Name
Bill Dean
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1921-09-03
Deathday
2000-04-20 (79 years old)
Place of Birth
Everton, Liverpool, England, UK
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 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.
Known For
5.639
Stingy landlord Rigsby manages to scam his lodgers John, an art student, and Philip, an Af...
6.082
Jane Marple solves the mystery when a local woman is poisoned and a visiting movie star se...
6.7
In 1950s England, slow-witted Derek Bentley falls in with a group of petty criminals led b...
6.3
A woman recovering from a nervous breakdown tries to convince her husband and and the loca...
7.269
A young woman, Janice, is living with her restrictive and conservative parents, who lead a...
4.7
After thieves botch an armored truck robbery that leads to the death of an innocent young ...
7.19
Drama based on the real life events of April 1989, when ninety-six Liverpool supporters we...
- 1974 Match of the Day as Father
- 1975 Waiting at the Field Gate as Ted
- 1975 In Sickness and in Health as Mr Jackson
- 1975 Flame as Club Owner (uncredited)
- 1971 Family Life as Mr. Baildon
- 1976 Beasts: What Big Eyes as Duggie Jeb
- 1981 Going Gently as Painter
- 1998 Brookside: Friday the 13th as Harold Cross
- 1973 Night Watch as Inspector Walker
- 1979 Scum as Mr Duke
- 1995 Priest as Altar Boy
- 1975 Break In as Dixie
- 1978 Night People as Ted
- 1971 The Rank and File as Billy
- 1968 The Golden Vision as John Coyne
- 1971 Gumshoe as Tommy Wright
- 1973 Speech Day as George
- 1970 Kes as Fish and Chip Shop Man
- 1983 Slayground as Compere
- 1969 The Big Flame as Landlord
- 1996 Hillsborough as Additional Cast
- 1991 Let Him Have It as Foreman of the Jury
- 1980 Rising Damp as Workman
- 1980 The Mirror Crack'd as Man in Village Hall (uncredited)
- 1994 Skallagrigg as Old Man
- 1976 Bag of Yeast as Teddy
- 1970 Roll On Four O'Clock as Arthur Foster
- 1973 The Best Pair of Legs in the Business as Bert
- 1981 A Turn for the Worse as (voice)
- 1972 Bank Holiday as Father
- 1978 Freedom of the Dig as Sid
- 1992 Heartbeat ( 1 episode ) as Harry Capshaw
- 1976 Beasts ( 1 episode ) as Duggie Jebb
- 1967 Man in a Suitcase ( 1 episode )
- 1983 Agatha Christie's Partners in Crime ( 1 episode )
- 1968 The Expert ( 1 episode ) as Leslie Stevens
- 1974 Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt! ( 15 episodes ) as Jack
- 1974 Playhouse ( 1 episode ) as Painter
- 1975 The Wackers ( 7 episodes ) as Charlie
- 1979 Minder ( 1 episode ) as Police Sgt.
- 1971 Justice ( 1 episode ) as Charlie Keen
- 1983 The Gathering Seed ( 6 episodes ) as Billy Eccles
- 1965 Public Eye ( 1 episode ) as Mr. Steadman
- 1975 The Sweeney ( 1 episode ) as Charlie Norton
- 1971 Budgie ( 1 episode ) as Dutchie Holland
- 1977 BBC2 Play of the Week ( 1 episode ) as Ted
- 1978 Pennies from Heaven ( 2 episodes ) as Alf
- 1969 ITV Saturday Night Theatre ( 1 episode ) as Uncle Sid
- 1972 New Scotland Yard ( 1 episode ) as Bernard Hobbs
- 1964 The Wednesday Play ( 1 episode ) as John Coyne
- 1970 Play for Today ( 1 episode ) as Billy
- 1990 The Word ( 2 episodes )
