Ian Mercer
Encyclopedia
Ian Mercer is an English
actor. On leaving school Mercer trained as an electrical engineer but decided to become an actor when he became an assistant stage manager at the Oldham Coliseum in 1979. His first television appearance was as a butcher in the film Blue Money in 1982. Mercer went on to work in such stage productions as Bent
, Spend Spend Spend
, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning
, Billy Liar
, Stop The Children's Laughter, Welcome Home, Romeo and Juliet
, The Fancy Man, The York Realist
, Beauty and The Beast
and Revengers Tragedy
.
His television and film acting credits include leading roles in Starting Out (a series made by ITV
for schools and written by Grazyna Monvid
), Coronation Street
(as Gary Mallett and Peter Jackson), Shackleton (with Kenneth Branagh
), Heartbeat, The Monocled Mutineer
, A Touch of Frost
, Cracker
, Common As Muck
, Peak Practice
, New Tricks and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
(with Russell Crowe
). In 2009 he appeared in an episode of Doctors and two episodes of Waking The Dead
. He appeared as Blackbeard's chief zombie henchman in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
.
In 2007 he completed three years of study at Northumbria University
, gaining a degree in English
and Art History
. He lives with his partner Susan Fenwick and their daughter in Northumberland.
In May 2011 he was convicted of benefit fraud, having falsely claimed £2,300 in council tax benefit despite being in work at the time. He was fined £165 with a £15 victim surcharge and £100 costs.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
actor. On leaving school Mercer trained as an electrical engineer but decided to become an actor when he became an assistant stage manager at the Oldham Coliseum in 1979. His first television appearance was as a butcher in the film Blue Money in 1982. Mercer went on to work in such stage productions as Bent
Bent (play)
Bent is a 1979 play by Martin Sherman. It revolves around the persecution of gays in Nazi Germany, and takes place during and after the Night of the Long Knives....
, Spend Spend Spend
Spend Spend Spend
Spend Spend Spend is a musical with a book and lyrics by Steve Brown and Justin Greene and music by Brown.In 1961, Yorkshire housewife Viv Nicholson won £152,319 in the football pools. When a reporter asked her what she planned to do with her new fortune, she replied, "I'm going to spend, spend,...
, Saturday Night, Sunday Morning
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning (film)
Saturday Night and Sunday Morning is a 1960 British film. It is an adaptation of the 1958 novel of the same name by Alan Sillitoe. Sillitoe wrote the screenplay adaptation and the film was directed by Karel Reisz.-Synopsis:...
, Billy Liar
Billy Liar
Billy Liar is a 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse, which was later adapted into a play, a film, a musical and a TV series. The work has inspired and featured in a number of popular songs....
, Stop The Children's Laughter, Welcome Home, Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
, The Fancy Man, The York Realist
The York Realist
The York Realist is a 2001 play by Peter Gill. It was premiered at the Lowry in November 2001 before moving to the Bristol Old Vic and the Royal Court Theatre in January 2002 by English Touring Theatre, with Gill himself directing...
, Beauty and The Beast
Beauty and the Beast
Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740...
and Revengers Tragedy
Revengers Tragedy
Revengers Tragedy is a film adaptation of the 1606 play The Revenger's Tragedy . It was directed by Alex Cox and adapted for the screen by Cox's fellow Liverpudlian, Frank Cottrell Boyce...
.
His television and film acting credits include leading roles in Starting Out (a series made by ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
for schools and written by Grazyna Monvid
Grazyna Monvid
Grazyna Monvid is a British actress, author and award-winning playwright.As an actress Monvid has appeared in various British television dramas including The Liver Birds, Emmerdale Farm, Casualty, Game, Set and Match and Checking In, Checking Out.In the 1980s, as a tv writer, she penned three...
), Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
(as Gary Mallett and Peter Jackson), Shackleton (with Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from Northern Ireland. He is best known for directing and starring in several film adaptations of William Shakespeare's plays including Henry V , Much Ado About Nothing , Hamlet Kenneth Charles Branagh is an actor and film director from...
), Heartbeat, The Monocled Mutineer
The Monocled Mutineer
The Monocled Mutineer is a British television series made by the BBC in 1986, and shown on BBC1, the first episode being transmitted on 31 August 1986, intended to head BBC1's autumn season of drama...
, A Touch of Frost
A Touch of Frost (TV series)
A Touch of Frost is a television detective series produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV from 1992 until 2010, initially based on the Frost novels by R. D. Wingfield....
, Cracker
Cracker (UK TV series)
Cracker is a British crime drama series produced by Granada Television for ITV and created and principally written by Jimmy McGovern. The series is centered on a criminal psychologist , Eddie "Fitz" Fitzgerald, played by Robbie Coltrane. Set in Manchester, it consists of three series which were...
, Common As Muck
Common As Muck
Common As Muck was a comedy drama serial made by the BBC about the lives of a crew of binmen; it ran for two series.-Characters:-Series One :...
, Peak Practice
Peak Practice
Peak Practice is a British drama series about a GP surgery in Cardale — a small fictional town in the Derbyshire Peak District — and the doctors who worked there. It ran on ITV from 10 May 1993 to 30 January 2002 and was one of their most successful series at the time...
, New Tricks and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir, starring Russell Crowe as Jack Aubrey, with Paul Bettany as Stephen Maturin and released by 20th Century Fox, Miramax Films and Universal Studios...
(with Russell Crowe
Russell Crowe
Russell Ira Crowe is a New Zealander Australian actor , film producer and musician. He came to international attention for his role as Roman General Maximus Decimus Meridius in the 2000 historical epic film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor, a...
). In 2009 he appeared in an episode of Doctors and two episodes of Waking The Dead
Waking the Dead (TV series)
Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series...
. He appeared as Blackbeard's chief zombie henchman in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is a 2011 adventure fantasy film and the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean series...
.
In 2007 he completed three years of study at Northumbria University
Northumbria University
Northumbria University is an academic institution located in Newcastle upon Tyne in the North East of England. It is a member of the University Alliance.- History :...
, gaining a degree in English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
and Art History
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
. He lives with his partner Susan Fenwick and their daughter in Northumberland.
In May 2011 he was convicted of benefit fraud, having falsely claimed £2,300 in council tax benefit despite being in work at the time. He was fined £165 with a £15 victim surcharge and £100 costs.