Ben Watton (born 28 July 1995) is an English child actor and drummer for Galaxy Thief from

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England.Leitch, Luke, and Baracaia, Alexa (27 July 2004). "New Mary Poppins will have her work cut out: Young actors share roles of Jane and Michael in £9M West End musical", ''

Evening Standard The ''London Standard'', formerly the ''Evening Standard'' (1904–2024) and originally ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), is a long-established regional newspaper published weekly and distributed free newspaper, free of charge in London, Engl ...

'', p. 3.

Theatre

Ben Watton's first professional stage appearance was at the age of 6, appearing as a mini Bobby Ball opposite the comedians Cannon and Ball in ''A Night of a Thousand Laughs'' at the Pavilion Theatre in Bournemouth. At age 7, he was chosen to play Tiny Tim in a new musical adaptation of '' Scrooge'' with Jakes Ladder Theatre Company, a small professional company, at Bryanston Arts Centre in Blandford and at the Tivoli Theatre in Wimborne, under the direction of Steve Eaton-Evans. At age 8, he played Michael Darling in a Michael Rose musical production of ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

'' at the Lighthouse,

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

, alongside

Matthew Kelly Matthew Kelly (born David Allan Kelly, 9 May 1950) is an English actor and television presenter. Having been trained as a theatre actor, he first came to public prominence as a television sitcom actor, game-show panellist and television prese ...

, Tracey Childs and

Michael Medwin Michael Hugh Medwin (18 July 1923 – 26 February 2020) was an English actor and film producer. Life and career Medwin was born in London. He was educated at Canford School, Dorset, and the Institute Fischer, Montreux, Switzerland. He first ...

, under the direction of Michael Rose and David Morgan. Watton made his West End debut aged 9, having been chosen at age 8 from nationwide open auditions to play Michael Banks in the original cast of the

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

Cameron Mackintosh Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh (born 17 October 1946) is a British theatrical producer and theatre owner notable for his association with many commercially successful musicals. At the height of his success in 1990, he was described as being "t ...

musical ''

Mary Poppins Mary Poppins may refer to: * Mary Poppins (character), a nanny with magical powers * Mary Poppins (franchise), based on the fictional nanny ** Mary Poppins (book series), ''Mary Poppins'' (book series), the original 1934–1988 children's fanta ...

'', appearing at both the Bristol Hippodrome and the

Prince Edward Theatre The Prince Edward Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Old Compton Street, just north of Leicester Square, in the City of Westminster, London. History The theatre was designed in 1930 by Edward A. Stone, with an interior designed by Mar ...

in the West End, under the direction of Richard Eyre and Matthew Bourne. He appeared in November 2005 as the Court Jester in the world premiere of ''George and the Fairytale'', a play co-written and directed by the actress Sandra Dickinson and her partner Mark Osmond. In 2006-2007 he played the juvenile lead in ''Robin Hood & The Babes In The Wood'' for UK Productions, at the Pavilion Theatre in Bournemouth. He is also an accomplished drummer. On 9 January 2014, Watton joined the Bournemouth-based Mod band The Generation. He was a member of Bournemouth-based rock/pop cover band Mr Wiseguy between 2013 and 2016, and is now the drummer for the up-and-coming rock/indie/pop band Galaxy Thief.

Film and television

Watton's TV credits include the part of Andrew in the

CBBC CBBC is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content for children aged 6 to 12. Its sister c ...

drama ''Living It'', the part of Fernando in Series 7 of the popular children's sitcom ''

My Parents Are Aliens ''My Parents Are Aliens'' is a British children's television sitcom that was produced for eight series by ITV Yorkshire, Yorkshire Television and aired on ITV (TV network), ITV from 8 November 1999 to 18 December 2006. Overview The show primar ...

'', and the part of Peter Masterson in the long-running BBC hospital-drama ''Casualty''. He was also chosen to appear in a lead role in a performed reading of the pilot of a new children's sitcom, performed at a live

Granada TV ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend Television was its ...

Showcase in London, and also featured in the 2006 ''Are You There Yet?''

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

ident. He was involved in a script reading at Elstree Studios of the feature film ''Rocket Boy'', reading the principal role of Davey. He has appeared in 14 short films, taking the leading role in five. Watton also appears in leading roles in two separate series of educational DVDs, both now being used in various European countries to teach English to foreign students.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Watton, Ben English male child actors English male stage actors English male television actors 1995 births Living people English drummers Male actors from Bournemouth Musicians from Bournemouth