Robert James-Collier (born 23 September 1976) (known professionally as Rob James-Collier) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Thomas Barrow in ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States o ...

'' and as

Liam Connor Liam Connor is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Rob James-Collier from 2006 to 2008. Storylines Liam first appeared on ''Coronation Street'' in August 2006 when he and nephew Ryan ( Ben ...

in '' Coronation Street''.

Early life

James-Collier was born in

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

, as Robert Collier, but changed his name to Robert James-Collier to comply with the rules of Equity and avoid confusion with another actor of that earlier name. He was educated at St Patrick's Roman Catholic High School in Eccles, Greater Manchester. He studied business at the

University of Huddersfield , mottoeng = Thus not for you alone , established = 1825 – Huddersfield Science and Mechanics' Institute1992 – university status , type = Public , endowment = £2.47 million (2015) , chancellor = George W. Buckley , vice_chancell ...

for his bachelor’s degree, and later obtained a master's degree in marketing at the

University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) was a university based in the centre of the city of Manchester in England. It specialised in technical and scientific subjects and was a major centre for research. On 1 Oct ...

Career

Acting

Having no experience as an actor, James-Collier auditioned for the series '' Down to Earth''. Stars

Ricky Tomlinson Eric "Ricky" Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Bobby Grant in '' Brookside'', DCI Charlie Wise in ''Cracker'' and Jim Royle in '' The Royle Family'', and playing the titular cha ...

and

Denise Welch Jacqueline Denise Welch (born 22 May 1958) is an English actress, television personality, writer and broadcaster. Her roles include Natalie Barnes in ''Coronation Street'' (1997–2000), Steph Haydock in '' Waterloo Road'' (2006–2010), and ...

were convinced by his talent, and he got the part of the womanising pub landlord. In 2006, he appeared in ''

New Street Law ''New Street Law'' is a British legal drama television series produced by Red Production Company in association with One-Eyed Dog Ltd for BBC One. The series was created by G. F. Newman and Matthew Hall, and starred an ensemble cast headed by ...

'' and played a small part as 'Stud' in '' Shameless'' series 3, episode 5 under the name of Rob Collier. In 2006, he joined ''Coronation Street'' as Liam Connor, buying a share of the Underworld factory with his brother Paul. He left the show in October 2008. In an interview in early-2008, he announced he would leave the soap but planned to return. However, in June 2008, it was reported that the character of Liam was set to be 'brutally' killed off as part of a murder-mystery plotline where three well-known residents fell under suspicion for the crime. After leaving ''Coronation Street'', he won a leading role as first footman (and later under-butler) Thomas Barrow in the historical drama series ''

'' (2010–2015), subsequently appearing in the franchise's two feature films, ''Downton Abbey'' (2019) and '' Downton Abbey: A New Era'' (2022). He also appeared in the West End stage version of ''

Calendar Girls ''Calendar Girls'' is a 2003 British comedy film directed by Nigel Cole. Produced by Touchstone Pictures, it features a screenplay by Tim Firth and Juliette Towhidi, based on a true story of a group of middle-aged Yorkshire women who produ ...

''. He played Kevin O'Dowd in ITV's 2016 crime drama, ''The Level''. In 2017, he starred in British horror film, '' The Ritual''; ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' described his performance as "a fierce screen presence." He had a principal role in the "Cold River" episode of ''Vera'', aired in 2018. In 2019, it was announced that he was cast in the third series of

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

school-drama ''

Ackley Bridge ''Ackley Bridge'' is a British comedy-drama series set in a multicultural academy school of the same name. The series is filmed in Halifax, West Yorkshire and it began broadcasting on Channel 4 on 7 June 2017. In the fourth series, ''Ackley B ...

'' as

Martin Evershed ''Ackley Bridge'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British television drama series that follows the lives of the staff and pupils at the fictional multi-cultural Academy (English school), academy school Ackley Bridge College. Ackley Bridg ...

Modelling

James-Collier modelled for

Argos Argos most often refers to: * Argos, Peloponnese, a city in Argolis, Greece ** Ancient Argos, the ancient city * Argos (retailer), a catalogue retailer operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland Argos or ARGOS may also refer to: Businesses ...

, where he appeared in the Autumn/Winter 2007 and Spring/Summer 2008 catalogues. He won the Sexiest Male award at the 2007 and 2008

British Soap Awards The British Soap Awards (BSAs) are an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom which honours the best moments in British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV and has been presented by Phillip Schofield since 2006. The trophies gi ...

in addition to "Best Exit" at the 2009

. He won Sexiest Male and Best Newcomer at the 2007 ''Inside Soap'' Awards.

Filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:James-Collier, Robert 1976 births 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the University of Salford Alumni of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology English male models English male soap opera actors English male stage actors Living people Actors from Stockport Alumni of the University of Huddersfield Male actors from Salford