Danny Dyer

Daniel John "Danny" Dyer[a] (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor who has worked in television, film and theatre. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in Human Traffic, with other notable roles as Billy the Limpet in Mean Machine, and as Tommy Johnson in The Football Factory. Following the success of The Football Factory, Dyer was often typecast in "hard-man" roles, although it was this image that allowed him to present The Real Football Factories, its spin-off, The Real Football Factories International and Danny Dyer's Deadliest Men. Dyer has also worked in theatre, having appeared in three plays written by Harold Pinter, with whom he had a close friendship.

In 2013, he was announced as the latest addition to the cast of Eastenders, playing Mick Carter, the most recent landlord of The Queen Victoria. He had previously turned down a role in 2009, and in his autobiography, Straight Up, said that he would not join the cast until he was "50 and fat". He won the Serial Drama Performance award at the National Television Awards in 2015,[3][4] and again in 2016.[5]

His screen and stage career, which spans more than two decades, has met with ridicule from critics;[6] Stuart Heritage in The Guardian wrote that Dyer "has become the byword for low-budget, no-quality Brit-trash cinema".[7]

Contents 1 Career 1.1 Television 1.2 Film 1.3 Theatre 1.4 Selected other work 2 Personal life 2.1 Controversies 3 Filmography 3.1 Film 3.2 Television 3.3 Theatre 3.4 Video games 4 Notes 5 References 6 External links

Career
Television

Dyer was discovered at a local school by an agent who auditioned him for the part of Martin Fletcher in the Granada Television series Prime Suspect 3 (1993), beginning his acting career at 16.[8]

He also appeared on television in episodes of Cadfael (1994), A Touch of Frost (1995), Loved Up (1995), Thief Takers (1996) and Soldier Soldier (1997).[8][9] In 1995, Dyer also appeared in a television commercial for Coca-Cola.

His many other television roles include appearances in the 2003 Channel 4 drama Second Generation, directed by John Sen;[9] as Malcolm, main character Michelle's stepfather, in Skins;[10] as a football player in the second series of Hotel Babylon; and as Matt Costello in what was supposed to be the pilot episode for Breathless,[9][11] a BBC two-part television series in development from BBC Northern Ireland, renamed first "Blood Rush" and then Kiss of Death, when it premiered on BBC One as a one-part drama on 26 May 2008.[12]

Beginning in 2007, Dyer became the presenter of The Real Football Factories and The Real Football Factories International, a TV documentary series on Bravo, for which he travels, in the former throughout the United Kingdom and in the latter throughout the world, to meet and interview football club fans and hooligans. In Danny Dyer's Deadliest Men, "a gritty and hard-hitting documentary series that sees him venturing into the dark depths of the British underworld and hunting down some of the most notorious and feared men in Britain today", began airing on Bravo in the United Kingdom on 20 October 2008.[13][14]

In April 2009, he turned down a role in EastEnders, claiming that although he thought the role sounded good, he did not think he could cope with the pressure.[15]

In February 2012, Dyer appeared as a paramedic in an episode of Casualty. In March 2013, Dyer appeared as a guest on Celebrity Juice. Dyer appeared in the sixth series of Hollyoaks Later in October 2013, as The White Man.

On 1 October 2013, the BBC announced that Dyer had been cast in EastEnders from Christmas 2013, as Mick Carter, the new landlord of The Queen Victoria pub.[16]

Film

Dyer's first film role was in Human Traffic (1999).[17] His subsequent movie work includes Mel Smith's High Heels and Low Lifes (2001) and starring roles in Borstal Boy (2000), Mean Machine (2002) and in four films by the British film director Nick Love: Goodbye Charlie Bright (2001); The Football Factory (2004); The Business (2005); and Outlaw (2007).[17] Among other film roles, he also appeared as the character Steve in Christopher Smith's Severance (2006); as Hayden in Adulthood (2008); and as himself in the feature documentary Tattoos: A Scarred History.[18]

In 2008, he finished filming his roles as Pete and Tom in City Rats and 7 Lives, respectively.[19] April 2009 saw the straight to DVD release of City Rats. Later that year, Dyer completed filming on Jack Said, a Brit noir thriller in which he played Nathan alongside Ashlie Walker, Terry Stone, David O'Hara and Simon Phillips, which was released in November 2009. This film is the prequel to Jack Says, which was released in 2008, and starred Mike Reid.

In 2009, he shot several horror films including Doghouse under the direction of Jake West, and Basement under the direction of Asham Kamboj.[20] He played one of the lead roles in the British vampire film Dead Cert.[21] In June 2010, he was cast for the lead role in the remake of the British horror film The Asphyx,[22] but it failed to secure production finance and was indefinitely shelved. Dyer co-starred with Anna Walton in Deviation, a British dark thriller written and directed by J. K. Amalou.[23]

In 2012, Dyer played the lead role in Ray Cooney's Run For Your Wife. Upon release in 2013, it was savaged by critics, who described it as one of the worst British films of all time. The film took in a mere £747 during its opening weekend.[24]

Theatre

Dyer has performed on stage, most notably in two plays written and directed by 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter: as the Waiter in the London première of Celebration (2000), at the Almeida Theatre, which transferred to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, in New York, as part of the Harold Pinter Festival held there in July and August 2001;[25] and as Foster in the revival of No Man's Land (1975), at the Royal National Theatre, in London, during 2001 and 2002.[26][27] In March 2008, he played Joey in a revival of Pinter's The Homecoming (1964), directed by Michael Attenborough, at the Almeida Theatre, in London.[28] He also performed in Peter Gill's play Certain Young Men (1999) in London.[29]

From 9 September 2009 to 3 October 2009, Dyer appeared as Sid Vicious in a new play called Kurt and Sid in London's West End at the Trafalgar Studios.

Selected other work

Dyer is the voice of Kent Paul in the video games Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004).[29]

He also appears in The Twang's 2007 video for Two Lovers.[30]

I Believe in UFOS: Danny Dyer, a documentary that sees Dyer journey to various "UFO hotspots" in the UK and the US in hope of experiencing a UFO sighting, was broadcast on BBC Three on 26 January 2010.[31]

Personal life
Dyer was born in Canning Town, to Antony and Christine Dyer.[8] He now lives in Debden, Epping Forest, Essex,[32] with his wife, Joanne Mas, their daughters Dani and Sunnie, and son Arty.[33] During March 2015, Mas proposed to Dyer,[34] and the couple married on 3 September 2016.[35]

A lifelong player and fan of football, Dyer is a staunch West Ham United fan. In late December 2007, he became the chairman of Kent League's Greenwich Borough in South East London, appointed by fellow actor Tamer Hassan, president of the football club, stating: "I just love football and the chance of being involved with a club is like a dream come true."[36] The appointment was actually a publicity stunt to raise the profile for the club.[37]

In 2016, Dyer travelled to Sierra Leone to take part in Sport Relief. Dyer said "I don't know what to expect when I go over there, but I'm hoping that it will make some kind of difference. It's an honour to be asked."[38]

Controversies

In 2010, Dyer wrote in Zoo, in his capacity as an celebrity agony uncle, that a young male reader could get over his recent break-up with a woman by "going on a rampage with the boys" or to "cut your ex's face, and then no one will want her ...". The comment was widely panned in the British media and by members of the public, including the chief executive of the Fawcett Society Ceri Goddard. Dyer for his own part claimed that he was misquoted.[39]

Dyer was quoted in a May 2011 article in NME as wanting to headbutt film critic Mark Kermode.[40] Kermode has been a regular critic of Dyer's output and often "impersonates" him on his BBC Radio 5 Live show with Simon Mayo.[41]

Filmography
Film

Year

Title

Role

Notes

1999 Human Traffic Moff 1999 The Trench Lance Cpl. Victor Dell 2000 Borstal Boy Charlie Milwall 2000 Greenfingers Tony 2001 Goodbye Charlie Bright Francis 2001 High Heels and Low Lifes Danny 2001 Mean Machine Billy the Limpet 2001 Tabloid Joe Public 2001 Is Harry on the Boat? Brad 2003 Wasp Dave 2004 Free Speech Mark 2004 The Football Factory Tommy Johnson 2005 The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael Larry Haydn 2005 The Business Frankie 2006 The Other Half Mark Lamanuzzi 2006 Severance Steve 2007 Outlaw Gene Dekker 2007 Straightheads Adam 2007 The All Together Dennis Earle 2008 Adulthood Hayden 2009 City Rats Pete 2009 Malice in Wonderland Whitey 2009 Doghouse Neil 2009 Jack Said Nathan 2009 Dead Man Running Bing 2009 Just for the Record Derek La Farge 2009 Pimp Stanley 2009 The Rapture Wraith 2009 Catwalk Photographer 2010 Basement Gary 2010 Devil's Playground Joe 2010 Dead Cert Roger Kipling Cameo 2010 The Last Seven Angel of Death 2011 Age of Heroes Rains 2011 Freerunner Mr. Frank 2011 7lives Tom 2012 Deviation Frankie 2013 Run For Your Wife John Smith 2013 Vendetta Jimmy 2014 The Hooligan Factory Jeff Cameo 2015 Assassin James

Television

Year

Title

Role

Notes

1993 Prime Suspect 3 Martin Fletcher 1994 Cadfael Bran Episode: "The Leper of St. Giles" 1995 Loving Bert 1995 A Touch of Frost Shaun Everett Episode: "Dead Male One" 1995 Crown Prosecutor Shane Cassidy 1 episode 1995 Loved Up Billy 1 episode 1996 Thief Takers Alec Episode: "The Outcasts" 1996 The Bill Gavin Parker Episodes: "Home Truths" and "Merrily on High" 1996 Bramwell Danny 1 episode 1997 Highlander Andrew Baines Episode: "Avatar" 1997 Soldier Soldier Gary Fox Episodes: "Line of Departure" and "Sounds of War" 2002 Dead Casual Wayne 2002 Foyle's War Tony Lucciano Episode: "A Lesson in Murder" 2003 Serious and Organised Darren Evans 2003 Second Generation Jack 2004 Family Business Yankie 2005 MIT: Murder Investigation Team Marc Sharaff 1 episode 2005 Rose and Maloney Danny 1 episode 2006 All in the Game Martin 2007 Hotel Babylon Dave Osbourne 1 episode 2007 Skins Malcolm Episodes: "Cassie" and "Michelle" 2008 Kiss of Death Matt Costello 2011 Mongrels Himself Cameo 2012 Casualty Rossy 1 episode: "Love Is" 2013 Celebrity Juice Himself – panellist 1 episode 2013 Plebs Cassius 1 episode: "The Gladiator" 2013 Hollyoaks Later The White Man 4 Episodes 2013–present EastEnders Mick Carter Series regular

Theatre Certain Young Men (1999), by Peter Gill Celebration (2000), by Harold Pinter No Man's Land (2001–2002 revival), by Harold Pinter The Homecoming (2008 revival), by Harold Pinter Kurt and Sid (2009), by Roy Smiles

Video games Grand Theft Auto: Vice City as Kent Paul (voice only) (2002) Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas as Kent Paul (voice only) (2004)