Joe Caffrey (born 1966) is an English actor of theatre, television, and film.

Biography

Caffrey was born in the shipbuilding town of

Wallsend Wallsend () is a town in North Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England, at the eastern end of Hadrian's Wall. It has a population of 43,842 and lies east of Newcastle upon Tyne. History Roman Wallsend In Roman times, this was the site of the fort of ...

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 ...

. His father had worked at Swan Hunter's Shipyards and both of his grandfathers were miners. Joe's grandfather, Ned Murray, was an active trade unionist and Labour Party politician as well as a district councilor. His mother, Lynne, is a councillor in Gateshead. Caffrey chose to become an actor and was trained for three years at the

London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) is a drama school located in Hammersmith, London. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest specialist drama school in the British Isles and a founding member of the Federation of Drama Schools. In ...

. In 1984-85 he was also a member of the

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

band, ''The Workey Tickets'', who did several fund raising gigs, including a gig at the Albert Hall in London, for the striking miners and their families. Caffrey first began performing theatre in London. He achieved West End stardom in Lee Hall's farce '' Cooking with Elvis''. He had also several TV appearances in ITV and

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 ...

productions and appeared in the

Bridget Jones Bridget Rose Jones is a fictional character created by British writer Helen Fielding. Jones first appeared in Fielding's '' Bridget Jones's Diary'' column in ''The Independent'' in 1995, which did not carry any byline. Thus, it seemed to be an ac ...

film, '' The Edge of Reason'' (2004). He played Billy's older brother Tony in the original London cast of ''

Billy Elliot the Musical ''Billy Elliot: The Musical'' is a Coming-of-age story, coming-of-age stage musical based on the Billy Elliot, 2000 film of the same name. The music is by Elton John, and the book and lyrics are by Lee Hall (playwright), Lee Hall, who wrote th ...

'' and then returned to the show in December 2008, this time in the role of Jackie Elliot, Billy's father. According to his own words, Caffrey is a huge fan of playwright

Alan Plater Alan Frederick Plater (15 April 1935 – 25 June 2010) was an English playwright and screenwriter, who worked extensively in British television from the 1960s to the 2000s. He is best known for the sitcom ''Oh No It's Selwyn Froggitt'' and th ...

. He says: "When you get a writer of Alan's calibre saying 'I'm going to write you a part in this' you think 'Christ almighty, most actors would bite your hand off for that kind of chance.'" Caffrey is associated with

Live Theatre Live Theatre, formerly Live Theatre Company, is a new writing theatre and company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. As well as producing and presenting new plays many of which go on to tour nationally and internationally, it seeks out an ...

which is a small theatre on Newcastle's

Quayside The Quayside is an area along the banks (quay) of the River Tyne in Newcastle upon Tyne (the north bank) and Gateshead (south bank) in Tyne and Wear, North East England, United Kingdom. History The area was once an industrial area and busy c ...

, which has nurtured actors that now perform in '' The Pitmen Painters'' who have progressed to London's West End and Broadway.

Career

Joe Caffrey's career began at the age of 22 after leaving the

(LAMDA).

Joe's TV and film credits include

*''Clay'' (2008) BBC .... Dennis Hagen *''Doctors'' BBC D.I. Matthew Squires (14 episodes, 2007) **''Shreds'' (2007) TV episode .... D.I. Matthew Squires **''Blind Drunk'' (2007) TV episode .... D.I. Matthew Squires **''Lonely Hearts'' (2007) TV episode .... D.I. Matthew Squires **''Invisible Touch'' (2007) TV episode .... D.I. Matthew Squires **''Second Helpings'' (2007) TV episode .... D.I. Matthew Squires *''Heartbeat'' ITV Seth Mottram (1 episode, 2006) **''This Happy Breed'' *''The Bill'' ITV Ben Perkins (14 episodes, 2004-2005) **375 (2005) TV episode .... Ben Perkins **374 (2005) TV episode .... Ben Perkins **371 (2005) TV episode .... Ben Perkins **352 (2005) TV episode .... Ben Perkins **326 (2005) TV episode .... Ben Perkins *''Distant Shores'' ITV Maurice (1 episode, 2005) *''Byker Grove'' BBC Paul / ... (10 episodes, 1990-1993 & 2004) **Episode No. 16.15 (2004) TV episode .... Alan Best **Episode No. 16.13 (2004) TV episode .... Alan Best **Episode No. 16.12 (2004) TV episode .... Alan Best **Episode No. 16.9 (2004) TV episode .... Alan Best **Episode No. 4.18 (1992) TV episode .... Paul *''Attachments'' .... Matt (1 episode, 2000) **''Money Shot'' *''The Last Musketeer'' (2000) ITV .... Joe Salter *''Holby City'' .... Les (1 episode, 1999) **''Search for the Hero'' (1999) TV episode .... Les *''Badger'' .... Chef (1 episode, 1999) **''It's a Jungle Out There'' (1999) TV episode .... Chef *''Colour Blind'' (1998) TV mini-series .... Tony (unknown episodes) ... aka

Catherine Cookson Dame Catherine Ann Cookson (''née'' McMullen; 20 June 1906 – 11 June 1998), was a British writer. She is in the top 20 of the most widely read British novelists, with sales topping 100 million, while she retained a relatively low profile in ...

's Colour Blind (UK: complete title) *''Ain't Misbehavin (1997) TV mini-series .... Corporal Jennings (3 episodes) Ain't Misbehavin' – TV Guide
/ref> *''Hetty Wainthropp Investigates'' .... Jake Vincent (1 episode, 1997) **''Daughter of the Regiment'' (1997) TV episode .... Jake Vincent *''Soldier Soldier'' ITV.... Fus Peter Shortland (1 episode, 1996) **''Beast'' *''Fighting for Gemma'' ITV (1993) .... Russell *''Spender'' .... Gene Hackett (1 episode, 1991) **''Double Jeopardy''

Film work includes

*''In Fading Light''

Amber Films Amber Film & Photography Collective (often shortened to Amber Films or Amber) is a film and photography collective based in Newcastle upon Tyne with an aim to capture working-class life in North East England. Often combining professional and non- ...

/Film 4 (1989) .... Yopper *''Women in Tropical Places'' Film 4 (1989) .... Jerry Joe has also been involved in writing and performing in some sketches for the charity event, ''

Sunday for Sammy ''Sunday for Sammy'' is a series of biennial Benefit concert, charity concerts held in aid of the Sammy Johnson Memorial Fund, which benefits young performers. The fund was established in memorial to Sammy Johnson, an actor from North East Engla ...

'' in 2006, 2008 and 2010.

Theatre

* Cooking With Elvis (1998-2001) by Lee Hall -

- Dad/Elvis * We the People (2007) by Eric Schlosser -

Shakespeare's Globe Shakespeare's Globe is a reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, an Elizabethan playhouse first built in 1599 for which William Shakespeare wrote his plays. Like the original, it is located on the south bank of the River Thames, in Southwark, Lon ...

- Gerry * ''

Love's Labour's Lost ''Love's Labour's Lost'' is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Queen Elizabeth I. It follows the King of Navarre and his three companions as ...

'' (2007) -

- Costard * ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a Shakespearean comedy, comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' (W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. ...

'' (2011) -

- Borachio / Friar In December 2008, Joe Caffrey rejoined the cast of Billy Elliot as Jackie Elliot, Billy's dad.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Caffrey, Joe 1966 births Living people English male stage actors English male television actors English male film actors 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art Actors from Wallsend Male actors from Northumberland