Steven Houghton (born 16 February 1971) is a British actor and singer. He is known for appearing in the ITV drama series '' London's Burning'' and for releasing a cover of the song "

Wind Beneath My Wings "Wind Beneath My Wings" (sometimes titled "The Wind Beneath My Wings" and "Hero") is a song written in 1982 by Americans Jeff Silbar and Larry Henley. The song was first recorded by Australian singer Kamahl in 1982 for a country and western albu ...

", famously sung by

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

, in 1997.

Early life, career and family

Born in Barnsley,

West Riding The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The lieutenancy at that time included the city of York a ...

, Houghton trained at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. His first West End production was ''

Children of Eden ''Children of Eden'' is a 1991 musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John Caird. The musical is based on the Book of Genesis, with Act I telling the story of Adam and Eve, and Cain and Abel, while Act II deals with N ...

''. Additional

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

credits include ''

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

'', '' Hot Mikado'', ''

Martin Guerre Martin Guerre (), a French peasant of the 16th century, was at the centre of a famous case of imposture. Several years after Martin Guerre had left his wife, child and village, a man claiming to be him appeared. He lived with Guerre's wife a ...

'', '' Blood Brothers'' and ''

Spend Spend Spend ''Spend Spend Spend'' is a musical with book and lyrics by Steve Brown and Justin Greene and music by Brown. The musical is inspired by the life of Viv Nicholson. Productions Original Leeds production (1998) ''Spend Spend Spend'' premiered ...

'', for which he was nominated for the

Laurence Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply The Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognize excellence in West End theatre, professional theatre in London. The awards were originally known as the Society of We ...

. He has toured the UK in '' Grease'', ''

Miss Saigon ''Miss Saigon'' is a sung-through musical theatre, stage musical by Claude-Michel Schönberg and Alain Boublil, with lyrics by Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr. It is based on Giacomo Puccini's 1904 opera ''Madama Butterfly'', and similarly tells th ...

'' and ''

Annie Get Your Gun Annie may refer to: People and fictional characters * Annie (given name), a given name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Annie (Malayalam actress) (born 1975), Indian actress who works in Malayalam-language films * ...

''. Houghton's

television Television (TV) is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. Additionally, the term can refer to a physical television set rather than the medium of transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

credits include regular roles in '' London's Burning'', '' Bugs'', ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

'' and ''

Bernard's Watch ''Bernard's Watch'' (informally known as ''Bernard'' in the reboot series) is a British children's drama series about a young boy who could stop time with a magical pocket watch. The show was created by Andrew Norriss and was produced for seve ...

'', a guest role in ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' and an appearance on French National Television singing the title role in ''

The Phantom of the Opera The Phantom of the Opera may refer to: Novel * The Phantom of the Opera (novel), ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (novel), 1910 novel by Gaston Leroux Characters * Erik (The Phantom of the Opera), Erik (''The Phantom of the Opera''), the title char ...

''. Houghton spent time in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

playing several roles in a film workshop for new and established directors, including

Stephen Frears Sir Stephen Arthur Frears (born 20 June 1941) is a British director and producer of film and television, often depicting real life stories as well as projects that explore social class through sharply-drawn characters. He has received numerous a ...

and

Jude Kelly Judith "Jude" Pamela Kelly, (born March 1954), is a British theatre director and producer. She is a director of the WOW Foundation, which organises the annual Women of the World Festival, founded in 2010 by Kelly. From 2006 to 2018, she was ...

. He is also patron of Footloose Stage School. In January 2011, it was revealed he would join the cast of ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'' as a love interest for

Sally Webster Sally Webster (also Seddon and Metcalfe) is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', portrayed by Sally Dynevor. The character first appeared on-screen during the episode airing on 27 January 1986, when Kev ...

. His first appearance on screen was in February 2011 and his last on 4 November 2011.

Filmography

TV

Music career

In 1997, Houghton released his eponymous debut album for BMG/RCA, which sold 200,000 copies and earned him a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. The first single from the album, a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

of the song "

", reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart, while his rendition of

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of the Motown group Commodores; writing and recor ...

's 1982 song " Truly" reached #23 in 1998. Houghton was also the first winner of a ''

Stars in Their Eyes ''Stars in Their Eyes'' is a British television talent series, based on Joop van den Ende's Dutch format '' Soundmixshow''. It featured a singing contest in which members of the public impersonate showbiz stars. The show premiered on 21 Ju ...

'' celebrity episode, impersonating

Tony Hadley Anthony Patrick Hadley (born 2 June 1960) is an English pop singer. He rose to fame in the 1980s as the lead singer of the New wave music, new wave band Spandau Ballet and launched a solo career following the group's split in 1990. Hadley retur ...

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet ( ) were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids (New Romantics), ...

and singing the hit song "

Gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Houghton, Steven 1971 births Living people English male stage actors English male musical theatre actors English male soap opera actors English pop singers English male singers People educated at Penistone Grammar School Male actors from Barnsley