Paul Usher (born 20 April 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Barry Grant in the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

soap opera ''

Brookside Brookside may refer to: Geography Canada * Brookside, Edmonton * Brookside, Newfoundland and Labrador * Brookside, Nova Scotia United Kingdom * Brookside, Berkshire, England * Brookside, Telford, an area of Telford, England United States * Bro ...

'' and Des Taviner in the ITV drama ''

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 ...

''. In 2019, he began appearing 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 ...

'' as Danny Hardcastle.

Career

Usher made his television debut in an episode of '' Z Cars'' as a gang member. In 1982, he began appearing in the Channel 4 soap opera ''

'' as Barry Grant. He also appeared in '' Liverpool 1'' and '' London's Burning'' and starred in ''

Six Bend Trap ''Six Bend Trap'' is a 2006 independent comedy crime film written and directed by Mike McCarthy in his directorial debut. The story centres on the world of greyhound racing, where three friends become embroiled in a feud between a powerful busin ...

''. In 1999, he appeared in '' Swing'' as Liam Luxford. In 2001, he began appearing in ''

'', an ITV police drama, as PC Des Taviner. He continued in the role until 2004, appearing in a total of 135 episodes. In March 2019, it was announced that Usher would join the cast of the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders''. He portrays the recurring role of Danny Hardcastle. In May 2023, he appeared in an episode of the BBC soap opera ''

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 ...

'' as Terry Exton.

Personal life

Usher was educated at

Wirral Grammar School for Boys Wirral Grammar School for Boys is an 11–18 boys State school, maintained Selective school, selective grammar school founded in 1931. It is situated on a site to the west of Port Sunlight at Cross Lane, Bebington, on the Wirral Peninsula in En ...

. He met his wife, Charlotte, while working on ''The Bill''. They married in Rhodes and have one child, Lucas. His son from a previous marriage, James, died in 2014.

References

External links

* British male soap opera actors Living people Male actors from Liverpool People educated at Wirral Grammar School for Boys 1961 births {{UK-tv-actor-1960s-stub