Brian Capron

Background

Capron first came to public attention through his role of the teacher, Mr Stuart (Hoppy) Hopwood in Grange Hill in the early 1980s. He also acted in BBC soap opera EastEnders, playing Jerry McKenzie from 1993-1994. He played the guest role of Andrew Donelson in Taggart in the episode "A Fistful of Chips" in 1999.

He was cast as George Godley in Jack the Ripper (1988), with Barry Foster as Inspector Frederick Abberline, and the two started filming in October 1987. It was later decided to recast with Michael Caine as Abberline and Lewis Collins as Godley in order to attract larger audiences in the United States.

Other notable TV credits include: Z-Cars, Dixon of Dock Green, Angels, The Sweeney, Blake's 7, Tales of the Unexpected, Full House, Shoestring, Bergerac, Minder, Casualty, Birds of a Feather, Murder Most Horrid, The Bill, Taggart, Peak Practice, Judge John Deed, Crocodile Shoes, and Where the Heart Is. His film appearances are rare but have included roles in Emma (1996), 101 Dalmatians (1996), Still Crazy (1998) and Ambleton Delight (2009).

In The Bill he played Antionio Mancini, a husband who is always rowing and fighting his wife Joanna. Capron played this role twice, firstly in the series 4 episode "Trouble & Strife" and later on in the series 5 episode "Out to Lunch" He has also played narrator in The Rocky Horror Show in London's West End, alongside Suzanne Shaw in January 2007. In episode 1 of season 2 of The Graham Norton Show, Brian is found by an audience member in the lobby of ITV during a stunt and eventually brought onto the set, sitting beside Courtney Love and Louis Walsh.

In 2007, Capron played Nathan Detroit on the Guys and Dolls tour, opposite Claire Sweeney. In September 2007, Capron was announced as one of the contestants to take part in the fifth series of Strictly Come Dancing. He was partnered by Karen Hardy, who was Series 4 champion with cricketer Mark Ramprakash. After finishing in last place on the first show, he found himself in the dance off along with Kenny Logan, but the judges voted in favour of saving Logan and Capron left the show. In April 2010, Capron appeared on ITV Show This Morning along with fellow cast member of Stepping Out, Anita Harris and they showed presenters Phillip Schofield and Ruth Langsford how to tap dance.