Bill Dean
Actor
Biography
Bill Dean was a British actor who was born in Everton, Liverpool, Lancashire. He was born Patrick Anthony Connolly, but took his stage name in honour of Everton football legend William 'Dixie' Dean. After a atring of jobs, it was his work as a Lancashire club comedian that saw him spotted by Ken Loach who gave him his breakthrough role in his TV play The Golden Vision. Famous for his flat but penetrating Scouse tones, Dean went on to star as miserable pensioner Harry Cross in the long running Channel 4 soap Brookside from its inception in 1983 to 1990. He briefly returned to the series in 1999 for three episodes, when his character re-appeared in Brookside Close suffering from Alzheimer's disease and wrongly believing that he still lived there. The same character was the inspiration behind the 1980s group 'Jegsy Dodd and the sons of Harry Cross' who hailed from the Wirral and Dean himself appeared in the video of the Liverpudlian band The Farm's Groovy Train as Cross, who was a former train driver. He did of a heart attack aged 78 in 2000.
Filmography
The Mirror Crack'd
as Man in Village Hall (uncredited) 1980
Scum
as Mr Duke 1979
Priest
as Altar Boy 1995
Family Life
as Mr. Baildon 1971
Let Him Have It
as Foreman of the Jury 1991
Night Watch
as Inspector Walker 1973
Gumshoe
as Tommy Wright 1971
Hillsborough
as Additional Cast 1996
Rising Damp
as Workman 1980
Flame
as Club Owner (uncredited) 1975
Slayground
as Compere 1983
The Best Pair of Legs in the Business
as Bert 1973
The Golden Vision
as John Coyne 1968
Going Gently
as Painter 1981
Brookside: Friday the 13th
as Harold Cross 1998
The Rank and File
as Billy 1971