nigel who did his first paid job, a stock cube advert, in 1981, when he was eight years old.
At the age of 11 in 1984 he made his first major television appearance in the BBC1 drama series Tenko which was followed by appearances in Alas Smith and Jones (1986) and The Honey Siege (1987).
Nigel then acted in theatre, appearing in productions such as Privates on Parade, Much Ado About Nothing and Summer Holiday. He trained at The Arts Educational School in London and was in the original cast of world hit Mamma Mia!.
After having acted in only theatre productions for over a decade, Harman returned to television in 2002 and appeared in episodes of Red Cap, Doctors and Coupling.
[edit] EastEnders
In 2003 he won the role of Dennis Rickman in the BBC soap opera EastEnders for which he is now nationally well known. At the time he won the role, Harman was working for British supermarket Sainsbury's as a delivery van driver. His first episode portraying Dennis immediately attracted the attention of thousands of ladies throughout the country, and he now has many fansites devoted to him all over the Internet. Many people were devoted to his character Dennis falling in love with and marrying his adopted sister Sharon (Letitia Dean). Fans of this storyline dubbed it "Shannis", and the less favourable Dennis and Zoe (Michelle Ryan) matching: "Zonnis".
Harman left EastEnders on 5 November 2005, and his final episode was aired on 30 December 2005 in which Dennis was stabbed to death in the street by one of Johnny Allen's (Billy Murray) henchman (it was later discovered to be Danny Moon, played by Jake Maskall).
His character's first notable bustup was with local hard man Phil Mitchell whom he punched in his very first episode making him the first of his many enemies. A few months later, Dennis was beaten up by some heavies who had been sent around by Phil. Then his long-lost father "Dirty" Den Watts (played by Leslie Grantham) famously returned after being presumed dead for over 14 years and together with Dennis framed Phil for armed robbery causing Phil to flee Walford on the run from police.
[edit] Theatre
Since leaving EastEnders, he starred as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls at the Piccadilly Theatre in the West End alongside Jenna Russell and Nigel Lindsay. He opened alongside Sarah Lancashire who left the production with illness on 4 January 2006. In April 2006, he played Kerry Max Cooke in The Exonorated at Riverside Studio Theatre in Hammersmith, London.
In October 2006, Nigel appeared in the Harold Pinter play The Caretaker at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield. In December 2006 Nigel appeared alongside Bonnie Langford in Guys and Dolls at the Alexandra Theatre, Birmingham as part of the show's UK Tour.
In January 2007, Nigel reprised his role as Mick in The Caretaker, starring alongside David Bradley and Con O'Neill for the tour, which continued until mid-April 2007. Other venues of the tour were the Theatre Royal, Brighton and the Richmond Theatre. The tour concluded at the Tricycle Theatre in Kilburn.
Nigel picked up his hat as Sky Masterson again in May 2007, joining the Guys and Dolls tour at the Mayflower Theatre, Southampton.
In May 2008 he will be appearing in The Common Pursuit at the Menier Chocolate Factory for a limited run
[edit] Recent Work
Harman's success on television and stage has facilitated a move into other television and film roles. In 2006 he played the leading role in an ITV1 one-off drama thriller The Outsiders, co-starring Bond actor Colin Salmon and X-Men 2 star Brian Cox. Later that year he made a brief appearance in the Hollywood film Blood Diamond. He then had guest roles in episodes of two Channel 4 series: Comedy Showcase and City of Vice. Recently he appeared in an episode of the BBC1 series Lark Rise to Candleford. He is set to play his first major film role (as singer Jess Conrad) in Telstar which releases later this year.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984 | Tenko | Timmy | 1 episode |
| 1986 | Alas Smith & Jones | 3 episodes | |
| 1987 | The Honey Siege | George Green | 7 episodes |
| 2002 | Coupling | Pizza Man | 1 episode ("The Girl with One Heart") |
| 2003 | Red Cap | Dan Coulthard | 1 episode ("Crush") |
| Doctors | Mike Summers | 1 Episode (Black and Blue) | |
| EastEnders | Dennis Rickman | 221 episodes (2003 - 2005) | |
| 2006 | The Outsiders | Nathan Hyde | |
| Blood Diamond | News Reporter #1 | ||
| 2007 | Comedy Showcase | Rich Black | 1 episode ("Plus One") |
| 2008 | City of Vice | Thomas Deacon | 1 episode |
| Lark Rise to Candleford | Samuel Braby | 1 episode | |
| Telstar | Jess Conrad |
