Craig Gazey (born 24 February 1982) is a British stage and television actor, best known for his portrayal of

Graeme Proctor Graeme Proctor is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Portrayed by Craig Gazey, the character first appeared on-screen during the episode airing on 18 April 2008. The character is also noted for his e ...

in the ITV soap ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

''.

Early life

Gazey attended Our Lady's Roman Catholic High School in

Royton Royton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, with a population of 21,284 in 2011. Close to the source of the River Irk, near undulating land at the foothills of the South Pennines, it is northwest of Ol ...

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

. His family remain living in the surrounding area. He attended Eggbuckland Community College through until 1998, where he left to attend City College Plymouth, studying BTEC National Diploma in Performing Arts. After this, he went on to study acting at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, which he graduated in 2005.

Career

Gazey made numerous stage appearances before gaining his TV break, notably in the role of Launcelot Gobbo in a

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a Theater (structure), theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 at Southwark, close to the south bank of the Thames, by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was ...

production of ''

The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan taken out on behalf of his dear friend, Bassanio, and provided by a ...

'' in 2007. Gazey joined the cast of the long-running ITV soap opera ''

'' in April 2008, portraying the role of

, a prison cellmate of established character David Platt. Despite only agreeing to a short-term contract, Gazey returned in November 2008, now as a series regular. Gazey went on to appear in the show for three years, and became popular with viewers, winning the "Best Newcomer" and "Best Comedy Performance" honours at the

National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and begun in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted o ...

. During his time in the soap, Gazey made appearances on television as a guest on '' Loose Women'' and '' Celebrity Juice''. He even appeared in character as Graeme in a special edition of '' The Jeremy Kyle Show'', alongside fellow ''Coronation Street'' cast members Jack P. Shepherd, Michelle Keegan and Ben Price. After leaving ''Coronation Street'', he appeared at the

Trafalgar Studios Trafalgar Theatre is a West End theatre in Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square, in the City of Westminster, London. The Grade II listed building was built in 1930 with interiors in the Art Deco style as the Whitehall Theatre; it regularly staged ...

in the

West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes"West End"in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, ...

play, ''Third Floor'' in October 2011. In 2012, he toured the United Kingdom in the comedy, ''Funny Peculiar'' alongside Suzanne Shaw and former ''Coronation Street'' co-star

Vicky Entwistle Victoria Entwistle (born 15 September 1968) is an English actress. She is known for portraying the role of Janice Battersby in the ITV soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Early life Entwistle grew up in Accrington; her father owned a newsagen ...

. In 2013, he appeared in a stage version of ''

The Full Monty ''The Full Monty'' is a 1997 comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. The film is set ...

'' at Sheffield, followed by a tour and a season in the West End in 2014. In October 2014, Gazey appeared in '' The Hypochondriac'' alongside Sir Tony Robinson and Imogen Stubbs at the

Theatre Royal Bath The Theatre Royal in Bath, Somerset, Bath, England, was built in 1805. A Grade II* listed building, it has been described by the Theatres Trust as "One of the most important surviving examples of Georgian theatre architecture". It has a capacit ...

, followed by a tour. In 2015, he took part in '' Celebrity Masterchef'' for the

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 ...

Filmography

References

External links

* Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama People from Royton Male actors from Oldham 1982 births Living people British male television actors British Soap Award for Best Newcomer winners {{england-actor-stub