Brian Capron (born 11 February 1947) is an English actor who trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. He is best known for his role as

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

, Richard Hillman, in the long-running ITV

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

, ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based ...

'', from 2001 to 2003. He had previously appeared in the series as the social worker Donald Worthington in 1981–1982, 1986.

Background

Capron first came to public attention through his role of the teacher, Mr Stuart "Hoppy" Hopwood in '' Grange Hill'' from 1980–1983. In 1984, he appeared as Fred, one of a pair of

confidence trick A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers ha ...

sters in the '' Minder'' episode ''Around the Corner.'' Also that year, he appeared in '' The Gentle Touch'' episode "Do It Yourself" as lead character Maggie Forbes' gay hairdresser Toby. He also acted in BBC

'' EastEnders'', playing

Jerry McKenzie The following is a list of characters that first appeared in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'' in 1993, by order of first appearance. 1994 was a historic year for ''EastEnders'', as in April, a third weekly episode was introduced. Due to the p ...

from 1993–1994. He played the guest role of Andrew Donelson in '' Taggart'' in the episode "A Fistful of Chips", in 1999. He was cast as

George Godley George Albert Godley (31 October 1857 – 20 July 1941) was a police officer of the Metropolitan Police who was involved in the hunt for Jack the Ripper in 1888.Begg, Fido, and Skinner ''The Jack the Ripper A-Z'' Born at East Grinstead in Sus ...

in ''

Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer ...

'' (1988), with Barry Foster as Inspector Frederick Abberline, and the two started filming in October 1987. It was later decided to recast with Michael Caine as Abberline and Lewis Collins as Godley in order to attract larger audiences in the United States. Other notable TV credits include: ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by the BBC, it debut ...

'', ''

Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' was a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 19 ...

,'' '' Angels'', '' The Sweeney'', '' Blake's 7'', '' Tales of the Unexpected'', '' Full House'', '' Shoestring'', '' Bergerac'', '' Casualty'', ''

Birds of a Feather ''Birds of a Feather'' is a British sitcom originally broadcast on BBC One from 16 October 1989 to 24 December 1998, then revived on ITV from 2 January 2014 to 24 December 2020. The series stars Pauline Quirke and Linda Robson, with Lesley Jos ...

'', '' Murder Most Horrid'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'', '' Taggart'', '' Peak Practice'', '' Judge John Deed'', '' Crocodile Shoes'', and '' Where the Heart Is'' and “ Emmerdale Farm”. His feature film appearances have included roles in ''

Emma Emma may refer to: * Emma (given name) Film * Emma (1932 film), ''Emma'' (1932 film), a comedy-drama film by Clarence Brown * Emma (1996 theatrical film), ''Emma'' (1996 theatrical film), a film starring Gwyneth Paltrow * Emma (1996 TV film), '' ...

'' (1996), ''

101 Dalmatians 101 Dalmatians may refer to: * ''The Hundred and One Dalmatians'', a 1956 novel written by Dodie Smith * 101 Dalmatians (franchise), a Disney film franchise based on the novel ** ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'', a 1961 animated film based on the ...

'' (1996), '' Still Crazy'' (1998) and ''Ambleton Delight'' (2009). In ''The Bill'' he played Antionio Mancini, a husband who is always rowing and fighting his wife Joanna. Capron played this role twice, firstly in the series 4 episode "Trouble & Strife" and later on in the series 5 episode "Out to Lunch". In the Series 8 episode "Tip off", he played a prisoner, Keith Grounds. He has also played narrator in '' The Rocky Horror Show'' in London's West End, alongside Suzanne Shaw, in January 2007. In 2007, Capron played Nathan Detroit on the '' Guys and Dolls'' tour, opposite Claire Sweeney. In September 2007, Capron was announced as one of the contestants to take part in the fifth series of '' Strictly Come Dancing''. He was partnered by Karen Hardy, who was Series 4 champion with cricketer Mark Ramprakash. After finishing in last place on the first show, he found himself in the dance-off along with Kenny Logan, but the judges voted in favour of saving Logan and Capron was eliminated from the show.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Capron, Brian 1947 births Living people English male soap opera actors English male film actors English male stage actors People from Eye, Suffolk Male actors from Suffolk Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art English people of Algerian descent English people of French descent