Adam Woodyatt
Encyclopedia
Adam Brinley Woodyatt is an English
actor
and media personality, best known for his role as Ian Beale
in the long-running BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
. He is the only actor to have been in the show continuously since its inception in February 1985, and is currently the only actor from the original cast still in the series.
, Woodyatt was raised in the East End of London
, where EastEnders is set. He attended Forest School
in Snaresbrook
, where he shared classes with comedy writer Sharat Sardana
and cricket captain Nasser Hussain
.
, Woodyatt took a small part in children's drama The Baker Street Boys
. He then put his acting career on hiatus and worked as a butcher
in Wales
for a brief period, before joining the cast of the then fledgling soap opera EastEnders. Originally only supposed to be in EastEnders for a maximum of 1 year,
Woodyatt has also appeared as a guest personality on several BBC game shows and charity fundraisers, including A Question of Sport
, Robot Wars
(Winning the show's Celebrity Special with the robot Pussycat) and Children in Need
.
, where he was filming EastEnders.
. The couple have two children, and live in Southam
, Warwickshire
. Despite hailing from the south east of England, Woodyatt supports Liverpool F.C.
, and has a keen appreciation for sport.
An avid fan of science fiction
, he took part in a special BBC evening dedicated to Star Trek
.
Woodyatt was also instrumental in launching an Aid for Haiti event at Coventry's Ricoh Arena
in February 2010, with many of his soap star colleagues posing for photographs, signing autographs, and providing items for an auction, which raised £30,000. Woodyatt is also a supporter of Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
and media personality, best known for his role as Ian Beale
Ian Beale
Ian Albert Beale is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Adam Woodyatt. He is the longest-serving character and the only remaining original character to have appeared continuously since the first episode on 19 February 1985...
in the long-running BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
. He is the only actor to have been in the show continuously since its inception in February 1985, and is currently the only actor from the original cast still in the series.
Early life
A native of WalthamstowWalthamstow
Walthamstow is a district of northeast London, England, located in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It is situated north-east of Charing Cross...
, Woodyatt was raised in the East End of London
East End of London
The East End of London, also known simply as the East End, is the area of London, England, United Kingdom, east of the medieval walled City of London and north of the River Thames. Although not defined by universally accepted formal boundaries, the River Lea can be considered another boundary...
, where EastEnders is set. He attended Forest School
Forest School, Walthamstow
Forest School is an independent school on the edge of Epping Forest, in Walthamstow in North East London, in the UK. The School occupies a large campus based around the original Georgian and Victorian buildings.-History:...
in Snaresbrook
Snaresbrook
Snaresbrook is an area of north-east London, mostly in the London Borough of Redbridge. A small part falls within the London Borough of Waltham Forest...
, where he shared classes with comedy writer Sharat Sardana
Sharat Sardana
Sharat Sardana was a comedy writer who worked on TV series including Goodness Gracious Me and The Kumars at No. 42, which won 2 International Emmys....
and cricket captain Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain
Nasser Hussain OBE is a former Essex and England cricketer.Beginning his career in a strong Essex side in the late 1980s, he was an outstanding fielder and a stylish but inconsistent batsman. In first-class cricket from 1987 to 2004 Hussain scored 20,698 runs in 334 matches at an average of 42.06,...
.
Career
Following the completion of his studies at the Sylvia Young Theatre SchoolSylvia Young Theatre School
Sylvia Young Theatre School is an independent fee-paying stage school, in Westminster, London, named after its founder and Principal, Sylvia Young.-Outline:...
, Woodyatt took a small part in children's drama The Baker Street Boys
The Baker Street Boys
The Baker Street Boys is a British television series made by the BBC and first shown in 1983. The series is based around a gang of street urchins living in Victorian London who assist the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes in solving crimes and find themselves tackling cases of their...
. He then put his acting career on hiatus and worked as a butcher
Butcher
A butcher is a person who may slaughter animals, dress their flesh, sell their meat or any combination of these three tasks. They may prepare standard cuts of meat, poultry, fish and shellfish for sale in retail or wholesale food establishments...
in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
for a brief period, before joining the cast of the then fledgling soap opera EastEnders. Originally only supposed to be in EastEnders for a maximum of 1 year,
Woodyatt has also appeared as a guest personality on several BBC game shows and charity fundraisers, including A Question of Sport
A Question of Sport
A Question of Sport is a long-running BBC quiz show which started on 2 December 1968 and continues to this day. It is currently recorded at The Studios, MediaCityUK...
, Robot Wars
Robot Wars
Robot Wars is a British game show modelled on a US-based competition of the same name. It was broadcast on BBC Two from 1998 until 2003, with its final series broadcast on Five in 2003 and 2004. Additional series were filmed for specific sectors of the global market, including two series of Robot...
(Winning the show's Celebrity Special with the robot Pussycat) and Children in Need
Children in Need
Children in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...
.
Photography
Woodyatt is an accomplished photographer, a hobby he took up while performing On The Razzle at the National Theatre when he was 13 years old. In 2008 he won the Architectural Photographer of the year award of the SWPP BPPA Society with a picture he took at St PancrasSt Pancras, London
St Pancras is an area of London. For many centuries the name has been used for various officially-designated areas, but now is used informally and rarely having been largely superseded by several other names for overlapping districts.-Ancient parish:...
, where he was filming EastEnders.
Personal life
On 8 April 1998, Woodyatt married dancer Beverley Sharp in a private ceremony at Disney World, FloridaFlorida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. The couple have two children, and live in Southam
Southam
Southam is a small market town in the Stratford-on-Avon district of Warwickshire, England. The 2001 census recorded a population of 6,509 in the town.The nearest sizeable town to Southam is Leamington Spa, located roughly 7 miles to the west...
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
. Despite hailing from the south east of England, Woodyatt supports Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool F.C.
Liverpool Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Liverpool, Merseyside. Liverpool has won eighteen League titles, second most in English football, seven FA Cups and a record seven League Cups...
, and has a keen appreciation for sport.
An avid fan of science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
, he took part in a special BBC evening dedicated to Star Trek
Star Trek
Star Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
.
Charity
Inspired by his father's death that was caused by cancer aged 58, Woodyatt has helped raise money for various cancer research initiatives, and broke his collar bone in June 2003 whilst training for one such charity cycle ride.Woodyatt was also instrumental in launching an Aid for Haiti event at Coventry's Ricoh Arena
Ricoh Arena
The Ricoh Arena , home to Coventry City F.C., is a stadium complex situated in the Rowleys Green district of the city of Coventry, England containing a 32,609 seater football stadium, a 6,000 square-metre exhibition hall, a hotel, a leisure club, and a casino...
in February 2010, with many of his soap star colleagues posing for photographs, signing autographs, and providing items for an auction, which raised £30,000. Woodyatt is also a supporter of Warwickshire and Northamptonshire Air Ambulance.
Television
- The Witches and the GrinnygogThe Witches and the GrinnygogThe Witches and the Grinnygog is a children's novel by the writer Dorothy Edwards, published in 1981 and shortlisted for that year's Whitbread Prize for a children's book....
- (1983) - The Baker Street BoysThe Baker Street BoysThe Baker Street Boys is a British television series made by the BBC and first shown in 1983. The series is based around a gang of street urchins living in Victorian London who assist the legendary detective Sherlock Holmes in solving crimes and find themselves tackling cases of their...
(1983) - EastEndersEastEndersEastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
(1985–present) - EastEnders: E20EastEnders: E20EastEnders: E20 is a British Internet soap opera, which began airing on 8 January 2010. A spin-off from the established BBC soap EastEnders, it is set in EastEnders regular setting of Albert Square, a Victorian square in the fictional borough of Walford, in the East End of London...
(2010)
Theatre
- AladdinAladdinAladdin is a Middle Eastern folk tale. It is one of the tales in The Book of One Thousand and One Nights , and one of the most famous, although it was actually added to the collection by Antoine Galland ....
- Mother GooseMother GooseThe familiar figure of Mother Goose is an imaginary author of a collection of fairy tales and nursery rhymes which are often published as Mother Goose Rhymes. As a character, she appears in one "nursery rhyme". A Christmas pantomime called Mother Goose is often performed in the United Kingdom...
- CinderellaCinderella"Cinderella; or, The Little Glass Slipper" is a folk tale embodying a myth-element of unjust oppression/triumphant reward. Thousands of variants are known throughout the world. The title character is a young woman living in unfortunate circumstances that are suddenly changed to remarkable fortune...
- Oliver
Miscellaneous
- Children in NeedChildren in NeedChildren in Need is an annual British charity appeal organised by the BBC. Since 1980 it has raised over £500 million. The highlight of the Children in Need appeal is an annual telethon, held in November. A teddy bear named "Pudsey Bear" fronts the campaign, while Terry Wogan is a long...
- DreamhouseDreamhouseDream House was a Commodore 64 game created by Joyce Hakansson Associates, released in 1984 by CBS Electronics.-Game description:Dream House was an unusual game for its time: the player was designing and, afterwards, testing the house of his dreams. From the sinks to the wall colors, from the roof...
- The Kumars at No. 42The Kumars at No. 42The Kumars at No. 42 was a British television show. It won an International Emmy in 2002 and in 2003. It ran for seven series totalling 53 episodes.-Plot:...
- National LotteryNational Lottery (United Kingdom)The National Lottery is the state-franchised national lottery in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man.It is operated by Camelot Group, to whom the licence was granted in 1994, 2001 and again in 2007. The lottery is regulated by the National Lottery Commission, and was established by the then...
- A Question of SportA Question of SportA Question of Sport is a long-running BBC quiz show which started on 2 December 1968 and continues to this day. It is currently recorded at The Studios, MediaCityUK...
- Ready Steady CookReady Steady CookReady Steady Cook was a BBC daytime TV cooking programme it first debuted on 24 October 1994 and the last edition was broadcast on the 2 February 2010. The programme was hosted by Fern Britton from 1994 until 2000 when celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott became the new host...
- Robot WarsRobot Wars (TV series)Robot Wars is a British game show modelled on a US-based competition of the same name. It was broadcast on BBC Two from 1998 until 2003, with its final series broadcast on Five in 2003 and 2004. Additional series were filmed for specific sectors of the global market, including two series of Robot...
- Strictly Come DancingStrictly Come DancingStrictly Come Dancing is a British television show, featuring celebrities with professional dance partners competing in Ballroom and Latin dances. The title of the show suggests a continuation of the long-running series Come Dancing, with an allusion to the film Strictly Ballroom...
- They Think It's All OverThey Think It's All Over (TV series)They Think It's All Over was a British comedy panel game with a sporting theme produced by Talkback Thames and shown on BBC One. The show's name is taken from Kenneth Wolstenholme's famous 1966 World Cup commentary quotation, "they think it's all over...it is now!" and the show used the phrase as...
- The Weakest LinkThe Weakest LinkThe Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and will end its run in 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ends her contract. The original British version of the show airs around the world on BBC Entertainment...
- School's OutSchool's Out (TV series)School's Out was a BBC television series hosted by Danny Wallace. Based on the premise of school subjects, celebrity contestants are asked questions they would have been asked at school.-Rounds:...