Vince 'Mark' Earl
Vince 'Mark' Earl (born 11 June 1944 in Birkenhead

Birkenhead

Birkenhead is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral in Merseyside, England. It is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite the city of Liverpool...

, Cheshire

Cheshire

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. Cheshire's county town is the city of Chester, although its largest town is Warrington. Other major towns include Widnes, Congleton, Crewe, Ellesmere Port, Runcorn, Macclesfield, Winsford, Northwich, and Wilmslow...

 (now in Merseyside

Merseyside

Merseyside is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 1,365,900. It encompasses the metropolitan area centred on both banks of the lower reaches of the Mersey Estuary, and comprises five metropolitan boroughs: Knowsley, St Helens, Sefton, Wirral, and the city of Liverpool...

) is an English

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...

 singer, comedian

Comedian

A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...

 and actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 most famous for his portrayal of the character Ron Dixon

Ron Dixon (Brookside)

Ronald William "Ron" Dixon is a fictional character in the British soap opera, Brookside, played by Vince Earl from 1990 until the final episode in 2003, during which time he was involved in several major storylines....

 in the 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,...

 Brookside

Brookside

Brookside is a defunct British soap opera set in Liverpool, England. The series began on the launch night of Channel 4 on 2 November 1982, and ran for 21 years until 4 November 2003...

.

He was involved in the Merseybeat scene of the 1960s as singer with Vince Earl Talismen, and Vince Earl & the Attractions. He also played in the band "Rory Storm and The Hurricanes" and The Wirral band The Zero's who played in the Majestic nightclub Conway street Birkenhead in the early 60's. He is a stand up comedian who appeared on the Granada Television

Granada Television

Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....

 show The Comedians before landing the Brookside part. He also acted in the film No Surrender

No Surrender (film)

No Surrender is a 1985 comedy film starring Michael Angelis and Ray McAnally.The film is black comedy about the Northern Ireland conflict, set in Liverpool on New Year's Eve. The plot focuses on the Irish Catholic and Protestant communities in the city, and the action is seen through the eyes of...

and in Boys from the Blackstuff

Boys from the Blackstuff

Boys from the Blackstuff is a British television drama series of five episodes, originally transmitted from 10 October to 7 November 1982 on BBC2....

.

In November 2007, Earl returned to the set of Brookside in West Derby

West Derby

West Derby is a suburb in the north of Liverpool, Merseyside, England. It is also a Liverpool City Council ward. At the 2001 Census, the population of the ward was 14,801 .-History:...

, Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 for an interview with ITV Local News to celebrate 25 years since the show started on Channel 4

Channel 4

Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...

. He showed reporters around the Close, showing them his character's house, and the infamous patio where Trevor Jordache

Trevor Jordache

Trevor Jordache is a character played by Bryan Murray in Brookside. The character only appeared in the soap briefly in 1993, but was a feature in the programme until his body was discovered in 1995.-Background:...

 was found. Michael Starke

Michael Starke (actor)

Michael Starke , is a British actor best known for his role as Thomas 'Sinbad' Sweeney which he played for 16 years in the soap opera Brookside...

, who played Sinbad Sweeney, also featured in the interview from the set of his new soap home at 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...

.

He is a supporter of Tranmere Rovers F.C.

Tranmere Rovers F.C.

Tranmere Rovers Football Club are an English team based in Birkenhead, Wirral. The club currently compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system...

In 2010, he was hospitalised with Goodpasture's syndrome

Goodpasture's syndrome

Goodpasture’s syndrome is a rare disease characterized by glomerulonephritis and hemorrhaging of the lungs...

, and required a kidney transplant.