Ian Cameron Mercer (born 10 July 1961) is an English actor. He is known for playing Gary Mallett in the ITV soap opera ''

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 ...

'' from 1995 to 2000, having previously appeared in 1987 as Pete Jackson. His other television credits include '' Brookside'' (1982–83), '' Cracker'' (1993), and '' The Street'' (2007).

Early life

Mercer was born in

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 ...

, Lancashire. On leaving school, Mercer trained as an

electrical engineer Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems that use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...

but decided to become an actor when he became an

assistant stage manager Stage management is a broad field that is generally defined as the practice of organization and coordination of an event or theatrical production. Stage management may encompass a variety of activities including overseeing of the rehearsal proce ...

at the Oldham Coliseum Theatre in 1979.

Career

His first television appearance was as Mile in '' Starting Out'' (1982), a series made by ATV for schools and written by Grazyna Monvid. Mercer went on to work in such stage productions as '' Bent'', '' Spend Spend Spend'', ''Saturday Night, Sunday Morning'', ''

Billy Liar ''Billy Liar'' is a 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse that was later adapted into a play, a Billy Liar (film), film, a Billy (musical), musical and a Billy Liar (TV series), TV series. The work has inspired and been featured in a number of popul ...

'', ''Stop The Children's Laughter'', ''Welcome Home'', ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'', ''The Fancy Man'', '' The York Realist'', ''

Beauty and the Beast "Beauty and the Beast" is a fairy tale written by the French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in (''The Young American and Marine Tales''). Villeneuve's lengthy version was abridged, rewritten, and publish ...

'' and ''

Revengers Tragedy ''Revengers Tragedy'' is a 2002 film adaptation of the 1606 play '' The Revenger's Tragedy'' (attributed to Thomas Middleton in the credits, following the scholarly consensus). It was directed by Alex Cox and adapted for the screen by Cox's fe ...

''.Mercer
on the

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

His television and film acting credits include leading roles as a butcher in ''Blue Money'' (1985), ''

'' (as Gary Mallett and in 1987, Pete Jackson), '' Shackleton'' (with

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh ( ; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Reading, Berkshire, Branagh trained at RADA in London and served as its president from 2015 to 2024. List of award ...

), '' Heartbeat'', '' The Monocled Mutineer'', '' A Touch of Frost'', '' Cracker'', '' Common As Muck'', '' Peak Practice'', ''

New Tricks ''New Tricks'' is a British television police procedural comedy drama, created by Nigel McCrery and Roy Mitchell, produced primarily by Wall to Wall (until its final year, when it was handled by Headstrong Pictures), and broadcast on BBC On ...

'' and '' Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World'' (with

Russell Crowe Russell Ira Crowe (born 7 April 1964) is an actor and film director. Russell Crowe filmography, His work on screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Russell Crowe, various accolades, including an Academy Award, two Gold ...

). In 2009 he appeared in an episode of '' Doctors'' and two episodes of '' Waking the Dead''. He appeared as Blackbeard's chief zombie henchman in '' Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides''. During August and September 2015 he returned to '' Doctors'' playing the recurring role of Andy Weston in an ongoing sub-plot. In 2018, Mercer appeared in the

Mike Leigh Mike Leigh (born 20 February 1943) is an English screenwriter, producer, director and former actor with a film, theatre, and television career spanning more than 60 years. His accolades include prizes at the Cannes Film Festival, the Berlin In ...

film, '' Peterloo'', playing the "buffoonish" Dr Healey.

Personal life

In 2007, Mercer completed three years of study at

Northumbria University Northumbria University (legally the University of Northumbria at Newcastle) is a Public research university, public research university located in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, North East of England. It has been a university since 199 ...

, gaining a degree in English and

Art History Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

. In May 2011, he was convicted of

benefit fraud Benefit(s) may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Benefit'' (album), by Jethro Tull, 1970 * "Benefits" (''How I Met Your Mother''), a 2009 TV episode * "Benefits", a 2018 song by Zior Park * '' The Benefit'', a 2012 Egyptian action film Bus ...

, having falsely claimed £2,300 in council tax benefit despite being in work at the time. He was fined £165 with a £15 victim surcharge and £100 costs.'Pirates of the Caribbean star convicted of benefit fraud'
''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' – 27 May 2011 He lives in

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

with his two daughters, Scarlett Rae (b. 1997) and Ruby Mae (b. 2000).

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre credits

References

External links

*
Mercer on Corrie.netInterview with MercerMercer on Filmbug.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mercer, Ian 1961 births Living people 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of Northumbria University British people convicted of fraud English male film actors English male soap opera actors English male stage actors English male television actors Male actors from Oldham