Anthony Flanagan (born 11 April 1972 as Tony Bonello) is an English actor most widely known for his portrayal of policeman Tony in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

's comedy-drama series '' Shameless''.

Biography

Flanagan was born in

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

. At school he was called Anthony Bonello. After leaving Grange Comprehensive School, in Oldham, he worked as a joiner. At 16 he went to London, taking on occasional odd jobs and for a time slept on the streets. Flanagan has described this as "a very bad period".Edmonds, Richard (3 July 2001
"Walking the streets to treading the boards"
'' Birmingham Post'' (Retrieved: 6 March 2010) Flanagan decided to become an actor after seeing a friend of his sister perform at RADA."Screen life: Anthony Flanagan"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'', 28 February 2007 (Retrieved: 6 March 2010) Flanagan studied at Oldham College and Capitol Theatre in Manchester (now Manchester Metropolitan University) after a year of unemployment. Flanagan's first professional job was in a lead role at the RSC (

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

) in the 2001/02 season, playing Pat Harford in Peter Whelan's play ''A Russian in the Woods''. (Flanagan would later reflect on the experience of appearing on stage naked.) This led to a collaboration with writer and theatre critic Richard Edmonds on a one-man show on the life of Baudelaire entitled ''King of a Rainy Country''. Notable work includes roles series in '' Shameless'', ''

Vincent Vincent (Latin: ''Vincentius'') is a masculine given name originating from the Roman name ''Vincentius'', which itself comes from the Latin verb ''vincere'', meaning "to conquer." People with the given name Artists *Vincent Apap (1909–2003) ...

'', '' Cracker'' (where his roles as Kenny Archer in the 2006 TV film was almost universally praised despite mixed critical reaction to the comeback show itself), ''

Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no conclusive evidence of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that ...

'', '' Foyle's War'', ''All About George'', '' Casualty'', ''

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 '' ...

'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'', '' Spooks'', '' Spooks: Code 9'', ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', ''

Survivors Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

'' and ''

Red Riding ''Red Riding'' is a British crime drama limited series written by Tony Grisoni and based on the book series of the same name by David Peace. The series comprises the novels ''Nineteen Seventy-Four'' (1999), ''Nineteen Seventy-Seven'' (2000), ...

''. He played his first major lead role in the short serial ''

Instinct Instinct is the inherent inclination of a living organism towards a particular complex behaviour, containing innate (inborn) elements. The simplest example of an instinctive behaviour is a fixed action pattern (FAP), in which a very short to me ...

'', broadcast in February 2007 and was due to appear in the West End in ''

Glengarry Glen Ross ''Glengarry Glen Ross'' is a 1983 stage play written by the American playwright David Mamet. It is a two-act tragedy that depicts two days in the lives of four desperate Chicago real estate agents who are prepared to engage in any number of un ...

'' in October 2007 but withdrew due to 'personal reasons'.Mendick, Robert (10 October 2007
"Opening night cancelled as actor pulls out"
'' ThisIsLondon.co.uk'' (Retrieved: 6 March 2010)Nathan, John (8 October 2007
"Flanagan Withdraws from London Glengarry; Opening Night Delayed"
''PlayBill.com'' (Retrieved: 6 March 2010) Flanagan appeared in the

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...

docudrama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television show, television and feature film, film, which features Drama (film and television), dramatized Historical reenactment, re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of docu ...

Heroes and Villains "Heroes and Villains" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from their 1967 album ''Smiley Smile'' and their unfinished ''Smile (The Beach Boys album), Smile'' project. Written by Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks, Wilson envisioned ...

'' as

Spartacus Spartacus (; ) was a Thracians, Thracian gladiator (Thraex) who was one of the Slavery in ancient Rome, escaped slave leaders in the Third Servile War, a major Slave rebellion, slave uprising against the Roman Republic. Historical accounts o ...

, first broadcast in 2008. He breaks the character of 'virile Roman hero' and appears full of doubt, irascible and Shakespearean. The series was successful in Europe and the United States, and was noted for the credibility of its historic sources. He took on the role of villain Dexter in BBC's ''

'' (2009–10); the character is killed in series 2 episode 3 (BBC later announced that the shooting of season 3 would be cancelled). In 2009 he played the dogged but doomed journalist Barry Gannon in ''

''; set in 1974, it is the first film in the Red Riding Trilogy. Initially a

series, the trilogy has been successful all over the world, and regularly featured on the European film festival circuit, winning many awards. Flanagan was scheduled to appear in the film ''Acts of Godfrey'', which filmed in early 2010; however, he didn't appear due to theatre commitments. He briefly appears in ''

Glorious 39 ''Glorious 39'' is a 2009 British war thriller film written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff, starring Romola Garai, Bill Nighy, Julie Christie, Jeremy Northam, Christopher Lee, David Tennant, Jenny Agutter, Eddie Redmayne and Charlie Cox. Th ...

'' (2009), a British production written and directed by

Stephen Poliakoff Stephen Poliakoff (born 1 December 1952) is a British playwright, Film director, director and screenwriter. In 2006 Gerard Gilbert of ''The Independent'' described him as the UK's "pre-eminent TV dramatist" and that he had "inherited Dennis Po ...

. 2010 was the year of Flanagan's theatre comeback. The ex-RSC came to the for a new adaptation of

Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; ; 29 January 1860 – 15 July 1904) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer, widely considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career as a playwright produced four classics, and his b ...

's '' Cherry Orchard'' beside Josie Lawrence, where his performance was very well received. In 2011, Flanagan played the role of Steve in ''Life on the Line'', a short film by Jamie Donaghue. He also played in ITV's BAFTA award-winning drama ''

Appropriate Adult In English law, an appropriate adult is a parent, guardian or social worker; or if no person matching this is available, any responsible person over 18. The term was introduced as part of the policing reforms in the Police and Criminal Evidence A ...

'' as Mike playing opposite

Emily Watson Emily Margaret Watson (born 14 January 1967) is an English actress. She began her career on stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1992. In 2002, she starred in productions of ''Twelfth Night'' and ''Uncle Vanya'' at the Donmar Ware ...

, who won a BAFTA for Best Leading Actress for her role as Janet Leech in the same film. In 2012 Flanagan appeared as Fergus in Series 4 of '' Being Human''. He then appeared as Andy in Julie Gearey's '' Prisoners' Wives'', a BBC One drama about how women deal with life after their husbands and families are sent to prison. Also in 2012 Flanagan returned as a Detective Chief Inspector in BBC One's ''

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC that focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. The series was created by Nigel McCrery, a former murder squa ...

'' to play D.C.I. Ronson. In 2012 Flanagan worked and appeared in three films: *He plays the Recruiting Sergeant in ''

Private Peaceful ''Private Peaceful'' is a novel for older children by British author Michael Morpurgo first published in 2003. It is about a fictional young soldier called Thomas "Tommo" Peaceful, who is looking back on his life so far and his going to war. ...

'', based on

Michael Morpurgo Sir Michael Andrew Bridge Morpurgo ('' né'' Bridge; 5 October 1943) is an English book author, poet, playwright, and librettist who is known best for children's novels such as '' War Horse'' (1982). His work is noted for its "magical storytelli ...

's novel of the same name, which was adapted for the screen by Simon Readeand and was directed by Pat O'Connor. *He appears in Kadri Kousaar's film ''The Arbiter'' as Mickey. *He played the title role in Klaus Huttmann's feature film ''The List''. Flanagan plays Arnold Hankin, a self-made successful businessman, in '' The Village'', broadcast on BBC One in 2013 and 2014 – an epic drama charting the turbulent times of one English village. The six-part series was directed by

Antonia Bird Antonia Jane Bird, FRSA (27 May 1951 – 24 October 2013Kate Hardi"Antonia Bird obituary" ''The Guardian'', 28 October 2013) was an English producer and director of television drama and feature films. Career In 1968, at the age of 17, Bird beg ...

, who directed Flanagan once before in '' Cracker'', and also by

Gillies MacKinnon Gillies MacKinnon (born 8 January 1948) is a Scotland, Scottish film director, screenplay, writer and painting, painter. He was born in Glasgow and attended the Glasgow School of Art where he studied mural painting. Following this he became an a ...

."''The Village'' Press Pack"
BBC Press Office, 19 March 2013. Retrieved 19 March 2013. Flanagan can be seen in

Jimmy McGovern James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He als ...

's '' Moving On'' and in the second series of ''Shetland'', shown on BBC One in 2014.

Personal life

He is married to actress

Rebekah Staton Rebekah Staton is an English actress and narrator. She has had roles in '' Pulling'' (2006–2009), ''Doctor Who'' (2007), ''Rome'' (2007), ''Wallander'' (2011), ''Black Mirror'' (2011), '' Raised by Wolves'' (2013–2016), '' DanTDM Creates a Bi ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Anthony Flanagan's profile at Hobson's International Voice OversAnthony Flanagan Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flanagan, Anthony 1972 births Living people Male actors from Stockport Alumni of Manchester Metropolitan University English male television actors