Craig Kelly (born 31 October 1970) is an English actor and voice-over narrator. He is best known for his roles as Vince Tyler in the Channel 4 television series ''

Queer as Folk ''Queer as Folk'' may refer to: * ''Queer as Folk'' (British TV series), 1999–2000 * ''Queer as Folk'' (American TV series), a 2000–2005 American and Canadian version of the UK series ** ''Queer as Folk'' soundtracks, soundtrack albums from ...

,'' as Luke Strong in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

,'' and as Harold Bride in

James Cameron James Francis Cameron (born August 16, 1954) is a Canadian filmmaker. A major figure in the post-New Hollywood era, he is considered one of the industry's most innovative filmmakers, regularly pushing the boundaries of cinematic capability w ...

's Academy Award winning film ''Titanic'' (1997).

Early life

Kelly was born on 31 October 1970 in

Lytham St Annes Lytham St Annes () is a seaside town in the Borough of Fylde in Lancashire, England. It is on the The Fylde, Fylde coast, directly south of Blackpool on the Ribble Estuary. The population at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 42,954 ...

near

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, Lancashire. He is the brother of actor Dean Lennox Kelly.

Career

Kelly moved to London and attended the

Drama Centre Drama Centre London (often abbreviated as Drama Centre) was a British drama school in King's Cross, London, where it moved in 2011 after a major reshaping of the University of the Arts London. It was part of Central Saint Martins, a constitu ...

from 1989 to 1992, where he studied the Stanislavski School of method acting alongside John Simm and Joe Duttine. Graduating in 1992, Kelly played a minor speaking role in '' Titanic'' as Assistant Wireless Operator, Harold Bride and also as Russell Muir in the film ''When Saturday Comes''.

TV work

Kelly is best known for his role as Vince Tyler in ''

''. He also appeared in '' Casualty'' as Daniel Perryman between 1995 and 1996. A very brief role was as the Mercedes-Benz driver in the ''Rabbit in Your Headlights'' video, who utters the line "Nice coat, mate" before speeding off. In the 1998 BBC series of '' The Children of the New Forest'', Craig played Abel Courbould, the villainous puritan preacher. Craig also starred opposite Amanda Holden in the ITV series ''The Grimleys'' as Mr Treblecock, the school lothario. He played the young father of Alison Mundy in a second series episode of ''

Afterlife The afterlife (also referred to as life after death) is a purported existence in which the essential part of an individual's identity or their stream of consciousness continues to live after the death of their physical body. The surviving ess ...

'' in 2006. In 2003, Kelly featured in the

webcast A webcast is a media presentation distributed over the Internet using streaming media technology to distribute a single content source to many simultaneous listeners/viewers. A webcast may either be distributed live or on demand. Essentially, web ...

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' adventure '' Scream of the Shalka''. He later guest-starred in the third series of the BBC's '' Waking the Dead'', in which he played a transgender woman who is released from prison on appeal after murdering her father. In November 2008, Kelly landed the role of the new underworld factory boss, Luke Strong, in ITV's ''

''. His character first appeared on 20 February 2009 and Kelly departed in the episode that aired on 19 October 2009. On 25 August 2009, it was announced that he would take part in Series 7 of BBC One's ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 ...

'', partnering Flavia Cacace. Kelly was the 8th celebrity eliminated from the competition on 7 November 2009 in a special show from Blackpool Tower Ballroom. Kelly starred alongside his brother in the ITV1 drama '' Collision'', which aired over five consecutive nights in November 2009.

Film work

He played Cristian O'Neil in '' The Young Americans'', with Harvey Keitel (1993). Kelly was also in

's 1997 film '' Titanic'' and played the part of radio operator

Harold Sydney Bride Harold Sydney Bride (11 January 1890 – 29 April 1956) was a British merchant seaman and the junior wireless officer on the ocean liner RMS ''Titanic'' during its ill-fated maiden voyage. After the ''Titanic'' struck an iceberg at 11:40 pm 1 ...

. He appeared in '' Spice World'' with a minor speaking role in which he speaks to Geri (Ginger Spice). Kelly had a small role in the 1999 sci-fi film '' Wing Commander'' playing Falk, the ship's radar man.

Voice-over work

Kelly is a prolific voiceover artist, appearing on numerous adverts as well as BBC idents and, more recently, on Channel 4 idents. He has also narrated for various television programmes, including Channel 4's '' Shipwrecked: Battle of the Islands'' (2006–2009), E4's '' Shipwrecked: The Island 2011'' (2s narration on Sally Morgan's Star Psychic Show, series 6 of The Real Hustle on BBC Three (a show his brother narrated for two series) and more recently, the popular Channel 4 show

Rich House Poor House Rich House Poor House is a British Television program starring Craig Kelly, Tertta Saarikko, Adam Stott and others. The program is directed by Danny Fildes, Marcus English, Simon Bowyer and others. The first episode was aired on 30 March 2017. ...

. He is currently the station voice for Manchester's Key 103. He also voices a 2014 advert for Nutella. He has voiced ''Shipping Wars UK'' on Channel 4.

Personal life

Kelly and his wife Camilla married in 2009. Kelly has a keen interest in

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

, in which he has a black belt.

Filmography

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Craig 1970 births Living people People from Lytham St Annes Alumni of the Drama Centre London English male voice actors English male television actors English male film actors