Christopher Eccleston (1964 - )

Date of Birth: 16 February 1964
Place of Birth: Salford, England, UK
Date of Death:
Place of Death:
Also Known As:

BIOGRAPHY

One of the best and most popular actors of his generation, Eccleston was born in Salford near Manchester in the north west of England to a working class family. As a child, he loved television but his early ambition wasn't to be in the arts but to be a professional footballer. By 19, however, his love of drama had made up his mind for him and Eccleston enrolled at the prestigious Central School of Speech and Drama in London. On graduation, he found himself in demand as a versatile stage actor interpreting Shakespeare, Chekhov and Molière following his debut in the Bristol Old Vic's production of A Streetcar Named Desire.

But as for so many young talents, times also proved hard - he was forced to take a number of part time jobs while waiting for his "big break", including the ubiquitous work in a supermarket and as a labourer on building sites. The break came when he was cast as cop killer Derek Bentley in the provocative Let Him Have It (1991), which not only examined the original crime but also the controversy that surrounded the subsequent trial and Bentley's execution.

Eccleston's performance was outstanding and it was the exposure he needed. A regular part in the first season of Cracker set him up for a memorable and deeply moving departure at the opening of season two and his turn as psychotic David in Shallow Grave set the seal on his career.

Since the success of Shallow Grave, Eccleston has enjoyed regular work in both film and television, winning a growing audience of fans for his often intense performances. Never shy of taking challenging roles, he's made many genre appearances and in March 2004 was announced as the ninth television Doctor in the comeback series of the popular BBC TV series Doctor Who (2005)
KEVIN LYONS

GENRE FILMOGRAPHY

all as performer
* = television

1992
Rachel's Dream (man in dream) *

1993 – 1994
Cracker (DCI David Bilborough)
Fitz ratkaisee - Finnish title
Für alle Fälle Fitz - German title

1994
Shallow Grave (David Stephens)
Cova Rasa - Brazilian title
Dödsleken - Swedish title
Kleine Morde unter Freunden - German title
Pequenos Crimes Entre Amigos - Portugese title
Petits meurtres entre amis - French / French Canadian title
Piccoli omicidi tra amici - Italian title
Plitvi grob - Slovenian title
Sekély sírhant - Hungarian title
Shallow Grave - murhaleikki - Finnish title
Tumba abierta (Shallow Grave) - Spanish title
Tumba al ras de la tierra - Argentinian title

1999
eXistenZ (Levi)

Heart (Gary Ellis)
Corazón - Spanish title
Heart - Jeder kann sein Herz verlieren - German title
Mort clinique - French / French Canadian title

Killing Time: The Millennium Poem (Millennium man)

2001
The Others (Charles)
Ha-aherim - Hebrew Israeli title
Oi alloi - Greek title
Les autres – French / French Canadian title
Más világ - Hungarian title
Los otros - Mexican / Peruvian / Spanish / Venezuelan title
Os Outros - Brazilian / Portugese title

2002
28 Days Later... (Major Henry West)
28 dagar senare - Swedish title
28 dage senere - Danish title
28 Dias Depois - Portugese title
28 días después... - Spanish title
28 giorni dopo - Italian title
28 jours plus tard - French title
28 päivää myöhemmin - Finnish title
28 Tage später - Austrian title
29 Days Later - US extended version title
Extermínio - Brazilian title
Exterminio – Argentinian / Mexican / Peruvian title

The League of Gentlemen: How the Elephant Got It's Trunk (24 October 2002) (Dougal Siepp) *

Pure Rage: The Making of 28 Days Later (himself)

A Revengers Tragedy (Vindici)

2003
The Second Coming (Stephen Baxter)

2005
Doctor Who: Rose (26 March 2005) (The Doctor) *

Doctor Who: The End of the World (2 April 2005) (The Doctor) *

Doctor Who: The Unquiet Dead (9 April 2005) (The Doctor) *

Doctor Who: Aliens of London (16 April 2005) (The Doctor) *

Doctor Who: World War III (23 April 2005) (The Doctor) *

Doctor Who: Dalek (30 April 2005) (The Doctor) *

Doctor Who: The Long Game (7 May 2005) (The Doctor) *

Doctor Who: Father's Day (14 May 2005) (The Doctor) *

Doctor Who: The Empty Child (21 May 2005) (The Doctor) *

Doctor Who: The Doctor Dances (28 May 2005) (The Doctor) *

Doctor Who: Boom Town (4 June 2005) (The Doctor) *

Doctor Who: Bad Wolf (11 June 2005) (The Doctor) *

Doctor Who: Parting of the Ways (18 June 2005) (The Doctor) *

Doctor Who: A New Dimension (26 March 2005) (himself) *

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (Tarkin)

NON-GENRE FILMOGRAPHY

1990
Blood Rights (Dick) *
Direitos de Sangue - Portugese title

Casualty: A Reasonable Man (7 December 1990) (Stephen Hills) *

1991
Boon: Coverup (15 October 1991) (Mark) *

Inspector Morse: Second Time Around (20 February 1991) (Terrence Mitchell) *

Let Him Have It (Derek Bentley)
L'âge de vivre - French title
Gib's Ihm Chris! - German title
Idade de Viver - Portugese title

1992
Death and the Compass (Alonso Zunz)
La muerte y la brújula - Mexican title

Friday on My Mind (Sean Maddox) *

Poirot: One, Two, Buckle My Shoe (19 January 1992) (Frank Carter) *

1993
Anchoress (priest)

1995
Hearts and Minds (Drew Mackenzie) *

1996
Hillsborough (Trevor Hicks) *
Das Fußballdrama von Sheffield - German title
Inquest

Jude (Jude Fawley)
Herzen in Aufruhr - German title
Jude - kivenhakkaajan rakkaus - Finnish title
Jude: Corazones atormentados - Argentinian title
Lidércfény - Hungarian title

Our Friends in the North (Nicky Hutchinson) *
Pohjoiset ystävämme - Finnish title

1998
Elizabeth (Duke of Norfolk)
Elisabet - Finnish title
Elizabeta - Slovenian title
Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen

A Price Above Rubies (Sender Horowitz)
Eshet Hile Me Im'tza - Hebrew Israeli title
Il gioco dei rubini - Italian title
El juego de los rubíes - Venezuelan title
Kultaakin kalliimpi - Finnish title
Sonia Horowitz, l'insoumise - French title
Teurer als Rubine - German title

With or Without You (Vincent Boyd)
Contigo o sin ti - Spanish title
Jotain uutta, jotain vanhaa - Finnish title
Med liv och lust - Swedish title
With or Without You - con te o senza di te - Italian title
With or Without You - French title

2000
Clocking Off (Jim Calvert) *
Tehdas - Finnish title

Gone in Sixty Seconds (Raymond Vincent Calitri)
60 secondes chrono - French title
60 Segundos - Brazilian / Portugese title
60 segundos - Spanish / Venezuelan title
60 sekunder - Danish title
Dispari în 60 de secunde - Romanian title
Fuori in 60 secondi - Italian title
Kadunud 60. sekundiga - Estonian title
Nur noch 60 Sekunden - Austrian / German title
Partis en 60 secondes - French Canadian title
Puhallettu 60 sekunnissa - Finnish title

The Tyre (salesman)

Wilderness Men (Alexander Von Humboldt) *

2001
The Invisible Circus (Wolf)
La cirque invisible - French / French Canadian title
Deadly Shadows - German video title
Faithin jalanjäljillä - Finnish title
Following Faith - Swedish title
Secretos - Argentinian title
Uma História a Três - Brazilian title
Verità apparente - Italian title
Vérité apparente - French title

Linda Green (Tom Sherry / Neil Sherry) *

Strumpet (Strayman)

This Little Piggy (Cabbie)

2002
24 Hour Party People (special thanks; performer (Boethius))
A Festa Nunca Termina - Brazilian title
La nueva orden - Mexican title
Twenty Four Hour Party People - UK DVD title

Flesh and Blood (Joe Broughton) *

I Am Dina (Leo Zhukovsky)
Dina - Finnish / French title
Ich bin Dina - German title
Jag är Dina - Swedish title
Je suis Dina - French Canadian title
Jeg er Dina - Danish / Norwegian title

The King and Us (Anthony) *
Waiting for the Whistle: The King and Us – UK title

Othello (Ben Jago) *

Sunday (General Ford)
Domingo – Brazilian title

2004
Breakfast: 2 April 2004 (himself) *

The South Bank Show: Television Drama: Part 2 (8 February 2004) (himself) *

REFERENCES

MAGAZINES

Broadcast 19 May 2000 p.2 (UK)
article

Empire no.113 (November 1998) pp.68-69 (UK)
illustrated interview

Film Review February 1997 p.12 (UK)
illustrated note

Neon November 1998 pp.86-87 (UK)
illustrated interview

Premiere no.261 (December 1998) pp.98-99 (France)
illustrated interview

Premiere vol.4 no.9 (October 1996) pp.38-41 (UK)
illustrated interview

Radio Times vol.288 no.3763 (9 March 1996) p.9 (UK)
illustrated note

Sight and Sound vol.6 no.10 (October 1996) pp.6-8 (UK)
illustrated article

Starburst no.310 (May 2004) p.6 (UK)
illustrated article

Total Film no.30 (July 1999) p.30 (UK)
illustrated interview

TV Times vol.160 no.3 (13 January 1996) pp.6-7 (UK)
illustrated interview

TV Zone no.175 (May 2004) pp.4-5 (UK)
illustrated article

Last Updated: 1 January, 2009