George Rainsford (actor)

George Rainsford (born 31 July 1982) is a British actor, best known for his portrayal of Jimmy Wilson in the medical drama Call the Midwife and Ethan Hardy in Casualty, for which he has been nominated for a Best Actor award in the 2017 TV Choice Awards.

George Rainsford
Born	(1982-07-31) 31 July 1982 (age 42) Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2007–present
Television	Call the Midwife, Casualty
Spouse	Jaimi Barbakoff ​ (m. 2012)​
Children	2

Early life

Rainsford was born in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire. He attended Repton School in Repton, Derbyshire, where he became interested in drama. Whilst reading for a Bachelor of Arts in drama at the University of Manchester, he was involved with the student theatre.^[1][2] He joined the National Youth Theatre in June 2003 and won a Goldman Sachs scholarship to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.^[1][3] After graduating in 2006, he appeared in The Three Musketeers as D'Artagnan at Bristol Old Vic.^[4]

Career

He appeared in the first two series of the medical drama Call The Midwife, as Jimmy Wilson.

In September 2013, it was announced that Rainsford would join the main cast of Casualty as Dr Ethan Hardy.^[5][6] He took part in an audition in London and a screen test in Cardiff with Richard Winsor.^[7]

In November 2022, it was confirmed in a Metro Soaps interview with Casualty executive producer, Jon Sen, that Rainsford had exited his role as Ethan Hardy after nine years on the series, however, the door would be left open for Rainsford to return in the future, with Sen confirming that it would not be a permanent exit for Rainsford.^[8]

Personal life

In November 2009, Rainsford was treated at Salisbury District Hospital for a gashed fist and damaged tendon after accidentally punching Luke Norris during a stage fight in the Royal Shakespeare Company production Days of Significance.^[9][10][11]

In the summer of 2014, Rainsford took three episodes of Casualty off due to paternity leave.^[12] His last episode of 2014 was aired on 29 November, and he returned at the start of 2015. The couple live in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2007	Panorama	Private Lee
2008	Doctors	JJ Bell	10 episodes
2008–2009, 2011	Waking the Dead	Luke Boyd	13 episodes
2009	National Theatre Live	Bertram
	Wild Target	Waiter	Film
2011	Secret Diary of a Call Girl	Tim	2 episodes
	Law & Order: UK	Jimmy Burton
2012	Casualty	Alexander Forbes-Blackwell
2012–2013	Call the Midwife	Jimmy Wilson	7 episodes
2014	Waiting for Dawn	Private James Williams
2014–2023	Casualty	Ethan Hardy	Series regular
2016, 2018, 2021	Holby City	Ethan Hardy	4 episodes

Video games

Year	Title	Voice role
2015	Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below	Luceus

Stage

Production	Role	Director	Company
Guy Fawkes Night	Duncan	Lucy Kerbel	The Old Vic
The Three Musketeers	D'Artagnan	Timothy Sheader	Bristol Old Vic
Men without Shadows	Francois	Mitchell Moreno	Finborough Theatre
2:22	Sam	Matthew Dunster	RUNAWAY Entertainment
Chatroom / Citizenship	William / Gary	Anna Mackmin	Royal National Theatre & Tour
Polar Bear	Stuart	Matt Wilde	Birmingham Repertory Theatre
Miles to Go	Rob	Polly Findlay	Latitude Festival
All's Well That Ends Well	Bertram	Marianne Elliott	Royal National Theatre
Days of Significance	Jamie	Maria Aberg	Royal Shakespeare Company Tour
The Man	Ben	Kate Wasserberg	Finborough Theatre
Twisted Tales	Various	Polly Findlay	Lyric Hammersmith
Love Love Love	Jamie	James Grieve	Royal Court Theatre
Wish You Were Dead	Roy Grace	Jonathan O'Boyle	Various

References

1. "George Rainsford". City Acting. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
2. Horsfall, Jonathan (25 July 2003). "George lands a top role". Burton Mail. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
3. Austin, Jeremy (2 August 2005). "Goldman Sachs scholarship of £5,000 to LAMDA student". The Stage. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
4. Mahoney, Elisabeth (18 December 2006). "The Three Musketeers". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2013.
5. Dainty, Sophie (4 September 2013). "'Call the Midwife' star George Rainsford joins 'Casualty'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
6. Dowell, Ben (3 September 2013). "Call the Midwife's Jimmy to join Casualty as new doctor". Radio Times. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
7. Kilkelly, Daniel (10 January 2014). "Casualty newcomer George Rainsford on Ethan role, future stories". Digital Spy. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
8. Lindsay, Duncan (25 November 2022). "Casualty boss Jon Sen reveals huge format change to show, big spoilers and addresses cast exits". Metro Soaps. Metro UK. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
9. Miles, Jeremy; Green, Chris (14 November 2009). "Hard-hitting take on military life draws blood". The Independent. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
10. Nikkhah, Roya (14 November 2009). "Stage fight ends with RSC actor in hospital". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
11. Morton, James (14 November 2009). "Actor injured in Lighthouse stage fight". Bournemouth Echo. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
12. "George Rainsford on Twitter". Retrieved 24 March 2018.

External links

• George Rainsford at IMDb
• George Rainsford on Bertram