Jesse Birdsall
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jesse Birdsall (born February 13, 1963 in Highbury, London) is a British actor, known in the UK for his starring roles in several high-profile, popular television programmes, particularly in Bugs (1995–1999) as Nick Beckett and later in The Bill as a character named Ron Gregory, a convicted paedophile.
He first came to public attention in the British mini-series "Annika" in 1984, his first notable television role. He then subsequently appeared in the movie Wish You Were Here (1987), directed by David Leland and co-starring Emily Lloyd. Another notable television role was his portrayal of slick playboy Marcus Tandy in the infamous BBC1 soap opera Eldorado, which ran for just one year from 1992-93 and gained a reputation as one of the biggest television flops of all time. Nonetheless, the amount of coverage the programme received for its perceived low quality and lack of success would gain Birdsall much exposure, and from 1995 to 1999 he played one of the lead characters in another BBC1 programme, the successful futuristic action/adventure series Bugs.
More recently, he appeared in several episodes of the ITV police drama The Bill in 2003, and for the same network appeared as a regular in series three and four of the popular drama Footballer's Wives.
Birdsall has twice been in trouble with the police, being convicted of actual bodily harm after an altercation in 1981, and in 1999 being fined £1000 following an unprovoked attack on a fellow customer at a pub in London.
He has been married to the actress Gwyneth Strong since 2000, and they have two children.
