Antony Audenshaw (born 13 January 1965) is an English actor and singer. Audenshaw appeared in the

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 ...

soap opera ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Bro ...

'' from 1994 to 1996). Then in 2000, he began portraying the role of

Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

on the ITV soap opera ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

''. For his portrayal of the role, he received a nomination for Most Popular Newcomer at the 7th National Television Awards.

Life and career

Audenshaw was born in Denton,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

on 13 January 1965. In 1993, Audenshaw married wife Ruth, and the pair had two children together before her death in 2017. Audenshaw began both his acting and music careers on stage whilst performing songs and sketches that he had written, later taking part in

amateur theatre Amateur theatre, also known as amateur dramatics, is theatre performed by amateur actors and singers. Amateur theatre groups may stage plays, revues, musicals, light opera, pantomime or variety shows, and do so for the social activity as well as f ...

productions. Whilst trying to make it as an actor, he had a job at

Thorpe Park Thorpe Park, formerly also known as Thorpe Park Resort, is a theme park located in the village of Thorpe between the towns of Chertsey and Staines-upon-Thames in Surrey, England, southwest of Central London. It is operated by Merlin Entertai ...

and slept in his car on the car park since he could not afford accommodation. Between 1994 and 1996, he played the recurring role of PC Ian Coban in the

soap ''

''. His ''Emmerdale'' debut was in 1996, when he played the part of security guard Acky. He later appeared as

in 2000 and he has been a cast member since. For his portrayal of the role, he received a nomination for Most Popular Newcomer at the 7th National Television Awards. In December 2006, he appeared as himself alongside other members of the ''Emmerdale'' cast on a celebrity version of the TV show ''

Family Fortunes ''Family Fortunes'' is a British television game show based on the American game show ''Family Feud''. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 6 December 2002. A celebrity version, '' All Star Family Fortunes'', followed from 2006 to ...

'', and in 2009, he appeared in and won an episode of '' Celebrity Mastermind''. His specialist subject was birds. Audenshaw has completed numerous

London Marathon The London Marathon (also known as the TCS London Marathon for sponsorship reasons) is an annual marathon held in London, England. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically held in April, although it moved to Oct ...

s, and in 2010, he broke the

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...

for the fastest time set by a runner dressed as a baby, when he completed the London Marathon in 3 hours and 13 minutes. He ran the Robin Hood Marathon in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

on Sunday 12 September 2010 in 3 hours 54 minutes and 29 seconds. Audenshaw often runs in fancy dress for the charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. On 17 April 2011, Audenshaw ran the 2011 London Marathon in 3 hours and 18 minutes dressed as a fairy. He has presented a feature called Tony's Trials on the weekly running podcast ''Marathon Talk''. Audenshaw is the lead singer of a band called White Van Man, who released "Viva Englandia" in support of England's

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

campaign. Since his wife died from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

, Audenshaw raised £4100 for Pancreatic Cancer UK on '' Celebrity Catchphrase'' in March 2022.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Audenshaw, Tony 1964 births 21st-century English male singers 21st-century English singers Actors from Tameside (district) English male film actors English male soap opera actors English male stage actors English male television actors Living people Male actors from Lancashire People from Denton, Greater Manchester