Vince Earl

Vince 'Mark' Earl (born 11 June 1944 in Birkenhead, Cheshire) is an English singer, comedian and actor most famous for his portrayal of the character Ron Dixon in the soap opera Brookside, a role which he played from 1990 until the show's demise in 2003.^[1]

He was involved in the Merseybeat scene of the 1960s as singer with the Vince Earl Talismen, and Vince Earl & the Attractions.^[2] He also played in the band "Rory Storm and The Hurricanes" and The Wirral band The Zero's who played in the Majestic nightclub Conway street Birkenhead in the early 1960s. He is a stand up comedian who appeared on the Granada Television show The Comedians before landing the Brookside part. He also appeared in the film No Surrender and in Boys from the Blackstuff.^[2]

In 2001, Earl appeared on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.^[3] In November 2007, Earl returned to the set of Brookside in West Derby, Liverpool for an interview with ITV Local News to celebrate 25 years since the show started on Channel 4. He showed reporters around the Close, showing them his character's house, and the infamous patio where Trevor Jordache was found. Michael Starke, who played Sinbad Sweeney, also featured in the interview from the set of his new soap home at Coronation Street.

He is a supporter of Liverpool F.C.

In 2010, he was hospitalised with Goodpasture's syndrome which resulted in the need for regular dialysis. In the summer of 2012, he successfully underwent a kidney transplant.

Earl has gone on record as saying that his favourite scene of Brookside was a breakfast scene shot entirely in one shot. Earl's character, Ron, sat in the centre of the scene as various other characters attempted to steal his breakfast, ultimately leading Ron to exclaim: 'Hey! Where's me tea gone?'.

Earl has also declared that he prefers stand-up to acting as he relishes the 'immediate feedback' offered by the former.

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