Ray Fearon

Raymond Fearon is a British actor. He played garage mechanic Nathan Cooper on ITV's long-running soap opera ''Coronation Street'' from 2005-2006. Other credits include '' Band of Gold'' (1997), ''EastEnders'' (2001), '' As If'' (2002), the ''Harry Potter (film series)'' (2001-2002), ''His Dark Materials'' (2003), ''Doctors'' (2008), '' Raw'' (2010), ''Da Vinci's Demons'' (2014), ''Fantastic Beasts (film series)'' (2018-2022), ''Fleabag'' (2019), ''Red Dwarf'' (2020), ''Champion'' (2023), and '' The Feud'' (2025).

Early life

Fearon was the youngest of ten children born to Jamaican parents living in northwest London. From a young age, he joined the Royal Court Theatre and Tricycle Youth Theatre, before going on to study drama at Rose Bruford College.

Career

Theatre

Fearon made his reputation as a stage actor, working at Liverpool's Everyman Theatre; Manchester Contact Theatre; Manchester Royal Exchange; Oxford Playhouse; Barn Theatre, Kent; The Almeida; The Crucible, Sheffield; The Donmar Warehouse; The Royal Shakespeare Theatres in Stratford and the National Theatre. He starred in ''Othello—''opposite Gillian Kearney's Desdemona— in Liverpool at the age of 24, becoming the first black actor to play Othello on RSC main stages for over 40 years. His other early stage roles included Charles Surface in '' The School for Scandal''; Betty/Martin in ''Cloud 9 (play)''; Longaville in ''Love's Labour's Lost''; Ferdinand in ''The Tempest''; and Pete in '' Blues for Mister Charlie''.

His early theatre work in London included Hugo/Frederick in ''Ring Round the Moon'' at the Lilian Baylis Theatre; the title role in ''The Invisible Man'' (his one-man show) at the Bridewell Theatre; and Pierre in '' Venice Preserv'd'' at the Almeida Theatre.

He has worked extensively with the Royal Shakespeare Company(RSC) in their Stratford and London theatres and on tour. He was the first black actor to play the title role in ''Othello'' in the main Royal Shakespeare theatre (director Michael Attenborough, 1999) giving a performance alongside Richard McCabe's strong and repressed Iago. They also played opposite one another in 1996's ''The White Devil'' (Gale Edwards, Swan theatre) where he played Brachiano and McCabe the villain Flamineo. Fearon was directed by Attenborough also as Romeo alongside Zoe Waites as Juliet in ''Romeo and Juliet'' ( RSC, Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, 1997).

Other RSC roles have included the First Knight and First Tempter in ''Murder in the Cathedral'' (Swan, 1993), Stubb in '' Moby Dick (musical)'' (TOP, 1993), the Prince of Morocco in ''The Merchant of Venice'' (RST, 1994), Paris in ''Troilus and Cressida'' (Ian Judge, RST, 1996), the Marquis of Posa in ''Don Carlos (play)'' (1999), Pericles in Adrian Noble's ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre'' (RST and Roundhouse, 2002) and Mark Antony in ''Julius Caesar (play)'' (2012).

In 2003, he played 'Oberon' in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' at Sheffield's Crucible Theatre. In 2004, he appeared in as Jean Kiyabe in ''World Music'' by Steve Waters at the Donmar Warehouse, and in the same year at the National Theatre as Mark in ''Sing Yer Heart Out for the Lads'' by Roy Williams.

In 2010, he starred as Walter Lee Younger in ''A Raisin in the Sun'' by Lorraine Hansberry, the production was directed by Michael Buffong at the Royal Exchange, Manchester.

In July 2013 he played Macduff opposite Kenneth Branagh (as Macbeth) and Alex Kingston (as Lady Macbeth) in ''Macbeth'' at Manchester International Festival.Manchester. His performance was broadcast to cinemas on 20 July as part of National Theatre Live.

In December 2017 he played Nathan Detroit in ''Guys and Dolls'' at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. The production was directed by Michael Buffong.

Radio

In the BBC's 2003 radio adaptation of ''His Dark Materials'', Fearon appeared as the narrator and as the angel Balthamos.

Television and film

In 2001 he appeared in ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' (as Firenze the centaur). He had a minor role as a sentry in Kenneth Branagh's 1996 film version of ''Hamlet''.

Fearon played Nathan Cooper in ''Coronation Street'' from 2005 to 2006. He was in the 2006 series of ''Strictly Come Dancing'', partnered by Camilla Dallerup, and was voted out in week 6.

From 2013 to 2015, he appeared as a fictionalised version of historical figure Carlo de' Medici on the Starz series ''Da Vinci's Demons''. In 2019, Fearon played the role of Hot Misogynist in season two of the acclaimed BBC Three comedy-drama ''Fleabag''.

In 2023, he starred Beres Champion in the BBC television series ''Champion'', about the Champion family's involvement in the black music scene of London.

Filmography

Film

Television

Radio

References

External links

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Agent: Markham Froggatt and Irwin

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fearon, Ray
Living people
20th-century English male actors
21st-century English male actors
Alumni of Rose Bruford College
Black British male actors
English male film actors
English male soap opera actors
English male television actors
English male voice actors
Year of birth missing (living people)