Bill Dean
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Bill Dean was a British actor who was born in Everton, Liverpool, Lancashire. He was born Patrick Anthony Connolly, but took his stage name in honour of Everton football legend William 'Dixie' Dean. After a atring of jobs, it was his work as a Lancashire club comedian that saw him spotted by Ken Loach who gave him his breakthrough role in his TV play The Golden Vision. Famous for his flat but penetrating Scouse tones, Dean went on to star as miserable pensioner Harry Cross in the long running Channel 4 soap Brookside from its inception in 1983 to 1990. He briefly returned to the series in 1999 for three episodes, when his character re-appeared in Brookside Close suffering from Alzheimer's disease and wrongly believing that he still lived there. The same character was the inspiration behind the 1980s group 'Jegsy Dodd and the sons of Harry Cross' who hailed from the Wirral and Dean himself appeared in the video of the Liverpudlian band The Farm's Groovy Train as Cross, who was a former train driver. He did of a heart attack aged 78 in 2000.
Known for
Credits
Priest (1995)
as Altar Boy
Scum (1979)
as Mr Duke
Kes (1970)
as Fish and Chip Shop Man
The Mirror Crack'd (1980)
as Man in Village Hall (uncredited)
Night Watch (1973)
as Inspector Walker
Let Him Have It (1991)
as Foreman of the Jury
Rising Damp (1980)
as Workman
Going Gently (1981)
as Painter
Gumshoe (1971)
as Tommy Wright
Family Life (1971)
as Mr. Baildon
Speech Day (1973)
as George
Flame (1975)
as Club Owner (uncredited)
Slayground (1983)
as Compere
Hillsborough (1996)
as Additional Cast
The Best Pair of Legs in the Business (1973)
as Bert
Skallagrigg (1994)
as Old Man
Beasts: What Big Eyes (1976)
as Duggie Jeb
Break In (1975)
as Dixie
Night People (1978)
as Ted
The Big Flame (1969)
as Landlord
Bank Holiday (1972)
as Father
Waiting at the Field Gate (1975)
as Ted
A Turn for the Worse (1981)
as (voice)
Brookside: Friday the 13th (1998)
as Harold Cross
The Rank and File (1971)
as Billy
Roll On Four O'Clock (1970)
as Arthur Foster
Freedom of the Dig (1978)
as Sid
Bag of Yeast (1976)
as Teddy
In Sickness and in Health (1975)
as Mr Jackson
Match of the Day (1974)
as Father
The Golden Vision (1968)
as John Coyne