Neil Morrissey

Early life

Morrissey was born in Stafford, Staffordshire, the son of Irish parents who were both psychiatric nurses. He and his brother Stephen (died 1997) were placed under a care order and later legally separated from their parents after they went on multiple theft and burglary sprees. The boys spent much of their childhood in separate foster homes, Morrissey spending most of his time at Penkhull Children's Home.

After studying at Thistley Hough High School in Penkhull, he was fostered by the family of his friend, Mark Langston. This lasted for nearly two years after leaving the children's home at 17. He studied for his A levels at the City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College. During this time, he was an active member of the Stoke Repertory Theatre, Stoke Schools Theatre, and Stoke Original Theatre and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 1979. His successful application to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama resulted in an unconditional offer which paved the way for the next steps in his theatrical career.

Acting

On leaving the Guildhall, Morrissey paid off his student debts by landing parts in film and theatre productions. His first role in 1982, was as Robin Hood at The Theatre Chipping Norton's pantomime. In 1984 Morrissey went on to play Able Seaman Matthew Quintal in The Bounty alongside Mel Gibson, Anthony Hopkins and Laurence Olivier.

In 1984 he also appeared in episode 5 (of series 5) of the police drama Juliet Bravo, shown on BBC1. Morrissey shot to fame in the mid-1980s as dim biker Rocky in the ITV drama series Boon. In 1990, he played the lead role of Noddy in the British spoof horror film I Bought a Vampire Motorcycle which involved many of the actors from Boon.

His role as Tony in Men Behaving Badly was created to replace the character of Dermot after Harry Enfield's departure from the series. The series became one of the most popular UK sitcoms of the 1990s and turned Morrissey into a national star and a target for the tabloid newspapers. His ongoing romance storyline with co-star Leslie Ash led to the pair appearing in several advertisements for Homebase. In 1997, he starred in the Comedy Premiere The Chest and in 1998 two TV productions: the one-off My Summer with Des for the BBC and The Vanishing Man for ITV.

Circa 1999, Morrissey starred in a comedy drama called Shakespeare's Birthday, in which he played a coach driver. One of his colleagues was played by Tony Selby.

Morrissey also starred in the John Godber film about rugby league called Up n Under and voiced several characters in the children's television series Bob the Builder, including the lead character, in which role he scored a Christmas 2000 UK number 1 single with "Can We Fix It?". In 2015, he was fired from voicing the character and the role was given to Lee Ingleby. In addition, he provides the narration for Morph (in recent years) and Maisy.

In 2002, Morrissey returned to TV screens in the drama series Paradise Heights which ran for two series. He then had a starring role in the BBC sitcom Carrie and Barry from 2004 until 2005.

His West End theatre work includes Speed, Robin Hood, The Daughter In-Law and his critically acclaimed West End performance in A Passionate Woman. In 2005 Morrissey performed in Victoria Wood's musical adaptation of Acorn Antiques The Musical alongside Julie Walters, Celia Imrie, Duncan Preston and Josie Lawrence. Morrissey took over the role of Nathan Detroit from Nigel Lindsay in the London revival of Guys and Dolls from 6 March 2006 until June 2006.

In 2006, he was the guest host for an episode of Channel 4's The Friday Night Project before taking on the role as presenter on the BBC Two car related game show Petrolheads.

In 2007, he appeared in British TV show Skins as the father of Cassie and made a guest appearance in Neighbours as a priest, remarrying long term characters Susan (Jackie Woodburne) and Karl (Alan Fletcher) on a boat on the River Thames. On 11 October 2007 he made his first appearance in the BBC's Waterloo Road as new deputy head teacher, Eddie Lawson. He was in this role for two series, making his final appearance in May 2009.

In August 2009 he promoted a national tour of the play Rain Man. During the 2009 Christmas season he played the role of Buttons in the Pantomime Cinderella at The Assembly Rooms in Derby. Morrisey returned due to popular demand in the pantomime Aladdin playing the character of Wishey-Washey at The Assembly Rooms in Derby.

In January 2012 Morrissey took on the role of Fagin in Lionel Bart's musical Oliver at the Palace Theatre in Manchester.

In July 2013, Morrissey reprised his Skins role as Marcus Ainsworth, the father of Hannah Murray's character Cassie Ainsworth. He appeared in both parts of Skins Pure.

Morrissey starred alongside Adrian Edmonson, Robert Webb and Miles Jupp in the play Neville's Island at Duke of York's Theatre, London during Autumn 2014.

In 2015, he played a character called Keith, who is Johnny (Joe maw) and Tee's (Mia McKenna Bruce) villainous step-father, in the CBBC sitcom The Dumping Ground, for one episode. In December 2015, Morrissey starred in BBC Two's comedy drama A Gert Lush Christmas, playing the father of Russell Howard's character.

In 2016, he joined the cast of Grantchester for the second series. He played the role of Harding Redmond. Also in 2016, he took part in the second series of ITV's reality series Bear Grylls: Mission Survive.

In 2017, he played the role of Greg McConnell in ITV's The Good Karma Hospital.

Spoof show

On 1 April 2006, a BBC Three spoof programme titled Neil Morrissey's Secret documented sides of Morrissey's life that were previously unknown to the world at large. It alleged he has a house, wife and two children in Jordan as well as a degree in Botany for which he had studied for 20 years. These studies were integral to his motivation to find a breakthrough in anti-ageing. According to the documentary he has invented a cream called 'The Essence' which contains extracts of a plant found only in a remote Jordanian village. In the documentary the cream's acolytes include celebrities such as Jane Seymour, Gloria Hunniford and Philippa Forrester. The show followed Morrissey as he carried out his research which involved years of study and crossing continents, funded by his lucrative acting career.

Ultimately Morrissey launches the cream only to have his friends concerned for his health, his laboratory broken into, and a trip to Jordan where he finds that the villagers whose trust he had gained through time spent with them, have abandoned their homes because of the fall-out of his discovery. This hoax was launched on 1 April and despite the suspicions caused by this date as April Fool's Day, it still managed to convince some people that it was true.

Business

Morrissey's love of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas led to him and his business partners Matt Roberts and Kevin Roos buying up numerous properties in the village of Laugharne, including the Hurst Hotel, the New Three Mariners pub and Brown's Hotel in April 2004 for £670,000. In October 2006 it was announced that the business had put Brown's Hotel on the market in order to finance the redevelopment of the Hurst Hotel, and the expansion of the private members' club, Hurst House in Covent Garden, London.

In July 2008, with delays encountered on the construction of Hurst House-at-the-Mill, a luxury hotel in Hertfordshire due to open in 2009, the Laugharne-based assets of the Hurst House group went into a packaged administration. The assets were subsequently bought by new investors backing Roberts, resulting in the end of Morrissey's association with Laugharne.

Morrissey part owned the lease on the Ye Olde Punch Bowl Inn in Marton, North Yorkshire. From this base came the Morrissey Fox range of real ale beer, developed by Morrissey and chef Richard Fox which is still in production. In June 2009, it was reported that his Welsh pub had failed and that the company owed £250,000, and the lease to Ye Olde Punch Bowl Inn was handed back to the owner after just 18 months on 22 October 2009.

Morrissey avoided bankruptcy over his failed business ventures but entered an IVA.

Personal life

Morrissey married Amanda Noar in 1987 after meeting her when she guested in an episode of Boon; the couple have a son born in 1989. The couple divorced in 1991. He then became engaged to actress Elizabeth Carling, whom he had first met in 1989, when she too was working on Boon. They parted on good terms, and she later guest starred alongside him on Men Behaving Badly. His subsequent affairs have been well documented by the British tabloids, including dating Rachel Weisz after starring together in My Summer with Des in 1998. They lived together at his flat in Crouch End, London.

The tabloid interest peaked with Morrissey's affair with actress Amanda Holden at the height of his fame in 2000 and when her husband, comedian Les Dennis, was taking part in Celebrity Big Brother. The affair was the primary reason for Holden's and Dennis' separation and subsequent divorce. At the story's height, there were 35 photographers outside his apartment block, and he had to ask a neighbour to shop for him; he later asked the police to help him get to his car.

Morrissey has numerous tattoos. According to one version of their origin, he applied them himself with needles and Indian ink. On his left arm is his first name and a blob which was going to be his initials before it became infected, causing him to require a tetanus jab. On his right is a squiggle which is a reversed version of The Saint logo. Morrissey himself says the tattoos were done by other boys at the children's home. The boys there apparently saw that he did not have a tattoo and so gave him the option of a tattoo or a beating. He decided on the tattoo and now regrets not taking the other option.

In 2006, Morrissey was awarded an honorary degree from Staffordshire University. He is a supporter of Crystal Palace FC. A fan of real ale, in 2011 he produced a real ale with the club called Palace Ale.