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Bill Dean
Acting
Biography
Bill Dean was a British actor who was born in Everton, Liverpool, Lancashire. He was born Patrick Anthony Connolly, but took his stage name in honour of Everton football legend William 'Dixie' Dean. After a atring of jobs, it was his work as a Lancashire club comedian that saw him spotted by Ken Loach who gave him his breakthrough role in his TV play The Golden Vision. Famous for his flat but penetrating Scouse tones, Dean went on to star as miserable pensioner Harry Cross in the long running Channel 4 soap Brookside from its inception in 1983 to 1990. He briefly returned to the series in 1999 for three episodes, when his character re-appeared in Brookside Close suffering from Alzheimer's di…
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Bill Dean was a British actor who was born in Everton, Liverpool, Lancashire. He was born Patrick Anthony Connolly, but took his stage name in honour of Everton football legend William 'Dixie' Dean. After a atring of jobs, it was his work as a Lancashire club comedian that saw him spotted by Ken Loach who gave him his breakthrough role in his TV play The Golden Vision. Famous for his flat but penetrating Scouse tones, Dean went on to star as miserable pensioner Harry Cross in the long running Channel 4 soap Brookside from its inception in 1983 to 1990. He briefly returned to the series in 1999 for three episodes, when his character re-appeared in Brookside Close suffering from Alzheimer's disease and wrongly believing that he still lived there. The same character was the inspiration behind the 1980s group 'Jegsy Dodd and the sons of Harry Cross' who hailed from the Wirral and Dean himself appeared in the video of the Liverpudlian band The Farm's Groovy Train as Cross, who was a former train driver. He did of a heart attack aged 78 in 2000.
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BODY OF WORK
Bill Dean's Filmography
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Brookside: Friday the 13th
as Harold Cross
Hillsborough
as Additional Cast
Priest
as Altar Boy
Skallagrigg
as Old Man
Let Him Have It
as Foreman of the Jury
Slayground
as Compere
Going Gently
as Painter
A Turn for the Worse
as (voice)
Rising Damp
as Workman
The Mirror Crack'd
as Man in Village Hall (uncredited)
Scum
as Mr Duke
Night People
as Ted
Freedom of the Dig
as Sid
Beasts: What Big Eyes
as Duggie Jeb
Bag of Yeast
as Teddy
Break In
as Dixie
In Sickness and in Health
as Mr Jackson
Waiting at the Field Gate
as Ted
Flame
as Club Owner (uncredited)
Match of the Day
as Father
Night Watch
as Inspector Walker
Speech Day
as George
The Best Pair of Legs in the Business
as Bert
Bank Holiday
as Father
Gumshoe
as Tommy Wright
Family Life
as Mr. Baildon
The Rank and File
as Billy
Roll On Four O'Clock
as Arthur Foster
Kes
as Fish and Chip Shop Man
The Big Flame
as Landlord
The Golden Vision
as John Coyne