Jeremy Sheffield (born 17 March 1966) is an English actor and former

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

. He is most noted for his roles in ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...

'', '' Murder in Suburbia'' and ''

Hollyoaks ''Hollyoaks'' is a British soap opera which originally began airing on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was created by Phil Redmond, who had previously conceived the soap opera ''Brookside (TV series), Brookside''. From 2005 to 2023, episodes h ...

'' on television, as well as in the films '' Creep'' and '' The Wedding Date''.

Life and career

Sheffield was born in

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. The second son of Brenda (née Dare) and Barry Sheffield, he trained as a ballet dancer at the

Royal Ballet School The Royal Ballet School is a British school of classical ballet training founded in 1926 by the Anglo-Irish ballerina and choreographer Ninette de Valois. The school's aim is to train and educate outstanding classical ballet dancers, especially ...

, graduating into the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded ...

, as well as dancing with Northern Ballet Theatre. Roles with the Royal Ballet included Aria in ''The Spirit of Fugue'', Paris in ''

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 ...

'', Benno in ''

Swan Lake ''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...

'', He in ''My Brother, My Sisters'', Wilfred in ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

'', Rakitin in '' A Month in the Country'' and Mouse King in ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

''. He appeared as a dancer in

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

's music video for "

I Want to Break Free "I Want to Break Free" is a song by the British rock band Queen, written by their bassist John Deacon. It appears on the album '' The Works'' (1984), and was released in three versions: album, single and extended. The track became a staple of t ...

" in 1984, performing in a pastiche of the ballet '' L'après-midi d'un faune''. However, his ballet career ended at the age of 27 due to a broken toe and torn ligament. He had a prominent non-dancing music video role several years later when he played the male lead in the video for

Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Jane Imbruglia ( , ; born 4 February 1975) is an Australian and British singer and actress. Born and raised in New South Wales, Imbruglia became widely known in the early 1990s playing Beth Brennan in the soap opera ''Neighbours''. A ...

's debut single "

Torn Torn may refer to: Film and television * ''Torn'' (2013 American film), directed Jeremiah Birnbaum * ''Torn'' (2013 Nigerian film), directed by Moses Inwang * Torn (2021 film), an American documentary film * ''Torn'' (TV series), a 2007 Briti ...

" in 1997. Since then, Sheffield has been in 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 ...

medical drama series ''

'' where he played Alex Adams from 2000 to 2003, as well as

Lancelot Lancelot du Lac (French for Lancelot of the Lake), alternatively written as Launcelot and other variants, is a popular character in the Matter of Britain, Arthurian legend's chivalric romance tradition. He is typically depicted as King Arthu ...

in the 1998 television drama ''

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

''. He had a supporting role in the 2005 film '' The Wedding Date'' alongside

Debra Messing Debra Lynn Messing (born August 15, 1968) is an American actress. After graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Messing starred in the television series ''Ned and Stacey'' on Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox (1995–1997) an ...

and

Dermot Mulroney Dermot Patrick Mulroney (born October 31, 1963) is an American actor and musician. He is known for his roles in a wide variety of genres, including romantic comedy, western, and drama films. After making his film debut in ''Sunset'' (1988), Mulro ...

. Subsequently, he made a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

in the final episode of ''

Green Wing ''Green Wing'' is a British sitcom set in the fictional East Hampton Hospital. It was created by the same team behind the Sketch comedy, sketch show ''Smack the Pony'' – Channel 4 commissioner Caroline Leddy and producer Victoria Pile – and ...

'', playing a character that Sue White (played by Michelle Gomez) was dating. In 2005, he appeared in the British and Irish

Renault Clio The Renault Clio () is a supermini (B-segment) car, produced by French automobile manufacturer Renault. It was launched in 1990, and entered its fifth generation in 2019. The Clio has had substantial critical and commercial success, being consi ...

advert "France vs. Britain," directed by

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

's daughter Jordan Scott, who also directed the 2007 follow-up spot "More Va Va Voom," again starring Sheffield as Ben and French actress

Annelise Hesme Annelise Hesme (born 11 May 1976) is a French actress. Her older sister :fr:Élodie Hesme, Élodie Hesme and younger sister Clotilde Hesme are also actresses. Born in Beaumont, Puy-de-Dôme, Auvergne (region), Auvergne, France. Hesme has appea ...

as Sophie. He regularly featured on the BBC's ''

Holiday A holiday is a day or other period of time set aside for festivals or recreation. ''Public holidays'' are set by public authorities and vary by state or region. Religious holidays are set by religious organisations for their members and are often ...

'' programme in which he visited Mexico,

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, Sichuan, South Africa and

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

. In 2006 travelled to South Africa where eight celebrities competed to become rangers in a South African reserve, for the 2007 series of BBC2's '' Safari School''. In the final, Sheffield came second to singing coach Carrie Grant. In 2007, Sheffield made an appearance in ''

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 ...

''. 2008 was a busier year for him with a role in '' Hotel Babylon'' and movies '' Miss Conception'', '' The Children'' and ''

Last Chance Harvey ''Last Chance Harvey'' is a 2008 American romantic drama film written and directed by Joel Hopkins. The screenplay focuses on two lonely people who tentatively forge a relationship during two days. Dustin Hoffman plays the title character, Harvey ...

''. In January 2010, he took part in ITV's ''

Dancing on Ice ''Dancing on Ice'' is a British television series broadcast from 2006 to 2014 and then from 2018 to 2025. It was presented by Holly Willoughby and Stephen Mulhern. Other previous hosts include Phillip Schofield and Christine Lampard. The series ...

'' alongside professional skater Susie Lipanova. He was the third person to be voted off (therefore finishing the contest in 12th place) after losing in the skate-off. In October 2011, it was announced that Sheffield would be joining ''

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 ...

'' and would portray Danny Stratton. Sheffield's ''Coronation Street'' stay was only short as he was part of a storyline that saw

Becky McDonald Becky McDonald (also Granger) is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Coronation Street'', played by Katherine Kelly. Becky was created by producer Tony Wood, and made her debut in the episode airing on 5 February 2006. Kelly was ...

( Katherine Kelly) depart. In October 2012, it was announced that he would be joining the cast of ''

'' to portray Patrick Blake, the biological father of twins Sienna Blake (

Anna Passey Anna Passey (born 28 August 1984) is an English actress, known for portraying Sienna Blake in the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. For her role as Sienna, she won the award for Villain of the Year at the 2014 British Soap Awards. Career ...

) and Dodger Savage ( Danny Mac). Sheffield left the cast in 2015, with Patrick's exit scenes airing in January 2016. He resumed the role for an episode in 2024. He rejoined the cast of ''Hollyoaks'' again in 2024, as the character of Jeremy Blake.

Personal life

Sheffield is gay, but rarely gives interviews on the subject as he feels it is irrelevant to his career, stating: "I don't feel anybody should have to wear their sexuality on their sleeve, but 99% of the time people make a projection onto me that I'm straight, and I feel that if I just allow them to run with that projection, then it's sort of as if I'm lying. It's a strange position to be in, because I shouldn't have to say anything, but I often do feel like I have to get it into the conversation. It's a shame, but that's how it is."

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheffield, Jeremy 1966 births 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors 20th-century English LGBTQ people 21st-century English LGBTQ people Actors educated at the Royal Ballet School English male film actors English male soap opera actors English male stage actors English male ballet dancers English gay actors English gay musicians English LGBTQ dancers Living people Dancers of The Royal Ballet Royal Shakespeare Company members English male Shakespearean actors Male actors from Chelmsford Musicians from Essex Gay dancers