Michael Cashman
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Michael Cashman (born December 17, 1950 in London) was a British actor and is now a Labour politician. He has been a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands constituency since 1999.
As an actor, he is possibly best known for his role as Colin Russell in BBC TV's EastEnders - a character famous for being the first man to kiss another man in a soap opera in the UK: he also played Mike Wallace in The Sandbaggers. He was also in the Doctor Who story entitled Time-Flight.
He is open about his homosexuality and regularly comments on government policy decisions relating to sexual orientation. He registered a civil partnership with Paul Cottingham, his partner of over twenty years, on 11 March 2006. He is also an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.
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[edit] Politics
In the European Parliament he is Labour spokesperson on human rights and has also been rapporteur on an important initiative on funerals of those who die in third countries - an issue he was motivated to act on after the death of his own father.
He is a trenchant critic of discrimination against minorities within the European Union. His most recent campaign has been to support the gay pride march in Warsaw, which he attended[1]. He is also the President of the European Parliament's Intergroup on gay and lesbian issues.
Cashman's record in the Labour Party - opposition to Ken Livingstone's candidacy for Mayor of London and personal loyalty[citation needed] to Margaret McDonagh - suggests he sits on the Labour right.
[edit] Equity
He is the treasurer of Equity and lead the campaign to obtain pension rights for members.
[edit] Trivia
He was born 3 weeks prematurely, partially due to his mother defending his father in a street fight.
He appeared in a West End production of Oliver when he was 12 and later took the lead role. He performed for future American president Richard Nixon. He has a striking resemblance of cricketer David Gower
[edit] External links
- Michael Cashman's web site
- OpsRoom.org - The Sandbaggers information site
- Michael Cashman IMDB entry
- Profile on European Parliament website
- European Parliament Intergroup on Gay and Lesbian Rights
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1950 births | Living people | British television actors | Soap opera actors | Gay actors from the United Kingdom | Gay politicians | LGBT politicians from the United Kingdom | Members of the European Parliament from the United Kingdom | UK Labour Party politicians | Actor-politicians | People from London | The Sandbaggers
