Reece Dinsdale

Reece Dinsdale
Born (1959-08-06) 6 August 1959
Normanton, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Years active 1980 – present
Spouse(s) Zara Turner

Reece Dinsdale (born 6 August 1959 in Normanton, West Riding of Yorkshire) is an English actor/director of stage, screen and television.

Acting career

He trained at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama from 1977 until 1980. After initially working in theatre in Exeter, Nottingham, Birmingham and at the Edinburgh Festival, Reece got his first TV role in the Granada thriller Knife Edge in 1981. He followed this up by appearing in Out On the Floor a single drama for the BBC in 1982. This led to him being cast as Albert in Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime series for ITV also in 1982. More theatre followed with Beethoven's Tenth with Peter Ustinov at the Vaudeville Theatre, London and the highly acclaimed Red Saturday at the Royal Court. During 1984 Dinsdale appeared in the popular television series Minder in which he played the part of a villain named Steve in the episode "Willesden Suite". He also played Jimmy Kemp in the powerful nuclear war BAFTA award-winning BBC docudrama Threads (1984), a-soon-to-be-father and husband caught up in a nuclear attack on Sheffield. Interestingly, that same year Dinsdale would also star in the Cold War drama Winter Flight, in which he played a shy, introverted Royal Air Force man who falls in love with a feisty barmaid. 1984 also saw Dinsdale appearing in one of his first feature films, Alan Bennett's A Private Function.

Glamour Night, another single drama for the BBC followed in 1984 before Dinsdale was cast as Matthew Willows in the British sitcom Home to Roost written by Eric Chappell and co-starring John Thaw. Dinsdale played Thaw's unruly teenaged son Matthew who comes to live with his estranged father after his mother throws him out. The show ran for four series between 1985 and 1990. Interspersed with this were many appearances on stage, including the award-winning play Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme at The Hampstead Theatre London in 1986, Woundings and Don Carlos at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester and Old Year's Eve at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Whilst on television Dinsdale had leading roles in the three-part series Take Me Home, and The Attractions both by Tony Marchant and the single drama Coppers opposite Tim Roth (all BBC).

Dinsdale played the leading role of Jack Rover in Wild Oats in the inaugural production at the newly built West Yorkshire Playhouse in 1990. He then appeared opposite Julia Ormond and Vanessa Redgrave in the American mini-series Young Catherine in which he played the Grand Duke Peter. Following this he appeared at the National Theatre in David Hare's Racing Demon. From 1990-1992 he co-starred in Haggard, a comedy set in the late 18th century written once again by Eric Chappell. In 1994 Dinsdale played the leading role in ID, a British feature film charting the demise of a police officer who goes under-cover to root out a firm of football hooligans. Based on a true story, Dinsdale won the International Critics Award for best actor at the Geneva Film Festival for his portrayal.

Since then, Reece has continued to play leading roles on both stage and screen. Highlights include: two series of Thief Takers in which he played the central role of Charlie Scott, Kenneth Branagh's film of Hamlet in which he played Guildenstern opposite Timothy Spall's Rosencrantz, and guesting in Spooks, Life on Mars, Murder in Mind, Silent Witness and many others. He starred opposite Julie Walters in the ITV drama Ahead of the Class and played the enigmatic Robert in Red Production's award-winning series Conviction for the BBC, directed by Marc Munden. He starred in two series of The Chase (also for the BBC) and in two thrillers for ITV; Love Lies Bleeding and Midnight Man.

In the summer of 2008, Reece joined the cast of Coronation Street to play the ill-fated Joe McIntyre, leaving of his own volition in February 2010. Since then he has filmed leading guest roles in Waterloo Road, Taggart and Moving On. Reece has also recently played Doctor Wengel in Ibsen's 'The Lady From the Sea' at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester. In 2012 he played the role of the father in the feature film 'The Knife That Killed Me' (Green Screen Productions). In 2013 he played the central role in James Graham's highly acclaimed play 'This House' at The National Theatre directed by Jeremy Herrin. He followed this up in 2014 by playing Alan Bennett in Bennett's very own autobiographical play 'Untold Stories' at The West Yorkshire Playhouse. Subsequently he was presented with a Yorkshire Award in recognition of his work over the previous 30 years. In 2015 Reece played the central role of George Jones in Headlong's national tour of David Hare's play 'The Absence of War', once again directed by Jeremy Herrin. Reece will play the title role in Shakespeare's 'Richard III' this summer at The West Yorkshire Playhouse for director Mark Rosenblatt.

Directing

In January 2012 Reece directed his first drama for television; a 45-minute single drama called The Crossing starring Lee Boardman, Ramona Marquez and Susie Blake, in the Secrets and Words series for BBC1. In July/August 2014 he directed an episode in the 'Moving On' series called 'Madge' starring Hayley Mills, Ken Cranham and Peter Egan, again for BBC1. In May 2015 Reece completed his third drama for BBC Television, 'Scratch' starring Will Ash and Chris Coghill, once again for the 'Moving On' series.

Writing

In 2009 Reece wrote the short film Imaginary Friend which was subsequently filmed and stars Maxine Peake and Zara Turner. The film was premiered on 8 May 2010 at the 360/365 Film Festival in New York.

Credits (incomplete)

Personal life

Privately Dinsdale lives with his wife, British actress Zara Turner, in Yorkshire. The couple have two children, a daughter Elwy, and a son Luca.[1][2] Dinsdale is also a great supporter of Huddersfield Town F.C.. He presented the video Beyond the Touchline that went behind the scenes at Huddersfield Town's former Leeds Road ground. Starting in 2009 his Coronation Street character's van displayed a Huddersfield Town badge stuck on the windscreen.

References

  1. ↑ Hendry, Steve (5 April 2009). "My wife is still shocked I'm in Coronation Street, says Reece Dinsdale". Sunday Mail. Retrieved 2009-07-06.
  2. ↑ "Reece Dinsdale Biography (1959-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 2009-07-06.

External links

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