Paul Copley

Paul Mackriell Copley (born 25 November, 1944) is an award-winning English actor.

Copley was born in Denby Dale, West Yorkshire, and grew up on a farm in Denby Dale. His father, Harold, was involved with local amateur dramatic productions, as were the rest of his family. He went to Penistone Grammar School, then the Northern Counties College of Education (now Northumbria University) in Newcastle upon Tyne, where he received an Associate of the Drama Board (ADB) in Drama. He taught English and Drama in Walthamstow, before he joined the Leeds Playhouse Theatre-in-education Company in 1971.

He is perhaps best known for playing Matthews in "Hornblower", Ian in "Roughnecks". Jerry in This Life and Peter Quinlan in "The Lakes". He has appeared in "Queer as Folk" as Nathan Maloney's father, Big Finish's July 2002 "Doctor Who" story "Spare Parts" and in "Shameless" as a water sports enthusiast. He narrates the Channel 4 programme, "How Clean is Your House?".

He is a noted Radio 4 radio play actor, usually in gritty or romantic plays about hard-working folk set in the north of England. They are often repeated on BBC7. Whenever a genial Yorkshire accent has been cast in the [http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/arts BBC radio drama] department, he has often been summoned. He narrated the 1985 Yorkshire Television 9 part serial adaptation of "The Pilgrim's Progress" entitled "Dangerous Journey".

He married the actress Natasha Pyne in 1972, after performing with her in a production of Frank Wedekind's "Lulu", directed by Peter Barnes in 1971. In 1976, he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a New Play for his role in David Armstrong's "King and Country".

Paul appeared in the TV Soap "Coronation Street" on 8th August 2007, portraying a character called Ivor Priestley.

Paul appeared in the TV adaptation of The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy, as wizard and former-frog, Algernon Rowan-Webb.

In 2009 he is also set to appear in the third series of BBC One show Torchwood.

External links

* [http://www.mrcopley.com Official website]
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* [http://www.amandahowardassociates.co.uk/Photo.asp?Client=PaulCopley Agency website]

Video clips

* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN3Eg8lYmck Images of the Hornblower ITV series]