Des Coleman
Encyclopedia
Desune "Des" Coleman is a British
actor
and presenter. He has appeared in numerous stage musicals, but is best known for playing the role of Lenny Wallace
in BBC
's EastEnders
. In 2007 he became the weatherman
for BBC's East Midlands Today
but was sacked in 2011 for breaching on-air guidelines.
after leaving school aged 16, before deciding to pursue a career in performing. He attended the Guildford School of Acting
in Surrey
, and after graduating in 1993 he worked as a singer in Germany for six months in the stage musical Chicago
. He then landed a starring role in the musical Miss Saigon
.
In 1996 he was cast as wideboy Lenny Wallace
in the BBC soap opera
EastEnders. His first television job, Coleman remained with the soap until 1999. His television work post EastEnders has included: Is Harry on the Boat?
(2001); Casualty (2003); The Bill
(2004), and Doctors
(2004; 2006). He also appeared in the 2001 film Submerged with Sam Neill
. On stage he has appeared in London’s West End's Rent
, Simply Heavenly, and understudied the lead in Trevor Nunn
’s musical opera Porgy and Bess
. Currently, Des works on The One Show
as a reporter.
Coleman has worked for BBC Radio Derby
, where he was asked to do the weather report at the Broadcast Centre in Nottingham
. This led to a career change. He trained as a weather presenter and in 2007 he began presenting for BBC's East Midlands Today
television. The BBC terminated his contract in 2011 after Coleman used a live weather report to protest his innocence over firearm charges; he deliberately put the wrong temperature on the weather map and told viewers they should not believe everything said by the media.
in the 1960s - his father worked on the railways, while his mother Joan studied to become a nurse. Coleman has two sons, one named Lewis by his ex Sandra Griffin, and another to his later girlfriend Jane.
Coleman spent time in prison in his twenties for motoring offences. While at acting school, Coleman was diagnosed with cancer on his neck, a serious strain of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was admitted to the Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford for a life saving operation to remove a malignant tumour, and was forced to undergo more surgery when more tumours developed on his face shortly after. He underwent a course of radiotherapy and as of 2008 is in remission.
In 2010, Coleman was arrested and charged for allegedly pointing an imitation firearm at another driver on a motorway. Coleman denied the charges. In April 2011, Coleman was "completely exonerated" of the allegations. According to the Judge at the court hearing, prosecution acted "negligently", having not discovered details of past convictions of the prosecuting witness. The witness had four incidents of road rage since 2009, and in one instance, threatened another motorist with a knife. The judge suggested the case should not have come to trial and ordered that a transcript of the proceedings be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions..
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
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 presenter. He has appeared in numerous stage musicals, but is best known for playing the role of Lenny Wallace
Lenny Wallace
Lenny Wallace is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Desune Coleman.Lenny was a fun loving individual, who didn't take life too seriously. He had a penchant for loud music and an eye for the ladies.- Storylines :...
in 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...
's 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...
. In 2007 he became the weatherman
Weather forecasting
Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a given location. Human beings have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia, and formally since the nineteenth century...
for BBC's East Midlands Today
East Midlands Today
East Midlands Today is the BBC's regional television news programme for its East Midlands region, which covers Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, and the Grantham and Stamford areas of Lincolnshire....
but was sacked in 2011 for breaching on-air guidelines.
Career
Coleman worked as a welderWelder
A welder is a tradesman who specializes in welding materials together. The materials to be joined can be metals or varieties of plastic or polymer...
after leaving school aged 16, before deciding to pursue a career in performing. He attended the Guildford School of Acting
Guildford School of Acting
Guildford School of Acting is a drama school located in Guildford, Surrey, England. It is an affiliate of the University of Surrey and is an accredited member of the National Council for Drama Training and The Conference of Drama Schools.-Overview:...
in Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, and after graduating in 1993 he worked as a singer in Germany for six months in the stage musical Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
. He then landed a starring role in the musical Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon
Miss Saigon is a musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby, Jr.. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly, and similarly tells the tragic tale of a doomed romance involving an Asian woman abandoned by her American lover...
.
In 1996 he was cast as wideboy Lenny Wallace
Lenny Wallace
Lenny Wallace is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Desune Coleman.Lenny was a fun loving individual, who didn't take life too seriously. He had a penchant for loud music and an eye for the ladies.- Storylines :...
in the BBC 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. His first television job, Coleman remained with the soap until 1999. His television work post EastEnders has included: Is Harry on the Boat?
Is Harry on the Boat?
Is Harry on the Boat? was a 2001 British made for TV film, based on the lives of holiday reps in Ibiza. A television drama series then followed, airing on Sky One from 2002 to 2003.-Background:It's based on the book of the same name by Colin Butts...
(2001); Casualty (2003); The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
(2004), and Doctors
Doctors (BBC Soap Opera)
Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...
(2004; 2006). He also appeared in the 2001 film Submerged with Sam Neill
Sam Neill
Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill, DCNZM, OBE is a New Zealand actor. He is well known for his starring role as paleontologist Dr Alan Grant in Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III....
. On stage he has appeared in London’s West End's Rent
Rent (musical)
Rent is a rock musical with music and lyrics by Jonathan Larson based on Giacomo Puccini's opera La bohème...
, Simply Heavenly, and understudied the lead in Trevor Nunn
Trevor Nunn
Sir Trevor Robert Nunn, CBE is an English theatre, film and television director. Nunn has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed musicals and dramas for the stage, as well as opera...
’s musical opera Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess
Porgy and Bess is an opera, first performed in 1935, with music by George Gershwin, libretto by DuBose Heyward, and lyrics by Ira Gershwin and DuBose Heyward. It was based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and subsequent play of the same title, which he co-wrote with his wife Dorothy Heyward...
. Currently, Des works on The One Show
The One Show
The One Show is a topical magazine-style daily television programme broadcast live on BBC One and BBC One HD, hosted by Alex Jones and Matt Baker. Chris Evans joins Jones to present the programme on Friday...
as a reporter.
Coleman has worked for BBC Radio Derby
BBC Radio Derby
BBC Radio Derby is the BBC Local Radio station for the English county of Derbyshire, covering all but the northern tip of the county, and also serves eastern Staffordshire, mainly Uttoxeter and Burton upon Trent. The station broadcasts from its studios in Derby on 104.5, 95.3 and 96.0 FM and 1116...
, where he was asked to do the weather report at the Broadcast Centre in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
. This led to a career change. He trained as a weather presenter and in 2007 he began presenting for BBC's East Midlands Today
East Midlands Today
East Midlands Today is the BBC's regional television news programme for its East Midlands region, which covers Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, and the Grantham and Stamford areas of Lincolnshire....
television. The BBC terminated his contract in 2011 after Coleman used a live weather report to protest his innocence over firearm charges; he deliberately put the wrong temperature on the weather map and told viewers they should not believe everything said by the media.
Personal life
Coleman, one of six children, grew up in Derby. His parents came from JamaicaJamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
in the 1960s - his father worked on the railways, while his mother Joan studied to become a nurse. Coleman has two sons, one named Lewis by his ex Sandra Griffin, and another to his later girlfriend Jane.
Coleman spent time in prison in his twenties for motoring offences. While at acting school, Coleman was diagnosed with cancer on his neck, a serious strain of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. He was admitted to the Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford for a life saving operation to remove a malignant tumour, and was forced to undergo more surgery when more tumours developed on his face shortly after. He underwent a course of radiotherapy and as of 2008 is in remission.
In 2010, Coleman was arrested and charged for allegedly pointing an imitation firearm at another driver on a motorway. Coleman denied the charges. In April 2011, Coleman was "completely exonerated" of the allegations. According to the Judge at the court hearing, prosecution acted "negligently", having not discovered details of past convictions of the prosecuting witness. The witness had four incidents of road rage since 2009, and in one instance, threatened another motorist with a knife. The judge suggested the case should not have come to trial and ordered that a transcript of the proceedings be sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions..