Darren Day

Darren Day
Born 17 July 1968
Colchester, Essex, England, UK
Occupation Actor, singer

Darren Day (born 17 July 1968 in Colchester, Essex) is an English actor, singer and television presenter, well known for his West End theatre starring roles.

Early life

His paternal grandfather had a comedy acrobatic strongman act and was once a warm-up act for George Formby. Day attended Sir Charles Lucas Arts College, and undertook drama classes at evenings and weekends until he was 13, when he turned his attention to snooker.[1]

Day became a professional snooker player at 17, but found himself drawn to entertainment. When maverick snooker genius Alex Higgins failed to complete an exhibition match, Day got up and sang songs and did impressions to entertain the crowd.[1]

Career

Day auditioned for BBC's talent show Opportunity Knocks in 1987 and appeared on the show in 1988, introduced by host Bob Monkhouse. He won several heats and came fourth in the final.

For the first five years, Day's career spanned from being a Butlins redcoat through to performing in stand-up comedy. Day then made his breakthrough as an actor in London's West End theatre, starring in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat when he replaced the departing Phillip Schofield.[1] He then starred in many West end shows, such as Grease', Summer Holiday' and Godspell and went on to develop a career as a television presenter, presenting programmes such as You Bet!, and Don't Try This at Home!. He appeared in the first series of the reality television show I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!.

In 1991, Day presented the Classic Nursery Rhymes video.[2]

Day has appeared in many touring stage musicals, including Summer Holiday, Grease, The Rocky Horror Show, Hello Dolly and Great Expectations. In the pantomime season of 2005–06, Day appeared in the Derby Assembly Rooms production of Cinderella, where he played the part of Buttons. This is also where he first met his wife Stephanie, who was appearing in the production.

Day worked in November 2006 on the Celebrity Scissorhands project for the BBC in aid of Children in Need. From there, he returned to pantomime for the 2006–07 season as 'Jack' in Jack and the Beanstalk at Billingham's Forum Theatre.

In 2007, Day toured the UK with a new theatre show The Music of Manilow and More, and made a guest appearance in July on ITV's police drama The Bill.

Autumn 2007 saw him take over from Mark Little in the UK tour of Defending the Caveman before returning to pantomime at the Lowry, Salford as King Rat in Dick Whittington co starring his wife and actress Stephanie Dooley, and Chesney Hawkes.[3]

In 2009 he changed management and was cast in the musical, We Will Rock You, alongside Kevin Kennedy which toured the UK.[4] In March 2010, Day took part in Celebrity Come Dine with Me on Channel 4, alongside Claire Sweeney, Kim Woodburn and Tom O'Connor. This episode was repeated in December 2010. From October 2010 to Jan 2011 Day played soap villain Danny Houston in the popular series Hollyoaks.

From April 2011 to July 2011, Day starred in the UK in the musical Brother Love's Travelling Salvation Show, alongside co-star Brian Conley. In December 2011 Day starred as Captain Hook in the pantomime Peter Pan at Worthing Pavilion Theatre, breaking the theatre's 2003 box-office record to become the best selling pantomime the theatre has ever had. Whilst working in Worthing, he became acquainted with the work of the Stone Pillow, a charity working with the homeless, and after making a personal appearance in support of charity, he agreed to become a patron in 2012. Day reprised the role of Captain Hook in December 2012 at the Lighthouse Theatre, Kettering, in their pantomime Peter Pan.

In early 2012, Day took on the role of American author Paul Sheldon in a production of Misery in Dubai. The production was nominated locally for a Time Out Theatre Award. In autumn 2012, Darren Day played HIV-positive gospel singer Gideon in the European premiere of the award-winning USA musical "The Last Session", for which he was nominated for Best Actor in the Off West End Awards ("The Offies"). In spring 2013, he was cast in a lead role in the British feature film Rudy playing a bereaved father of a teenage daughter, directed by Shona Auerbach. In June 2013 he began work on a new musical, The Golden Voice, which was due to premiere at the Arts Theatre in the West End in July 2013. http://www.thestage.co.uk/news/production/2013/04/darren-day-to-star-in-new-musical-the-golden-voice/ In September 2013 he starred in the new musical comedy "Stand Up" with Lionel Blair and Billy Pearce. In October he headlined 'The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee', a Tony award-winning show in its first UK tour. In 2014, Darren revisited his cabaret roots when he stepped in for his old friend, Joe Longthorne, who was ill.[5] He will guest star on the Holby City Christmas Special 2014, playing panto dame Michael Evans.[6] He also received outstanding reviews for his lead role of Bob Wallace in White Christmas at the West Yorkshire Playhouse for the 2014/15 Christmas season [7]

Personal life

In the late 1990s, Day's name was almost synonymous with tabloid fame. While still single, he had many celebrity partners, including Anna Friel, Tracy Shaw, Isla Fisher and Suzanne Shaw and his private life at times threatened to overshadow his successful professional life. He had been linked in the tabloids to taking drugs and in 2007 confirmed he was being treated for cocaine misuse. In 2013, he appeared on a celebrity edition of the Jeremy Kyle Show to talk about how he overcame his drug problems with the help of his wife and children and how he re-established his career. Darren successfully settled his phone-hacking suit against the News of the World in early 2013 and against Mirror Group in early 2015.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Character Notes
2013 Rudy Tom Feature Film, directed by Shona Auerbach
2002 Alice Short film
2004 Hellbreeder Jonathan

Television

Year Show Role Notes
2001 Doctors David Wilde Recurring; 8 episodes
2004 French and Saunders Jude Law 2 episodes
2007 The Bill Jeff Slade 1 episode: Copy Cat Killer
2010 Hollyoaks Danny Houston Recurring; 26 episodes
2010 Come Dine With Me Himself Celebrity Special

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2012 Crime Stories Graeme Watts 1 episode; Episode 5

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2014 Holby City Michael Evans 1 episode; Christmas Special

Discography

Singles

Albums

References

External links

Preceded by
Matthew Kelly		 Host of You Bet
1996–97 		Succeeded by
Series Ended