Richard Mylan (born 24 November 1972) is a Welsh actor and former dancer. He is best known for his roles in ''

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 ...

'', '' Bad Girls'' and '' Grownups'' as Chris.

Early life

Mylan was born in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

in 1973. There he attended the Birchgrove Junior School, where he played rugby, and in 1982 won the Swansea heat of the British 'Disco Kids Championships'. At the age of 12 he left Swansea to study dance in London at the

Urdang Academy Urdang, previously known as The Urdang Academy, is a performing arts academy based in Islington, London. The school was founded as a ballet school under the direction of Leonie Urdang; after her death her daughter and CEO Solange Urdang succeeded ...

Career

Mylan's first professional job was in the roller-skating musical ''

Starlight Express '' Starlight Express'' is a 1984 musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern locomotives of diesel and el ...

'' (1984) at the

Apollo Victoria Theatre The Apollo Victoria Theatre is a West End theatre on Wilton Road in the Westminster district of London, across from London Victoria Station. (The theatre also has an entrance on Vauxhall Bridge Road.) Opened in 1930 as a cinema and variety t ...

in London, where he played for about four years, firstly as 'Flat-Top' (he can be heard in the original-cast recording) and afterwards in the bigger role of

Electra the Electric Train '' Starlight Express'' is a 1984 musical with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and lyrics by Richard Stilgoe. It tells the story of a young but obsolete steam engine, Rusty, who races in a championship against modern locomotives of diesel and elect ...

. He was also in the funk band, Puppy Phat, who played at

Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club is a jazz club that has operated in Soho, London, since 1959. History The club opened on 30 October 1959 in a basement at 39 Gerrard Street in London's Soho district. It was set up and managed by musicians Ronnie Sc ...

and elsewhere. Mylan is best known for playing the role of Oliver Morris in the television sitcom, ''

Coupling A coupling is a device used to connect two shafts together at their ends for the purpose of transmitting power. The primary purpose of couplings is to join two pieces of rotating equipment while permitting some degree of misalignment or end mo ...

'' (2004), as well as his portrayals of Chris in '' Grownups'' (in 2007 and 2009) and Joe Andrews in

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...

drama '' Belonging'' (in 2006). Other television work has included the role of Danny Flint in '' Where the Heart Is'' (in 2005 and 2006), Harry in ''

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

'' (2002-2004), '' Border Cafe'', Ben Phillips in '' Bad Girls'' (2004-2005), Leroy Jones in ''

'' (1998-2001) 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 ...

'' (as Dr Simon Hills in 2004 and as Will Duncan in 2010). He appeared in the 2009 film '' City Rats''. He also made a guest appearance in TV sitcom ''

My Family ''My Family'' is a British sitcom created and initially co-written by Fred Barron, which was produced by DLT Entertainment and Rude Boy Productions, and broadcast by BBC One for eleven series between 2000 and 2011, with Christmas specials broadc ...

'' in 2007. He played Simon Lowsley, the deputy headteacher, in '' Waterloo Road'' until 2014. In 2014, he was cast in The Frantic Assembly performance "The Believers".

Personal life

Mylan is married to makeup artist Tammie Dineen. In August 2014, Mylan undertook a tandem skydive from to raise funds for Autism Puzzles. His son Jaco, who was born in 2005 (with former partner actress Catrin Powell), has a form of autism known as Pervasive Developmental Disorder (PDD). He presented a documentary on the subject of his son and autism which was broadcast on the BBC in April 2017 entitled ''Richard and Jaco: Life with Autism''. Mylan supports

Welsh independence Welsh independence () is the political movement advocating for Wales to become a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom. Wales was conquered during the 13th century by Edward I of England following the killing of Llywelyn the ...

. Mylan has battled heroin addiction for 20 years as revealed in BBC2 Documentary 'Footlights'.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

Richard Mylan - official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mylan, Richard 1973 births Living people Male actors from Swansea Welsh male television actors 20th-century Welsh male actors 21st-century Welsh male actors Alumni of the Urdang Academy