Todd Carty

Todd Carty (born 31 August 1963) is an Irish actor and director, who has grown up on television screens in a variety of roles. His stage work has varied from pantomime to serious drama, as well as radio plays, voiceovers, commercials, narrations, and films. He is best known for his roles as Tucker Jenkins in Grange Hill, Mark Fowler in EastEnders, and villainous policeman Gabriel Kent in The Bill.

Todd Carty
Carty in 2009 at Wendy Richard's funeral service
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1967–present
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Partner	Dina Clarkin (1990–present)

Personal life

Born in Limerick City in 1963, his family emigrated to England when Carty was a child and he spent his early years in Kilburn, North London, before moving to Harrow, Middlesex, when he was 8 years old. As of 2009, Carty lives in Muswell Hill, North London. He has been in a relationship since 1990 with his childhood sweetheart and business partner, actress/writer and film producer Dina Clarkin - the daughter of Irish actor Tony Clarkin. The couple have known each other since childhood through their parents, and have two sons, James and Thomas. In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Carty explained how he first met Clarkin when she was a 5-year-old child actress and he a 14-year-old, through their parents. Carty describes Dina as his soul mate.

Career

Early career

His first television appearance in the UK was in an advertisement for Woolworths at the age of four. He also had other advertising roles, including one with Doctor Who actor Jon Pertwee for the "Green Cross Code".

He made his first stage appearance at the New London Theatre, Drury Lane, as the young Lionel in Lionel Bart's autobiographical musical Lionel; however, his television career in his youth was mostly defined by his role as Tucker Jenkins in Phil Redmond's popular BBC drama Grange Hill (1978–1982), and the subsequent spin off series Tucker's Luck (1983–1985).

During the 1970s and 1980s, Carty also appeared in Z-Cars (1976), Our Mutual Friend, Drummer, and Headmaster, all for the BBC. And for German TV, Focus on Britain and The Idle Bunch. His film work at the time included Please Sir! (1971) and Professor Popper's Problem (1974). In 1983, he landed the role of Oswyn in the fantasy film Krull opposite Ken Marshall, Lysette Anthony, Liam Neeson, and Alun Armstrong, amongst others.

EastEnders and The Bill

Carty took over the role of original character Mark Fowler in BBC's EastEnders in 1990, following the death of the original actor, David Scarboro. Carty played the role for 13 years, becoming one of the longest-running male cast-members. In July 2002, the BBC announced that Mark Fowler was being written out of the serial, a mutual decision between the producers and Carty. Executive producer Louise Berridge said that Carty had made a "fantastic contribution" to the soap and Mark had been a "pivotal figure", but the character had finally run its course: "Todd and I have discussed this at some length and agreed that it was time for Mark to hang up his leather jacket for the last time. We will all miss Todd, who is one of our best-loved actors, and wish him every success in the future." Carty made his final appearance as Mark in February 2003, riding out of the Square on his motorbike. The character subsequently died off-screen in 2004.

After leaving EastEnders in 2003, Carty went on to play "villain evil copper", PC Gabriel Kent, in ITV's The Bill for more than two years from 2003 to 2005. Carty has since revealed that he broke his EastEnders contract a year earlier than planned to take on this new role.

Other television and film appearances

Whilst still in EastEnders in 1997, Carty appeared with former EastEnders co-star Nick Berry in the Victorian period adventure film The Black Velvet Band, a spaghetti western-style drama. Carty was the subject of a This Is Your Life tribute in 2000. Guests included Wendy Richard, Norman Wisdom, Nick Berry, his partner Dina Clarkin, sons James Carty and Thomas Carty, and his father-in-law, actor Tony Clarkin.

After leaving The Bill in 2005, he returned to the big screen as the aristocrat Harvey Van Bollingbroke in the movie Treasure of Albion (2006). Carty acted in The School That Roared (2009) as the eccentric Mr. Haig, for which he was also second-unit director.

He has guest-starred as Ray Hallam in the Christmas special of the TV series Heartbeat, and in BBC's Holby City, as villain Cameron Cooke. In 2008, he guest-starred in BBC's Doctors, playing the part of Kev Blake.

In 2003, Carty reprised the role of Tucker Jenkins in Grange Hill, as the uncle of one the pupils, Patrick "Togger" Johnson. He appeared in just this one episode, but he was brought back once again to film for Grange Hill's final series, broadcast in 2008 — a one-off special episode to celebrate the 30th birthday of the long-running BBC TV show. Carty appeared as Tucker in the final televised episode of Grange Hill, which was screened on Monday, 15 September 2008 on BBC1.

Carty was a guest on the BBC1 show I'd Do Anything, in May 2008, with Cameron Mackintosh, helping to choose one of the selected boys to play Oliver Twist for the new West End production of Oliver!.

Carty and his eldest son, James, filmed together in a factual television series for Five, "Dangerous Adventures For Boys", based on the book written by Conn and Hal Iggulden, The Dangerous Book for Boys. James Carty, aged 11 at the time of broadcast, became the youngest person to drive a steam train across the North York Moors 18-mile line from Grosmont, North Yorkshire to Pickering, built in the 1830s.

Dancing On Ice

Carty appeared in the fourth series of the UK version of Dancing On Ice, which began on 10 January 2009. Carty partnered professional skater Susie Lipanova and was heavily criticised by the judging panel for his apparent lack of skating ability. In the weeks he and Lipanova competed, they finished bottom of the leaderboard, scoring 7.5 in their first week, 9.5 for their next appearance in week three, and 7.5 and 8.5 for weeks four and five respectively. During the routine in week three, Carty lost control on the ice so badly that he ended up stumbling into the off-stage area, disappearing from public view, leaving Lipanova to complete the routine alone. Despite this, the public vote carried the couple through to the next round. He was eliminated in the 5th round.

Radio, presenting and stage

Carty's radio work includes such dramas as Les Misérables; The Three Loves of Ida Bliss, We Are Happy, Wavelength, Midweek, Jellybones, The London Particulars, and The Chocolate Frigate. Narration work includes Paddington Green, the story of New York subway's Guardian Angels Scene in New York, The Fame Game, Driving Mum Crazy, Snapshot-Eddie Kidd, The Jungle Creatures, and many more. In 1989, Carty reprised the role of Tucker in the musical stage version of the television series Grange Hill: Grange Hill: Tucker's Return, at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch. Between 2007 and 2008, he toured the UK in The Business of Murder as Police Detective Hallett. Todd Carty and Wendy Richard (who played his screen mother Pauline in EastEnders) presented "50 Greatest Families" on Sky One in March 2008.

Todd Carty stars as Patsy, from May 2010, in the Monty Python touring production of Spamalot.

Pantomimes

Carty has played Ali Baba in the BBC Christmas pantomime Aladdin, and starred as Buttons in Cinderella at the Gatehouse Theatre Stafford from 14 December 1993 to 2 January 1994. He later starred with Barbara Windsor as the captain's mate in Dick Whittington at the Orchard Theatre, Dartford. He also appeared as "King Rat" with Basil Brush in the pantomime Dick Whittington at the Wycombe Swan Theatre between 2005 and 2006. He reprised the role of King Rat in a new version of Dick Whittington, at the Capitol Theatre, Horsham, which ran from 13 December 2007 to 6 January 2008. In December 2008, Carty starred as the evil Ferdinand Fleshcreep (The Giant's Evil Assistant) in Jack and the Beanstalk at the Queen's Theatre in Barnstaple. The show ran from Friday 12 December 2008 to Sunday, 4 January 2009. Todd Carty starred as Buttons in Cinderella at the Pavilion Theatre Worthing from 10 December 2009 to 3 January 2010.

Directing and producing

Carty and his partner, actress/writer and film producer Dina Clarkin, have set up a film production company, Swordfish Productions. In July 2007, Carty made his directorial debut as director of several episodes of the BBC's daytime soap opera, Doctors. Carty is directing his first feature film, The Perfect Burger (2010), set in the Leicestershire town of Hinckley. The film is mainly being shot at the Hinckley campus of North Warwickshire and Hinckley College.

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1971	Please Sir!	Boy in assembly wishing to be excused	Uncredited
1983	Krull	Oswyn
1989	The Candy Show		Short film
2006	Treasure of Albion	Harvey Van Bolingbroke
2009	The School That Roared	Mr Haig

TV

Year	Show	Role	Notes
1976	Z-Cars	Billy	1 episode: Ringers
1977	Headmaster		1 episode: The Public Image
1978–82	Grange Hill	Peter "Tucker" Jenkins	Series regular
1983–85	Tucker's Luck		Series regular
1990–2003	EastEnders	Mark Fowler	Series regular
1997	Black Velvet Band	Pentecost
2003	Grange Hill	Peter "Tucker" Jenkins	1 episode
2003–05	The Bill	PC Gabriel Kent	Series regular
2005	Heartbeat	Ray Hallam	1 episode: Auld Acquaintance
2006	Holby City	Cameron Cooke	1 episode: Games of Chance
2008	Doctors	Kev Blake	1 episode: Stand Up and Be Counted
	Grange Hill	Peter "Tucker" Jenkins	1 episode: Bang
2010	Blame	My Keller

External links

• Todd Carty at IMDb
• Todd Carty Official Website