James Nesbitt

James Nesbitt (born January 15, 1965) is a Northern Ireland-born British actor who is best known for his roles in ITV's Cold Feet and the BBC's Murphy's Law as well as a series of television advertisements for the UK Yellow Pages. He is sometimes credited as Jimmy Nesbitt.
He has also appeared in theatre and faced tabloid revelations about his private life.

Biography

Early life

Nesbitt was born in Broughshane, County Antrim and was the youngest of four children (he has three older sisters). He grew up in nearby Coleraine after his family moved there when he was 11^[2] and there he attended the Coleraine Academical Institution.^[3] In his early years he worked at the Portrush fair as a bumper car operator and a bingo caller.

He read French at the University of Ulster at Coleraine with a view to being a French teacher (his sisters all became teachers). While there he became an apprentice at the Riverside Theatre, where he joined Equity.^[3]

Nesbitt did not complete his degree, instead moving to London and enrolling at the Central School of Speech and Drama after encouragement from teachers. He continued to work odd-jobs while he was there, such as mailing prospectuses from the office.^[4]

Career

Nesbitt appeared in minor roles on television from 1985 but his first major role came in 1996 when he was cast as Leo in the BBC series Ballykissangel, where he stayed for two years.

In the same year, he filmed the Cold Feet pilot alongside Helen Baxendale. The episode was not shown until March 1997 and went largely unnoticed. ITV commissioned a series after the pilot won the Golden Rose of Montreux. Nesbitt played Adam Williams until 2003, when the series ended. It was critically acclaimed and earned him a Best TV Comedy Actor award at the British Comedy Awards 2000. He received nominations for the same award in 1999 and 2001 and later won Most Popular Comedy Performance at the National Television Awards 2003.

He was first recognised internationally for his role as Pig Finn in the 1998 film Waking Ned. Along with the rest of the cast, he was nominated for Outstanding Performance by a Cast at the Screen Actors Guild Awards 1999.

In 2002 he appeared as Ivan Cooper in the Granada Films production Bloody Sunday. The film was warmly received by critics, but a Protestant backlash led to death threats against him and vandalism at his parents' home.^[5]

Following the end of Cold Feet, Nesbitt starred as DS Tommy Murphy in Murphy's Law, a gritty series following an undercover police officer. He became a creative consultant before the third series and changed the series to feature fewer undercover roles.^[3] In 2005 he was nominated for an IFTA Award for Best Actor in Television. The fourth series was broadcast in 2006.

In 2005 he appeared in Owen McCafferty's Shoot The Crow at the Trafalgar Studios. His performance was described as "exemplary"^[6] and having "a blend of natural talent and relaxed approach".^[7]

In September 2006 he began work on a new version of Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, scheduled for broadcast in 2007.^[8]

He presented the January 19, 2007 edition of The Friday Night Project.

Personal life

Nesbitt met actress Sonia Forbes-Adam at Central in 1989 when they both appeared in a tour of Hamlet. They married in 1993, have two children, Peggy (born 1998 and named for Nesbitt's sister) and Mary (born 2002), and live in Herne Hill.^[9]

In 2002 a tabloid newspaper printed allegations that he had a two-month affair with a legal secretary and had snorted cocaine at his Manchester flat.^[10] Further claims were made that he had affairs with Cold Feet co-star Kimberley Joseph, a former Miss Ireland and a 17-year old prostitute. He would later put these down to the pressures of fame.^[3]

Nesbitt is an ambassador of Amnesty International and Unicef, which he describes as "a privilege".^[3] In June 2003 he was awarded an honorary Litt.D by the University of Ulster for his contribution to drama.^[11]

He is a supporter of Manchester United F.C. and Coleraine F.C. (he was part of a campaign to save the club when it faced tax troubles^[12]).

References

Wikipedia information about James Nesbitt This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "James Nesbitt". It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer). Help contribute to Americola and edit this article.