John Lyons (actor)

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John Lyons
Born
John Lyons

(1943-09-14) 14 September 1943 (age 80)
OccupationActor
Years active1963–present
Known forA Touch of Frost

John Lyons (born 14 September 1943) is an English stage and screen actor. He played Bert Bill and Sid On The Buses and Detective Sergeant George Toolan in the long-running UK detective drama, A Touch of Frost (1992–2010) alongside David Jason.[1]

Early life

Lyons was born in

East 15. Lyons attended the drama school for three years after being accepted after an audition.[2]

Career

Lyons' first acting job out of drama school was in Catch Hand. After this, he worked consistently in many popular television series including On the Buses, Man About the House, George and Mildred, Doctor in Charge and UFO. Lyons also had a prominent role playing Detective Sgt. Jim Huke in a 1976 episode of The Sweeney and shortly after also appeared in the second film of the series.

Following appearances in Spooner's Patch, Bottle Boys and Upstairs Downstairs, in 1992, Lyons starred in the detective series A Touch of Frost opposite David Jason as DS George Toolan, a role he would play until the show's end in 2010. At the same time, Lyons also starred in Shameless, Spooks and Doctors, although he now mainly appears on stage.

Continuing his long and successful theatre career, in September 2005, Lyons joined the cast of the world's longest-running play, The Mousetrap, in London's West End. In 2015 and 2016, Lyons toured the UK in a stage adaptation of the BBC amateur detective series, Father Brown. He is, also, a regular performer in Pantomime throughout the country, and appeared in the role of "King Crumble" in Sleeping Beauty at the Marina Theatre, Lowestoft in December 2015. Lyons also appeared for the second time as special guest at a 43tv Retro TV Sweeney Meet in October 2016 in Hammersmith, London and gave an after dinner talk about his career in TV & Film.

In 2018, Lyons appeared in Ray Cooney's Caught in the Net and also in the new play The Eleventh Hour set in war time. For both the 2018/2019 and 2019/2020 Christmas season, Lyons appeared in pantomime at Bridlington Spa in Bridlington as "The King" in Jack and the Beanstalk and "Baron Hardup" in Cinderella respectively.[3]

Personal life

Born a true Cockney from the East End of London, Lyons had to take elocution lessons every morning at drama school to remove his accent.[4]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1973 Yellow Dog Homicidal Maniac
1978 Sweeney 2 Mead
1988 Action Jackson Yacht Guard
1990 Bullseye! Train Guard
1998 Blues Brothers 2000 Russian Thug

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1966–1967 United! Alan Murdoch 70 episodes
1971 Dr. Jekyll and Sister Hyde Second Sailor
1971–1973 On the Buses Bert / Sid / Bill 4 episodes
1975
Man About The House
Binman 1 episode
1976 The Sweeney DS Jim Huke 1 episode
1976–1979 George and Mildred Barman / Milkman / Decorator 3 episodes
1984–1985 The Bill Fire Investigation Officer / Fire Officer 2 episodes
1979 Spooner's Patch PC Killick 3 episodes
1988 The Nineteenth Hole Dennis 7 episodes
1992–2010 A Touch of Frost DS George Toolan 39 episodes

References

  1. ^ "David Jason's one last Frost prank". Belfast Telegraph. 30 March 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  2. ^ VickyP. "Celebrity Interview – John Lyons". Country Images Magazine. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  3. ^ "National Database of Pantomime Performance". www.pantoperformances.info. Retrieved 21 April 2021.
  4. ^ VickyP. "Celebrity Interview – John Lyons". Country Images Magazine. Retrieved 21 April 2021.

External links