| Antony Cotton | |
|---|---|
| Born | Antony Dunn 5 August 1975 Bury, Greater Manchester, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Television | Coronation Street |
Antony Cotton (born Antony Dunn on 5 August 1975, Bury, Greater Manchester) is an English actor and singer best known for his roles in Coronation Street and the original UK version of Queer as Folk.
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Cotton was born in Bury, Greater Manchester. He is the son of actress Enid Dunn.[1] He went to Woodhey High School at Holcombe Brook in Ramsbottom.[2] He has an elder brother, Andrew. Antony attended Oldham Theatre Workshop where he met his longtime friend Anna Friel. At the same time he studied dance at both the Davies School of Dance and the Lupino School where he was a contemporary of sisters Anna-Jane Casey and Natalie Casey. Antony's mum Enid was a childhood friend of Anna and Natalie's dad Barry.
Antony is a passionate supporter of the Terrence Higgins Trust. He is a patron of the LGF charity in Manchester,[3] The Albert Kennedy Trust and also the Queer Up North festival. He is good friends with Brian Dowling, winner of Big Brother in 2001.
In August 2009, Daniel Kilkelly reported in an article in Digital Spy that Cotton was "openly gay".[4] and in March 2010 the Daily Mirror reported that Cotton had exchanged rings with his partner, Peter Eccleston, the nephew of Christopher Eccleston, in a celebration of their love.[5]
Cotton currently plays barman and factory worker Sean Tully in Coronation Street. Cotton asked for a part on the show, and created the character with some of the show's writers.[6]
Cotton played Alexander in the original UK version of Queer as Folk. He has also appeared in episodes of Absolutely Fabulous as the character Damon. On 13 January 2007, Cotton won the second series of ITV's Soapstar Superstar. He donated his winning money, £200,000, to the Elton John Aids Foundation.
In July 2007, it was announced that Cotton would be fronting his own tea time chat show on ITV. The show, That Antony Cotton Show, was filmed in front of a live studio audience at Granada Television studios in Manchester, and combined celebrity chat with topical humour. It was first broadcast on Monday 13 August 2007 at 5pm on ITV; however, following the end of the first series, ITV announced that the show would not return for a second. He is developing several new ideas with ITV.[7] Antony also appeared on Family Fortunes on 20 September 2008 presented by Vernon Kay and won £10,000 for his chosen charity. In December 2008, he appeared with his friend and co-star Suranne Jones on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
Cotton took part in the 11th series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! which starting airing on Sunday, 13 November 2011. Both he and fellow camp mate Fatima Whitbread left after 21 days, on 2 December, 2011.
Cotton made his film debut opposite Daniel Craig and Derek Jacobi in the 1998 film Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon.[8] He also appeared in the 1998 film The Wisdom of Crocodiles.
Cotton has appeared in several shows at the Oldham Coliseum. He appeared in The Fifteen Streets and The Hobbit at Manchester's Palace Theatre and Opera House. The part of Flynn was written for him by his friend Jonathan Harvey in the original version of Closer to Heaven.[1] He has also appeared in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in the Middlesbrough Theatre (also known as the M'bro theater.)
In 2005, Cotton won the Most Popular Newcomer category at the National Television Awards for his role in Coronation Street.[9] Cotton also won the 2005 Inside Soap Awards for Best Newcomer and Funniest Performance. 2006 he won (again) the award for Funniest Performance. At the 2007 British Soap Awards, Cotton was awarded the Best Actor award, which was voted for by the public. Also in 2007 he won Best Actor at the Inside Soap Awards, again voted for by the public. In total he has won 7 awards for his character Sean.
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