James Coombes
James Coombes (born 8 October 1956 in Newport, Monmouthshire[1]) is a British actor with a number of television and theatre credits to his name. He was educated at Glasllwch Primary School and then Duffryn High School. He trained as an actor at the Birmingham School of Speech and Drama from 1975–78. He is known for his role as Pierre Challon during the final series of the BBC drama Howards' Way, and Grendel in HTV's Robin of Sherwood. He also appeared as Paroli in the 1984 Doctor Who serial Warriors of the Deep. Previously, he was to have provided the voice of the Krargs in the story Shada but his voice-overs were never recorded as the story was halted by industrial action at the BBC. He has appeared in many films including Murder with Mirrors co-starring with Bette Davis and Helen Hayes and played Richard Gere's son, Amnon, in the Bible epic, King David. He also played Sir Lancelot in the Disney film, A Knight in Camelot with Whoopi Goldberg. Other films include, Monarch, with T. P. McKenna and Jean Marsh. He has worked extensively in the theatre including seasons at Chichester Festival, Pitlochry Festival, Bristol Old Vic, London Young Vic, Ludlow Festival, Chapter Arts in Cardiff with Sgript Cymru, and Scarborough for Sir Alan Ayckbourn Other credits include: Minder on the Orient Express, Boon, Drop the Dead Donkey,"Saracen", Heartbeat, Bugs, Holby City, The Bill, My Family and Dinosapien He also appeared as the iconic Milk Tray Man in the eighties. He is currently appearing in a West End run of "Dirty Dancing", playing Dr. Jake Houseman at the Piccadilly Theatre, London. As well as acting, he tutors regularly at the Academy of Creative Training in Brighton.
James Coombes is married to the actress, Cathy Finlay, daughter of actor Frank Finlay CBE. His eldest son, Josh Coombes, is drummer for pop/punk band, The Hype Theory.