Jack Ashton
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Jack Ashton is a British actor, best known for playing the Reverend Tom Hereward in the BBC television series, ''
Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a British period drama television series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, ...
''. He also appears as Lenny Sampson in '' Waterloo Road''. On stage, he has performed in ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' at the
Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...
, and as Guy Haines in ''Strangers on a Train'' (UK tour). He starred in the 2017 film ''Instrument of War'', based on the true story of Clair Cline, an American prisoner of war.


Early life and education

Born Jack Lewis in
Clifton, Bristol Clifton is an inner suburb of Bristol, England, and the name of one of the city's thirty-five Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral wards. The Clifton ward also includes the areas of Cliftonwood and Hotwells. The easter ...
, his father was a sculptor and artist, while his mother worked in education. His family, including two sisters, lived briefly in
Burnham-on-Sea Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort. ...
, but settled in
Bedminster, Bristol Bedminster, colloquially known as Bemmy, is a district of Bristol, England, on the south side of the city. It is also the name of a council ward which includes the central part of the district. The eastern part of Bedminster is known as Wind ...
. He left Bedminster Down School at 16, and studied for a BTEC in performing arts at Filton College. He then attended the
Academy of Live and Recorded Arts The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) was a British drama school. It had two sites: ALRA South on Wandsworth Common in south London and ALRA North in Wigan, Greater Manchester. It was founded in 1979 by director and actors Sorrel Carso ...
in London. A long-time fan of Bristol City football club, he chose his stage name as a tribute to Ashton Gate stadium.


Career


Television

Ashton starred in ''
Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a British period drama television series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, ...
'' from 2014 to 2018. He joined the hit BBC period drama during its third series, playing Reverend Tom Hereward, a
Curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are as ...
in Poplar who works alongside the nuns and nurses of Nonnatus House. In 2023, Ashton appeared in the BBC series '' Waterloo Road'' as ex-convict Lenny Sampson who is brought in to help fight knife crime among at-risk youth. Other popular television programmes he has appeared in include ''
Sister Boniface Mysteries ''Sister Boniface Mysteries'' is a British cosy mystery detective period comedy drama television series, created by Jude Tindall, which is produced by BBC Studios and BritBox. It is a spin-off of ''Father Brown'', as the Sister Boniface character ...
'', ''
Casualty Casualty may refer to: *Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster **Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare * The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
'', Endeavour, ''
McDonald & Dodds ''McDonald & Dodds'' is a British television crime drama series created and principally written by screenwriter Robert Murphy. It stars Tala Gouveia as DCI Lauren McDonald, a streetwise former Metropolitan Police investigator who arrives in Ba ...
'', and ''
Broadchurch ''Broadchurch'' is a British crime drama television series broadcast on ITV for three series between 2013 and 2017. It was created by Chris Chibnall, who acted as an executive producer and wrote all 24 episodes; it was produced by Kudos in a ...
''.


Radio

Ashton joined the cast of ''
The Archers ''The Archers'' is a British radio soap opera currently broadcast on BBC Radio 4, the corporation's main spoken-word Radio broadcasting, channel. Broadcast since 1951, it was famously billed as "an everyday story of country folk" and is now pr ...
'' in 2023, playing Harry Chilcott.


Theatre

In 2009, Ashton performed in a
Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...
production of ''
A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...
'' as the dead husband of
Blanche Dubois Blanche DuBois (married name Grey) is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' 1947 Pulitzer Prize-winning play ''A Streetcar Named Desire''. The character was written for Tallulah Bankhead and made popular to later audiences with Elia Kaza ...
, played by
Rachel Weisz Rachel Hannah Weisz (; born 7 March 1970) is an English actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received List of awards and nominations received by Rachel Weisz, several awards, including an Academy Award, ...
. In 2018, he starred in a UK tour of '' Strangers on a Train'', an adaptation of the
Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (born Mary Patricia Plangman; January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character T ...
novel. He played the lead role of Guy Haines, described by ''The Times'' as "the classic American good guy, the passionate architect, full of ideals", opposite "spoilt rich boy" Charles Bruno played by Christopher Harper.


Film

Ashton played the lead role ''Instrument of War'', a 2017
BYUtv BYUtv is an American television channel and free family-friendly streaming service, founded in 2000, which is owned and operated as a part of Brigham Young University (BYU). The channel, available on most smart TVs or through cable and satellite ...
film based on the true story of Clair Cline, an American soldier captured by the Nazis who plays a handmade violin he makes out of scrap material he finds in the
prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...
. Following a screening at the
Heartland Film Festival The Heartland International Film Festival (HIFF) is a high academy qualifying film festival held each October in Indianapolis, Indiana, hosted by the nonprofit organization Heartland Film, Inc. The festival was first held in 1992, with the goal to ...
, Richard Propes of ''The Independent Critic'' wrote, "one must give the strongest kudos to Jack Ashton for a performance that captures both the harrowing nature of his surroundings and the seemingly undefeatable human spirit that Cline must've possessed."


Personal life

From 2016 to 2023, Ashton was in a relationship with his on-screen co-star
Helen George Helen Elizabeth George (born 19 June 1984) is an English actress, best known for playing Trixie Franklin, later Trixie, Lady Aylward, on the BBC drama series ''Call the Midwife''. In 2015, she participated in the Strictly Come Dancing (series ...
. In September 2017, their daughter Wren Ivy was born. The couple's second daughter Lark, was born in November 2021. They split up in 2023.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ashton, Jack British male film actors British male television actors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century British male actors