Bill Ward (actor)

Bill Ward (born 5 May 1967) is an English actor. He is known for his soap opera roles as Charlie Stubbs in Coronation Street and James Barton in Emmerdale.

Bill Ward
Born	(1967-05-05) 5 May 1967 (age 57) Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Alma mater	Bristol University
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1984–present
Known for	Coronation Street Emmerdale

Early life

Ward was educated at Oundle School and Bristol University where he obtained a degree in Modern British History,^[1] and worked as an advertising executive before beginning his professional acting career in the 1980s.^[1]

Career

Ward acted widely in theatre and television, joining the cast of Coronation Street in 2003, portraying local builder Charlie Stubbs, until 2007 when his character was killed by Tracy Barlow after a domestic abuse storyline.^[2] He made his second appearance in a major soap opera role as James Barton in Emmerdale beginning in 2013.^[3] However, Ward announced in August 2016 that he was quitting the soap, and his character was killed off in October 2016. Outside of acting, Ward is noted as a photographer.^[4]

Ward also had a role in 2003 in BBC TV's EastEnders, in which he played the role of Mike Parker. He also has had roles in shows such as ITV's The Bill and Heartbeat. In 2019, he starred as retired drag queen Hugo Battersby / Loco Chanelle in the acclaimed musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie at the Apollo Theatre for a limited run. In December 2020, it was revealed that Ward had undertaken work as a delivery driver for Tesco, after several acting jobs he had scheduled were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[5] In September 2023, he appeared in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors as Mickey Gilmore.^[6]

It was announced in April 2024^[7] that Ward would Headline in Bridlington Spa pantomime playing the role of Fleshcreep in Jack and the Beanstalk, running from 14 December 2024 to 5 January 2025.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Secret Places	Mr. Watts	Film
2001	Jonathan Creek	Vernon Spools	Episode: "Satan's Chimney"
2002	In Deep	Policeman	Episodes: "Blood Loss: Parts 1 & 2"
	Footballers' Wives	Mike Grainger	Episodes: "Getting a Result" and "Winning the Double"
	Rose and Maloney	Mikey	Episode: "Pilot: Part 1"
2003	EastEnders	Mike Parker	1 episode
	The Bill	Charlie Phillips	2 episodes
	Holby City	Patrick Sanders	Episode: "House of Cards"
2003–2007	Coronation Street	Charlie Stubbs	Series regular; 421 episodes
2004	Fallen	Sykes	Television film
2007	Cold Blood	Paul Attwell	Episode: "Dead and Buried"
2008	Midsomer Murders	Sam Nelms	Episode: "Talking to the Dead"
	Heartbeat	Mad Dan Neeley	Episode: "It Came from Outer Space"
	The Bill	Rob Towler	4 episodes
2009	Robin Hood	Rufus	Episode: "Sins of the Father"
	Doctors	Larry Bryan	Episode: "The Romantics"
	Everything But the Ball	Geoff	Television film
2010	Tangled	Nick Hobbes
2011	The Great Ghost Rescue	Lord Alfred Seymour	Film
2012	Casualty	Vaughan Morrison	Episode: "Zero Sum Game"
	Crime Stories	Carl Thompson	Series 1: Episode 6
	Doctors	Reverend Roderick McAllister	Episode: "Blood Upon the Rose"
2013	Silent Witness	Hearns	Episodes: "Trust: Parts 1 & 2"
2013–2017	Emmerdale	James Barton	Series regular; 341 episodes
2015	A Dark Reflection	Terry	Film
	Not Alone	Frank
2017	Legally Blonde: The Musical	Professor Callahan	Musical
2020	After Life	Simon	Supporting role; 3 episodes
2021	Before We Die	Sean Hardacre	3 episodes
	Casualty	Mike Sartwell	Series 35: Episode 26
2022	Vera	Peter Henson	Series 11: Episode 3: "Tyger Tyger"
2023	Doctors	Mickey Gilmore	Guest role