Jake Wood
Encyclopedia
Jake Dylan Wood is an English
actor, best known in his homeland for playing Max Branning
on "EastEnders
" and in the United States
as the current voice of the GEICO gecko.
.
He has since appeared in several television series including May to December
, Minder
, Only Fools and Horses
, Murder in Mind, Press Gang
, London's Burning
, Sean's Show
, Inspector Morse
, One Foot in the Grave
, Red Dwarf
, A Touch of Frost, The Bill
, Sea of Souls
and Doc Martin
. He made a cameo appearance
as a carol singer on The Thin Blue Line
and has appeared in the films Vera Drake
and The Illusionist opposite Edward Norton
. Additionally, he appeared in Le Café des Rêves
, a five-part serial drama produced by the BBC for French students.
Wood starred in the 1989 Yellow Pages
TV Advert, entitled "Party Party" and is currently the voice of the GEICO gecko ads on American
television. Wood also featured alongside Cobent CTO and ex-Metal Hammer
journalist Tony Dillon as part of a team presenting Click, a computer games magazine on VHS video in the early 1990s.
Wood also played the eldest son, Dougie, in sitcom family The Wilsons.
In June 2006, he joined the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
playing Max Branning
. In March 2008, he took paternity leave and re-appeared on screen on 23 June 2008. For his work in EastEnders, he has won awards at The British Soap Awards and Inside Soap Awards
. He previously played a character in EastEnders called 'Jackson' in 1990.
In 1989, Wood appeared in Only Fools and Horses
as an assistant for Rodney Trotter
(Nicholas Lyndhurst
).
He is a close friend of former EastEnders actress Kacey Ainsworth
, who played Little Mo
in the soap, who recommended Wood for the role of Max Branning
. Wood was also in attendance for the marriage of fellow EastEnders cast member, Samantha Womack and Liverpool 1
actor, Mark Womack
on Saturday 16th May 2009.
Wood is a fan of Arsenal
and took part in the 2007 Great North Run
.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
actor, best known in his homeland for playing Max Branning
Max Branning
Max Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jake Wood. He made his first appearance on 27 June 2006.-Backstory:Max is the fifth child and second son of Jim and Reenie Branning...
on "EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
" and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
as the current voice of the GEICO gecko.
Biography
Wood's first acting role was in the 1985 film Flesh & BloodFlesh & Blood (film)
Flesh & Blood is a 1985 film directed by Paul Verhoeven. It is set in the year 1501 in Italy, and follows a group of mercenaries as they loot, rape and kill....
.
He has since appeared in several television series including May to December
May to December
May to December was a British sitcom which ran for 39 episodes, from 2 April 1989 to 27 May 1994 on BBC1. The series was written by Paul Mendelson and produced by Cinema Verity....
, Minder
Minder
A minder is a person assigned to guide or escort a visitor, or to provide protection to somebody, or to otherwise assist or take care of something, i.e...
, Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
, Murder in Mind, Press Gang
Press Gang
Press Gang is a British children's television comedy-drama consisting of forty-three episodes across five series that were broadcast from 1989 to 1993...
, London's Burning
London's Burning
London's Burning was a British television drama programme produced by London Weekend Television for the ITV network that focused on the lives of members of the London Fire Brigade, principally those of the Blue Watch at a fictional fire station called Blackwall.It was broadcast between 1986 and...
, Sean's Show
Sean's Show
Sean's Show was a UK television situation comedy broadcast on Channel 4. Stand-up comedian Sean Hughes co-wrote and starred as a fictionalised version of himself, aware of the fact he was living in a sitcom .It received a nomination for the 1992 British Comedy Award for Best Channel 4...
, Inspector Morse
Inspector Morse (TV series)
Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. Dexter makes a cameo appearance in all but three of the episodes....
, One Foot in the Grave
One Foot in the Grave
One Foot in the Grave is a BBC television sitcom series written by David Renwick. The show ran for six series, including seven Christmas specials, two Comic Relief specials, over an eleven year period, from early 1990 to late 2000...
, Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf
Red Dwarf is a British comedy franchise which primarily comprises eight series of a television science fiction sitcom that aired on BBC Two between 1988 and 1999 and Dave from 2009–present. It gained cult following. It was created by Rob Grant and Doug Naylor, who also wrote the first six series...
, A Touch of Frost, The Bill
The Bill
The Bill is a police procedural television series that ran from October 1984 to August 2010. It focused on the lives and work of one shift of police officers, rather than on any particular aspect of police work...
, Sea of Souls
Sea of Souls
Sea of Souls is a BBC paranormal drama series, based around the fictional activities of a group of investigators into psychic and other paranormal events. Produced in-house by BBC Scotland, initially in association with Sony Pictures Television International, the series debuted on BBC One in the UK...
and Doc Martin
Doc Martin
Doc Martin is a British television comedy drama series starring Martin Clunes in the title role. It was created by Mark Crowdy, Craig Ferguson and Dominic Minghella. The show is filmed on location in the fishing village of Port Isaac, Cornwall, United Kingdom, with filming of most interior scenes...
. He made a cameo appearance
Cameo appearance
A cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
as a carol singer on The Thin Blue Line
The Thin Blue Line (TV series)
The Thin Blue Line is a British sitcom starring Rowan Atkinson set in a police station that ran for two series on the BBC from 1995 to 1996...
and has appeared in the films Vera Drake
Vera Drake
Vera Drake is a 2004 British drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, telling the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal abortions...
and The Illusionist opposite Edward Norton
Edward Norton
Edward Harrison Norton is an American actor, screenwriter, film director and producer. In 1996, his supporting role in the courtroom drama Primal Fear garnered him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor...
. Additionally, he appeared in Le Café des Rêves
Le Cafe des Reves
Le Café des Rêves, filmed on location in Lille, France, is a French language educational mini-series. The series, which is made up of five 20 minute episodes, was made by the BBC for British secondary school students, aged between 13 and 15, learning French....
, a five-part serial drama produced by the BBC for French students.
Wood starred in the 1989 Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages
Yellow Pages refers to a telephone directory of businesses, organized by category, rather than alphabetically by business name and in which advertising is sold. As the name suggests, such directories were originally printed on yellow paper, as opposed to white pages for non-commercial listings...
TV Advert, entitled "Party Party" and is currently the voice of the GEICO gecko ads on American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
television. Wood also featured alongside Cobent CTO and ex-Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer
Metal Hammer is a monthly heavy metal music magazine published in the United Kingdom by Future Publishing, and in several other countries by different publishers. Metal Hammer articles feature both mainstream bands and more unusual acts from the whole spectrum of heavy metal music...
journalist Tony Dillon as part of a team presenting Click, a computer games magazine on VHS video in the early 1990s.
Wood also played the eldest son, Dougie, in sitcom family The Wilsons.
In June 2006, he joined the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
playing Max Branning
Max Branning
Max Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jake Wood. He made his first appearance on 27 June 2006.-Backstory:Max is the fifth child and second son of Jim and Reenie Branning...
. In March 2008, he took paternity leave and re-appeared on screen on 23 June 2008. For his work in EastEnders, he has won awards at The British Soap Awards and Inside Soap Awards
Inside Soap Awards
The Inside Soap Awards is a yearly award ceremony run by Inside Soap magazine since 1996. The awards celebrate the British and Australian soap operas and their actors. Until 2007, EastEnders had won the award for "Best Soap" on every occasion...
. He previously played a character in EastEnders called 'Jackson' in 1990.
In 1989, Wood appeared in Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses
Only Fools and Horses is a British sitcom, created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom between 1981 and 1991, with sporadic Christmas specials until 2003...
as an assistant for Rodney Trotter
Rodney Trotter
Rodney Charlton Trotter is a fictional character in the BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, played by Nicholas Lyndhurst.-Personality:Rodney's personality was based on the experiences of series creator John Sullivan, who also had an older sibling and, like Rodney, claimed to have been a dreamer and...
(Nicholas Lyndhurst
Nicholas Lyndhurst
Nicholas Simon Lyndhurst is an English actor. He is best known for his roles as Rodney Trotter in Only Fools and Horses, Gary Sparrow in Goodnight Sweetheart, and as Adam Parkinson in Carla Lane's series Butterflies...
).
Personal life
Wood married Alison Murray in 2001 and they have 2 children with daughter Amber (born in 2005) and son Buster (born in 2008).He is a close friend of former EastEnders actress Kacey Ainsworth
Kacey Ainsworth
Kacey Ainsworth is an English actress, best known for playing the long-suffering Little Mo in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.-Life and career:Kacey Ainsworth, is the only soap actress who has won three Soap Actress awards in one single year in 2002...
, who played Little Mo
Little Mo Mitchell
Maureen "Little Mo" Mitchell is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Kacey Ainsworth.-Storylines:...
in the soap, who recommended Wood for the role of Max Branning
Max Branning
Max Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jake Wood. He made his first appearance on 27 June 2006.-Backstory:Max is the fifth child and second son of Jim and Reenie Branning...
. Wood was also in attendance for the marriage of fellow EastEnders cast member, Samantha Womack and Liverpool 1
Liverpool 1 (TV series)
Liverpool 1 is a British television drama series centred on the work of a fictional Merseyside Police vice squad. Produced by Lime Street Productions for ITV, it starred Samantha Womack and Mark Womack and ran for two series in 1998 and 1999...
actor, Mark Womack
Mark Womack (British actor)
Mark Edward Womack is an English actor, best known for starring in Liverpool 1, Sorted and Willy Russell's Dancin thru' The Dark.Womack was born in Liverpool in 1961, eldest son of Frances and Tom Womack...
on Saturday 16th May 2009.
Wood is a fan of Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
and took part in the 2007 Great North Run
Great North Run
The Bupa Great North Run is the world's largest half marathon, taking place annually each September. Participants run between Newcastle upon Tyne and South Shields in England. The run was devised by former Olympic 10,000 m bronze medallist and BBC Sport commentator Brendan Foster.The first Great...
.