Jeff Stewart (actor)

Jeffrey Stewart (born 28 October 1955) is a Scottish actor. He is best known for playing PC Reg Hollis on the ITV drama series The Bill from 1984 to 2008.

Jeff Stewart
Stewart on the set of The Bill in October 2012
Born
Jeffrey Stewart

(1955-10-28) 28 October 1955
OccupationActor
Years active1964–present

Early life

Stewart was born in Aberdeen. He and his family moved to Southampton, Hampshire, when he was three months old. His father worked in shipyards and then for Fawley Refinery.[1]

Career

Stewart has played numerous roles in television series, including Harry Fellows in Crossroads in 1981 and Dukkha in the 1982 Doctor Who story Kinda. He played a police constable in Hi-De-Hi! in 1983, the same year "Woodentop" (the pilot episode of The Bill) aired. His character on The Bill, Reg Hollis, is his best known role to date, regularly appearing opposite Chris Ellison. Reg is mentioned but not seen in "Woodentop", so Stewart's first appearance in the series was in the first regular episode, "Funny Ol' Business - Cops & Robbers". By March 2007, Stewart was the last member of the cast remaining from that first episode.

In 2001, Stewart appeared on Lily Savage's Blankety Blank.[2] In 2009, Stewart appeared in the music video for "Black and Blue" by Miike Snow. The video starred him as a reclusive musician with a penchant for creating animatronic performers in his dingy apartment, and presented the long hair and a large beard he had grown in the year since he left The Bill. In 2011, he portrayed a German-Russian man in a Soviet prison in Under Jakob's Ladder.[3] He won a best actor award at the 2011 Manhattan Film Festival for the role.[4] He is often confused with the storyboard artist who also voices characters such as Mr. Tickle in The Mr. Men Show.[5]

Personal life

On 8 January 2008, Stewart cut his wrists after being told that his contract for The Bill would not be renewed. He survived the suicide attempt after calling for help and being taken to hospital by an ambulance.[6] He later said of the incident: "I love being an actor. My work as an actor is very important to me – it's my life, and the thought of this suddenly changing had an extremely serious effect on me."[7]

Stewart is fond of the Hotel Chelsea in New York City, having stayed there on a number of occasions. He is friends with a number of the building's permanent residents. He was staying at the Chelsea in 2011 when the hotel changed ownership and closed to transient guests. He initially refused to leave, even calling in the police to assist him, but was persuaded by hotel staff to leave.[4]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1981 The Nightmare Man Drummond Television film
1996 The Bill: Target PC Reg Hollis Television film
2004 The Bill Uncovered: Des and Reg PC Reg Hollis Television film
2004 The Bill @ 21 PC Reg Hollis Television film
2006 A Dogges Tale Man Short film
2008 Phlegm Noir Man 1 Short film
2009 Alice & the Bear Maître d' Short film
2009 Dead Man Running Tiffany's Client
2010 Tomorrow The Chef Short film
2011 Under Jakob's Ladder Jakob Manhattan Film Festival Award for Best Actor[8]
2011 Blood on the Border Agent Martinez
2011 Lords of Magic Reverend Ayton
2011 Billy
2011 1066 Earl Siward
2012 Hot Wings Bobby
2012 Lake Placid: The Final Chapter Deputy Nermal Television film

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1981 Crossroads Harry Fellows Episode: "26 May 1981"
1982 Doctor Who Dukkha Serial: Kinda
1983 Reilly: Ace of Spies Jenkins Episode: "Endgame"
1983 Angels Zac Episode: "Episode #9.20"
1983 Hi-de-Hi! Police Constable Episode: "Save Our Heritage"
1984 Minder Mick Episode: "The Car Lot Baggers"
1984–2008 The Bill PC Reg Hollis 872 episodes
1985 Lytton's Diary Boxer Episode: "Come Uppance"
1988 Help! Tinsnip Eddie Episode: "The Milk of Human Kindness"
2004 Harry Hill's TV Burp PC Reg Hollis Episode: "#3.1"
2007 The Dame Edna Treatment PC Reg Hollis Episode: "#1.6"
2010 Bloody Foreigners Belland Episode: "Great Fire of London"

Music videos

Year Artist Title Role
1989 Sam Brown "Can I Get a Witness" Defendant
2009 Miike Snow "Black and Blue" Reclusive Musician

Awards

Year Work Award Category Result
2011 Under Jakob's Ladder Manhattan Film Festival Award Best Actor Won

References

  1. Liam Rudden (18 August 2010). "Interview: Jeff Stewart, actor, The Bill". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  2. Lily Savage's Blankety Blank. 4 March 2001. ITV.
  3. "Independent Filmmakers". Cubecity.org. Retrieved 30 June 2014.
  4. Cara Buckley (1 August 2011). "The Chelsea Guest Who Wouldn't Leave". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 January 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2015.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Sacked Bill star out of hospital". BBC. 9 January 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2008.
  7. Schmidt, Veronica (11 January 2008). "The Bill's Jeff Stewart explains self-harm incident". London: Times Online. Retrieved 3 February 2008.
  8. Zauderer, Alyssa (1 August 2011). "Manhattan Film Festival Concludes With Awards Ceremony". WPIX-TV. Archived from the original on 18 March 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
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