Bill Dean
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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.
Known for
Credits
The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
as Man in Village Hall (uncredited)
Scum (1979)
as Mr Duke
Let Him Have It (1991)
as Foreman of the Jury
Priest (1995)
as Altar Boy
Kes (1970)
as Fish and Chip Shop Man
Night Watch (1973)
as Inspector Walker
Rising Damp (1980)
as Workman
A Turn for the Worse (1981)
as (voice)
Going Gently (1981)
as Painter
Freedom of the Dig (1978)
as Sid
The Rank and File (1971)
as Billy
The Best Pair of Legs in the Business (1973)
as Bert
Match of the Day (1974)
as Father
Brookside: Friday the 13th (1998)
as Harold Cross
Waiting at the Field Gate (1975)
as Ted
Slayground (1984)
as Compere
Roll On Four O'Clock (1970)
as Arthur Foster
Bank Holiday (1972)
as Father
Night People (1978)
as Ted
Break In (1975)
as Dixie
Gumshoe (1971)
as Tommy Wright
Family Life (1971)
as Mr. Baildon
In Sickness and in Health (1975)
as Mr Jackson
Hillsborough (1996)
as Additional Cast
Flame (1975)
as Club Owner (uncredited)
Beasts: What Big Eyes (1976)
as Duggie Jeb
The Big Flame (1969)
as Landlord
Speech Day (1973)
as George
Skallagrigg (1994)
as Old Man
Bag of Yeast (1976)
as Teddy
The Golden Vision (1968)
as John Coyne