Paul Christopher James Terry (born 7 November 1985) is an English former

child actor The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage, television, or in film, movies. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associa ...

. He is best known internationally for starring as James in the 1996

film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...

Roald Dahl Roald Dahl (13 September 1916 – 23 November 1990) was a British author of popular children's literature and short stories, a poet, screenwriter and a wartime Flying ace, fighter ace. His books have sold more than 300 million copies ...

's ''

James and the Giant Peach ''James and the Giant Peach'' is a children's novel written in 1961 by British author Roald Dahl. The first edition, published by Alfred Knopf, featured illustrations by Nancy Ekholm Burkert. There have been re-illustrated versions of it over ...

''. He also starred in the four seasons of the children's sitcom ''

Microsoap ''Microsoap'' is a children's sitcom, co-written by Mark Haddon and produced by the BBC in association with Disney Channel. A total of 26 episodes were made, lasting over four series, and airing from 1998 to 2001. It starred Suzanne Burden, Iva ...

'' (1998–2000).

Early life

Terry was born in and grew up in

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

, north of London, and persuaded his parents to let him attend acting classes when he was five years old. He made his stage debut the following year in a regional production of Turgenev's '' A Month in the Country''. In 1994, his father heard about the auditions for ''

'', and thought his son would be perfect: "Like James", he said, "Paul can act like a little boy lost." "Life's a Peach: As Disney's Orphaned James, Paul Terry Finds Life's a Peach"
''

People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

''. 20 May 1996; Vol. 45 No. 20.

Performing career

Director

Henry Selick Charles Henry Selick Jr. (; born November 30, 1952) is an American filmmaker and animator. He is known for his work in stop motion animation and for directing the films ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (1993), ''James and the Giant Peach (film) ...

(''

The Nightmare Before Christmas ''The Nightmare Before Christmas'' (formerly known as ''Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas'') is a 1993 American stop motion Animation, animated Gothic film, gothic musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Henry Selick in his f ...

'') chose him, out of hundreds of child actors, to play the title role in ''

''. The role required live acting as well as animation voice-work and singing. The live-action sequences were filmed in San Francisco, and the shoot took six weeks. For his role in the film, which included singing one solo song and two ensembles on the soundtrack, Terry was nominated for a

Young Artist Award The Young Artist Award (originally known as the Youth in Film Award) is an accolade presented by the Young Artist Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded in 1978 to honor excellence of youth performers, and to provide scholarships for young ...

for Best Performance in a Voiceover. He later starred in 26 episodes of the children's sitcom ''

'' from September 1998 to February 2000. The program aired in the UK, the U.S., and other countries. He gave up acting after the series ended. In the 2000s he was the

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

player for the indie band Glassapple. The group gigged in the London area, toured in the U.S., and in 2005 released a 3-track EP."See Through"
(video) by Glassapple at

ARTISTdirect Artistdirect (stylized as ARTISTdirect) is an American online digital media entertainment company. Overview Founded in 1996, it owns several websites, including artistdirect.com and artistdirectinterviews.com. These websites are a group of affi ...

."What Ever Happened To... the boy from ''James and the Giant Peach''?"
''Showbiz Geek''. 16 November 2013.

Later career

Paul received a master's degree in civil engineering from

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

, and his employment has included

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Aerospace industry, aerospace, military technology, military and information security company, based in London. It is the largest manufacturer in Britain as of 2017. It is ...

. As of 2017 he's a mathematics teacher & aspiring novelist, and lives in

County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...

in northeast England.Our Staff: Mr Paul Terry, Teacher of Mathematics
''DiscoverySchool.org.uk''.

Filmography

*''

'' (1996, as James Henry Trotter) *''

'' (1998–2000, 26 episodes, as Joe Parker)

References

External links

*
Paul Terry
at

LinkedIn LinkedIn () is an American business and employment-oriented Social networking service, social network. It was launched on May 5, 2003 by Reid Hoffman and Eric Ly. Since December 2016, LinkedIn has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft. ...

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Terry, Paul 1985 births Alumni of Cardiff University English civil engineers English male child actors English male film actors English male television actors English mathematicians English schoolteachers Living people Male actors from Watford