Neil Morrissey

Neil Anthony Morrissey (born 4 July 1962) is an English actor, media personality and businessman. He is best known for his role as Tony in Men Behaving Badly.

He is also known for his role as Rocky in Boon; the voice of Bob, Lofty and Farmer Pickles in Bob the Builder; the voice of Gani in Tayo the Little Bus, the voice of Nick in Roary the Racing Car and deputy head Eddie Lawson in Waterloo Road.

Early life

Morrissey was born in Stafford to Irish parents. He and his brother Stephen (who died in 1997) were placed under a care order after they went on multiple theft and burglary sprees. They were legally separated from their parents, Larry and May who were psychiatric nurses, who often left their sons at home without an adult for many hours at a time as a result.^[1] The boys spent much of their childhood in separate foster homes, Morrissey spending most of his time at the Penkhull Children's Home.^[2] While studying at Thistley Hough High School in Stoke, he advertised for foster parents and lived with his friend Mark Langston and his family for nearly two years after having left the children's home at 17 and was fostered. He studied for his A levels at the City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College. During this time he was a member of the Stoke Repertory Theatre, Stoke Schools Theatre, and Stoke Original Theatre, and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe. He subsequently gained an unconditional scholarship allowing him to study at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

Career

Acting

On leaving Guildhall, Morrissey paid off his student debts by landing parts in film productions. His first role in 1984 was Able Seaman Matthew Quintal in The Bounty alongside Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins and Laurence Olivier.

In 1984 he also appeared in episode 5 (of series 5) of the police drama Juliet Bravo, shown on BBC1. Morrissey shot to fame in the mid-1980s as dim biker Rocky in the ITV drama series Boon. In 1990, he played the lead role of Noddy in the British spoof horror film I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle which involved many of the actors from Boon.

His role as Tony in Men Behaving Badly was created to replace the character of Dermot after Harry Enfield's departure from the series, which became one of the most popular UK sitcoms of the 1990s and turned Morrissey into a national star and a target for the tabloid newspapers. His ongoing romance storyline with co-star Leslie Ash led to the pair appearing in several advertisements for Homebase. In 1997, he starred in the Comedy Premiere The Chest and in 1998 two TV series: My Summer with Des and The Vanishing Man.

Circa 1999, Morrisey starred in a comedy drama called Shakespeare's Birthday, in which he played a coach driver. One of his colleagues was played by Tony Selby.

Morrissey also starred in the John Godber film about rugby league called Up n Under and voiced several characters in the children's television series Bob the Builder, including the lead character, in which role he scored a Christmas 2000 UK number 1 single with "Can We Fix It?". In addition, he provides the narration for Morph (in recent years) and Maisy.

In 2002, Morrissey returned to TV screens in the drama series Paradise Heights which ran for two series. He then had a starring role in the BBC sitcom Carrie and Barry from 2004–2005.

His West End theatre work includes Speed, Robin Hood, The Daughter In-Law and his critically acclaimed West End performance in A Passionate Woman. In 2005 Morrissey performed in Victoria Wood's musical adaptation of Acorn Antiques The Musical alongside Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston and Josie Lawrence. Morrissey took over the role of Nathan Detroit from Nigel Lindsay in the London revival of Guys and Dolls from 6 March 2006 until June 2006.

In 2006 he was the guest host for an episode of Channel 4's The Friday Night Project before taking on the role as presenter on the BBC Two car related game show Petrolheads.

In 2007 he appeared in British TV show Skins as the father of Cassie and made a guest appearance in Neighbours as a priest, remarrying long term characters Susan (Jackie Woodburne) and Karl (Alan Fletcher) on a boat in the River Thames.

On 11 October 2007 he made his first appearance in the BBC's Waterloo Road as new deputy head teacher, Eddie Lawson. He was in this role for two series, making his final appearance in May 2009.

In August 2009 he promoted a national tour of the play Rain Man.^[3]

During the 2009 Christmas season he played the role of Buttons in the Pantomime 'Cinderella' at The Assembly Rooms in Derby. Neil Morrisey is also back by popular demand again in the pantomime 'Aladdin' playing the character of Wishey-Washey at The Assembly Rooms in Derby.

In January 2012 Morrissey took on the roll of "Fagin", in Lionel Barts musical "Oliver" at the Palace Theatre Manchester.

In July 2013, Morrissey reprised his Skins role as Marcus Ainsworth, the father of Hannah Murray's character Cassie Ainsworth. He appeared in both parts of Skins Pure.

Spoof show

On 1 April 2006, a BBC Three spoof programme titled Neil Morrissey's Secret documented sides of Morrissey's life that were previously unknown to the world at large.^[4] It alleged he has a house, wife and two children in Jordan as well as a degree in Botany for which he had studied for 20 years. These studies were integral to his motivation to find a breakthrough in anti-ageing. According to the documentary he has invented a cream called 'The Essence' which contains extracts of a plant found only in a remote Jordanian village. In the documentary the cream's acolytes include celebrities such as Jane Seymour, Gloria Hunniford and Phillipa Forrester. The show followed Morrissey as he carried out his research which involved years of study and crossing continents, funded by his lucrative acting career. Ultimately Morrissey launches the cream only to have his friends concerned for his health, his laboratory broken into, and a trip to Jordan where he finds that the villagers whose trust he had gained through time spent with them, have abandoned their homes because of the fall-out of his discovery. This hoax was launched on 1 April and despite the suspicions caused by this date as April Fool's Day, it still managed to convince some people that it was true.

Business

Ye Olde Punch Bowl Inn, The lease of which was part owned by Morrissey

Morrissey has invested his earnings successfully in various projects, including production companies and his own television advertising and production company, Cactus Media Group.^{[citation needed]}

He lives in a two bedroom flat in Crouch End, has no mortgage, and bought his first 'flash' car in 2002. He has investments in Babington House, Somerset; and has money in stocks and shares.^{[citation needed]} He has also bought his mother a home in Stafford.^{[citation needed]}

Morrissey's love of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas led to him and his business partners Matt Roberts and Kevin Roos buying up numerous properties in the village of Laugharne, including the Hurst Hotel, the New Three Mariners pub and Brown's Hotel in April 2004 for £670,000.^[5] In October 2006 it was announced that the business had put Brown's Hotel on the market in order to finance the redevelopment of the Hurst Hotel,^[6] and the expansion of the private members' club, Hurst House in Covent Garden, London.^[7] In July 2008, with delays encountered on the construction of Hurst House-at-the-Mill, a luxury hotel in Hertfordshire due to open in 2009, the Laugharne based assets of the Hurst House group went into a packaged administration. The assets were subsequently bought by new investors backing Roberts, resulting in the end of Morrissey's association with Laugharne.^[8]

Morrissey part owned the lease on the Ye Olde Punch Bowl Inn in Marton, North Yorkshire. From this base came the Morrissey Fox range of real ale beer, developed by Morrissey and chef Richard Fox which is still in production. In June 2009, it was reported that his Welsh pub had failed and that the company owed £250,000,^[9] and the lease to Ye Olde Punch Bowl Inn was handed back to the owner after just 18 months on 22 October 2009.^[10]

Morrissey avoided bankruptcy over his failed business ventures but entered an IVA.^[11]

Personal life

Morrissey married Amanda Noar in 1987 after meeting her when she guested in an episode of Boon; the couple have a son born in 1989. He also has five nieces and a nephew. The couple divorced in 1991. He then became engaged to actress Elizabeth Carling whom he had first met in 1989 when she too was working on Boon. They parted on good terms: she later guested alongside him on Men Behaving Badly. His subsequent affairs have been well documented by the British tabloids, including dating Rachel Weisz after starring together in My Summer with Des in 1998: they lived together at his flat in Crouch End.^[12]

The tabloid interest peaked with Morrissey's affair with actress Amanda Holden at the height of his fame in 2000 and when her husband, comedian Les Dennis was taking part in Celebrity Big Brother. The affair was the primary reason for Holden's and Dennis's separation and subsequent divorce. At the story's height, there were 35 photographers outside his apartment block, and he had to ask a neighbour to buy him milk and other essentials – he later asked the police to help him get to his car.

Morrissey has numerous tattoos. According to one version of their origin, Morrissey applied them himself with needles and Indian ink. On his left arm is his first name and a blob which was going to be his initials before it became infected causing him to require an anti-tetanus injection. On his right is a squiggle which is a reversed version of The Saint logo.^[12] Morrissey himself says the tattoos were done by other boys at the children's home. The boys there apparently saw that he did not have a tattoo and so gave him the option of a tattoo or a beating. He decided on the tattoo and now regrets not taking the other option.^[13]

In 2006 Morrissey was awarded an honorary degree from Staffordshire University.^[14][15][16]

He is a supporter of the London based football club Crystal Palace.^[17] A fan of real ale, in 2011 he produced a real ale with the club called Palace Ale.^[18]

Filmography

Films

Television

References

External links

• Neil Morrissey at the Internet Movie Database
• Official Morrissey Fox website