Michael French (actor)
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| Michael French | |
| Birth name | Michael Clark |
| Born | September 17, 1962 (age 44) Bow, London, England |
| Notable roles | David Wicks in EastEnders, Nick Jordan in Holby City, Billy Flynn in Chicago |
Michael French (born 17 September 1962 in Bow, East London[1]) is an English actor
Contents |
[edit] Early life
French was born Michael Clark to parents David (a greengrocer) and Sheila in East London, but grew up in Essex.[2]
He was soon appearing in school productions, while weekends and evenings were spent at dancing classes and rehearsals for shows put on by the local drama club.[2]
At the age of 20 French landed a job as an entertainer (blue coat) at the Holiday Club International in Majorca.[2]
When he returned to Britain aged 22 French got his first acting break in the musical Godspell at the Kenneth More Theatre in Ilford, Essex. Bit parts on stage followed, including playing the Genie in Aladdin in a Christmas pantomime.[2]
He spent the next three years touring in small productions, before becoming disillusioned with his lack of success and taking a job as an Air Steward for British Airways.[1][2]
Unable to get the acting bug out of his system, French quit his job as a steward and took up acting lessons. He was trained at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and graduated in 1992.[2]
[edit] Career
After graduating from acting school, French was primarily employed in West End musicals. He was in West Side Story, Chicago, Joseph — playing romantic juvenile leads — and then played Javert in Les Misérables.[3]
French is probably best known for appearing in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. French was spotted by an EastEnders casting agent whilst on stage in the musical Les Miserables.[4] He was subsequently offered a role in the popular soap opera and first appeared in 1993, playing the womanising car-dealer, David Wicks. French quit the soap in 1996 amid a press furore regarding his sexuality, which he allegedly felt compromised his position as the show's heart-throb.[5] 19 million viewers tuned in to watch the character's exit from Albert Square.[6]
Other regular TV roles include Nick Jordan in Casualty (1998) and its sister programme, Holby City (1999-2000; 2005-2006); The Fabulous Bagel Boys (2001); Gary Lescott in Dalziel and Pascoe (2005); Jeff Slade in Crime Traveller (1997) and Tom Gilder in Born and Bred (2001-2004).
Among his other stage credits include Art (2000) as Marc and Sacred Heart (1999) as Jerry. He also replaced John Barrowman as Billy Flynn in the London run of Chicago from December 13, 2004 but resigned suddenly on May 2, 2005 amid rumours of differences with his co-star Brooke Shields.[7]
[edit] Personal life
In 1996 French was publicly "outed" as being a homosexual by the Sunday Mirror.[8] According to the newspaper, French had been in a secret gay relationship with the actor Bryan Lawrence and had also been invloved in many prior homosexual flings, which he wanted kept from the public.[8] French and Lawrence — the son of ex-Fulham footballer Bill Williams — had worked together on a stage show in 1994 and were reunited 12 years later on the set of EastEnders, where Lawrence had a minor role as a policeman.[8] The tabloid's "outing" of French has been widely criticised by gay activists, including Peter Tatchell, who brandished the Sunday Mirror's story "prejudiced and sensationalist" and accused the paper of "exposing his sexual orientation in a way that suggested being gay was sordid and shameful".[9]
Several months after being outed, French was again involved in another press scandal after the Sunday Mirror reported on an alleged affair between him and the married actress Lindsey Coulson, who played his on-screen lover, Carol Jackson, in EastEnders.[10] In addition, it was alleged that French also claimed to have been involved in a homosexual relationship with Coulson's husband, the agent Phillip Chard, circa 1983. Chard denies the affair and believes that French made up the allegation to deliberately wreck his marriage after he rejected his homosexual advances.[10] Chard is reported to have cited Coulson's alleged adultery with French in their divorce suit[11][12] and went on to write a book which contained information on French's alleged drug use, homosexual advances and affair with his ex-wife.[13][14] Following Coulson's split from Chard in 1996, French dated her for several months before they also split.[15]
In 2004 French was given a six month driving ban after he was caught speeding.[16]
[edit] Selected filmography
- Holby City - Nick Jordan (1999-2000, 2006)
- Dalziel and Pascoe (episode "Wrong Place, Wrong Time") - Gary Lescott (2006)
- Casualty (episodes "One from the Heart", "Miracle on Casualty", "Deny the Father") - Nick Jordan (1998, 2005)
- Born and Bred - Dr. Tom Gilder (2002-2005)
- Crime Traveller - Detective Jeff Slade (1997)
- EastEnders - David Wicks (1993-1996)
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Michael French actor profile", Holby.tv. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ a b c d e f "French connection", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ "People would shout 'We love you'. But I didn't like myself", Evening Standard. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ "Drama faces: Michael French actor profile", BBC. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ "French to quit", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ "FRENCH AND JOHNSTON; PARTNERS IN TIME", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ "and co-star isn't a fan either", Evening Standard. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ a b c "Star's lover is Mr Macho man", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ "MEDIA MENDACITY OVER OUTING - THE TRUTH BEHIND THE HEADLINES", petertatchell.net. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ a b "Who shall I bed first ..you or your wife?", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ "Mystery women in his life", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ "Romeo EastEnder French named in co-star divorce", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ "EASTENDER DAVID'S DRUGS SEX SHAME", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ "How dirty David took drugs till he dropped, groped me then had sex", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ "EastEnder Carol's love life is more complicated than TV soap plot", Sunday Mirror. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- ^ "Ban for 'shy' Enders star", The Sun. URL last accessed on 2007-02-13.
- James Inverne. "Michael French and Josefina Gabrielle to Join London Chicago", Playbill, 2004-12-08. Retrieved on February 11, 2006.
- James Inverne. "Michael French Resigns From London Chicago", Playbill, 2005-05-02. Retrieved on February 11, 2006.
