Mark Marcel Monero is a British actor and

musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...

. He is best known for his role as

Steve Elliot Steve Elliot is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Mark Monero between 8 October 1991 and 12 February 1996. Creation and development Steve Elliot was the second of only two regular characters to be introd ...

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 ...

soap opera ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' (1991–96), but he has appeared in many other television and theatre roles, and had parts in a number of films, including ''

Prayer for the Dying File:Prayers-collage.png, 300px, alt=Collage of various religionists praying – Clickable Image, Collage of various religionists praying ''(Clickable image – use cursor to identify.)'' rect 0 0 1000 1000 Shinto, Shinto festivalgoer praying in ...

'' and ''

Sid and Nancy ''Sid and Nancy'' (also known as ''Sid and Nancy: Love Kills'') is a 1986 British biographical film directed by Alex Cox, co-written with Abbe Wool, and starring Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb. The film portrays the life of Sid Vicious, bassist of ...

''.

Early life and education

Born in Newham,

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, England, to

Afro-Caribbean Afro-Caribbean or African Caribbean people are Caribbean people who trace their full or partial ancestry to Sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of the modern Afro-Caribbean people descend from the Indigenous peoples of Africa, Africans (primarily fr ...

parents, Monero began acting when introduced to Anna Scher's theatre school in

Islington Islington ( ) is an inner-city area of north London, England, within the wider London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's #Islington High Street, High Street to Highbury Fields ...

in the late 1970s.

Career

One of Monero's earliest roles was in the 1980s film ''

Babylon Babylon ( ) was an ancient city located on the lower Euphrates river in southern Mesopotamia, within modern-day Hillah, Iraq, about south of modern-day Baghdad. Babylon functioned as the main cultural and political centre of the Akkadian-s ...

'', in which he plays the brother of Brinsley Ford's character "Blue". Monero started with some early roles in TV serials such as ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'' (1980), ''Bless Me Father'' (1981) and a role in the BBC children's programme ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

'' (1983). He went on to secure the role of Woody in the popular detective series ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery fiction, mystery series, based on the Lovejoy (novel series), novels by John Grant (Lovejoy), John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six ser ...

'' (1986), had a role in ''

Dempsey and Makepeace ''Dempsey and Makepeace'' is a British television crime drama made by LWT for ITV, created and produced by Ranald Graham. Lead roles were played by Michael Brandon (Lieutenant Dempsey) and Glynis Barber (Sergeant Makepeace), who got married ...

'' (1986), and a part in the film ''

''. During this period Monero also appeared as part of the comedy duo Shift and Zed with

Gary Beadle Gary Beadle (born 8 July 1965) is a British actor. Life and career Beadle was raised as one of five children in Bermondsey, South London, where he was baptised a Roman Catholic. As children, he and his elder brother Rikki produced a version o ...

, in ''Smiley Cultures Club Mix'' programme. In 1991 he became the character of Steve Elliot in ''EastEnders'', starring alongside

Michelle Gayle Michelle Patricia Gayle (born 2 February 1971) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and writer. Gayle had success as a Contemporary R&B, soul and R&B singer in the 1990s, having achieved seven top 40 single (music), singles in the UK Single ...

, who played his love-interest

Hattie Tavernier Hattie Tavernier is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', played by Michelle Gayle between 5 July 1990 and 21 December 1993. Hattie and her family were introduced in July 1990 by producer Michael Ferguson (director), Mich ...

, until 1996. Monero's other credits include ''

The Lenny Henry Show ''The Lenny Henry Show'' is a comedy sketch show (and in its 1987–1988 incarnation, a sitcom) featuring Lenny Henry. It was originally broadcast between 1984 and 1988, and was later revived twice, in 1995 and 2004–2005. History Original vers ...

'' (1988), ''Young, Gifted and Broke'' (1989), ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' (1985; 1988; 2001; 2009). He starred in the BBC comedy '' Gimme Gimme Gimme'' (2001), ''

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 ...

'' (2002), ''

Judge John Deed ''Judge John Deed'' is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Mr Justice Deed, a High Court judge who tries to seek real ...

'' (2005), '' Waking The Dead'' (2005), and ''

Doctors Doctor, Doctors, The Doctor or The Doctors may refer to: Titles and occupations * Physician, a medical practitioner * Doctor (title), an academic title for the holder of a doctoral-level degree ** Doctorate ** List of doctoral degrees awarded b ...

'' (2006). He also played the rapping father of musician, Jal, in E4's teen drama '' Skins'' (2007), had a role in the

BBC Asian Network BBC Asian Network is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially those between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has produc ...

soap opera ''

Silver Street ''Silver Street'' was a radio soap opera broadcast on the BBC Asian Network from 24 May 2004 to 26 March 2010. It was the first soap to be aimed at the British South Asian community, Broadcast history It was introduced in 2004 as part of the ...

'', and appeared in ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

''. He played role of Caesar in the Indian dance film '' Mad About Dance'' . Monero appeared in

The Chemical Brothers The Chemical Brothers are an English electronic music duo formed by Ed Simons and Tom Rowlands in Manchester in 1992. They were pioneers in bringing the big beat genre to the forefront of pop culture. Originally known as The Dust Brothers, th ...

album ''

Further Further or furthur, alternatively farther, may refer to: * ''Furthur'' (bus), the Merry Pranksters' psychedelic bus *Further (band), a 1990s American indie rock band *Furthur (band) Furthur was an American rock band founded in 2009 by former G ...

'' visuals, in the song "

Escape Velocity In celestial mechanics, escape velocity or escape speed is the minimum speed needed for an object to escape from contact with or orbit of a primary body, assuming: * Ballistic trajectory – no other forces are acting on the object, such as ...

". He also appeared in the visuals for the live versions of their songs "

Hey Boy Hey Girl "Hey Boy Hey Girl" is a song by the British big beat duo the Chemical Brothers. The song contains a sample from " The Roof Is on Fire" by Rock Master Scott & the Dynamic Three. "Hey Boy Hey Girl" was released as the first single from the Chemi ...

" and " Do It Again". Monero has also acted in numerous plays. He composed and played music as part of the band North of Ping Pong between 2006 and 2012.North of Ping Pong
on Discogs

External links

*
BBC interview with Mark Monero

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Monero, Mark English male soap opera actors Alumni of the Anna Scher Theatre School Black British male actors Living people 1968 births English people of Grenadian descent Actors from the London Borough of Newham Male actors from London