Michael French (born Michael Clark, 17 September 1962) is an English actor, known for his roles as David Wicks in EastEnders; Nick Jordan, a consultant and Clinical Lead, Senior Consultant in emergency medicine in Casualty and former cardiothoracic registrar in its spin-off series Holby City; and Jeff Slade in the BBC sci-fi crime series Crime Traveller.
Michael French | |
|---|---|
| Born | Michael Clark 17 September 1962 (age 62)[1] Bow, London, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1983– |
Biography
Michael French was born Michael Clark in Bow, London, on 17 September 1962.[1][2] He appeared in school productions and shows put on by a local drama club.[2] When he was 20, French worked as an entertainer at the Holiday Club International in Majorca.[2] When he returned to Britain, at the age of 22, French got his first acting break in the musical Godspell at the Kenneth More Theatre in Ilford, east London.[2] He spent the next three years touring in small productions before becoming disillusioned with his lack of success and taking a job as an air steward for British Airways.[2] Later, French quit his job with British Airways, began studying acting at the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts and graduated in 1992.[2] He chose to take his mother's maiden surname for professional purposes.
After his family moved to central London and then Essex when he was a child, his first stage experience was as a teenager when the mother of television presenter Ben Shephard cast him in a production at the drama group that she ran in Theydon Bois.[citation needed]
In 1993, an EastEnders casting agent saw him performing in Les Misérables in London's West End and he was cast as David Wicks in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.[1][3] He appeared in EastEnders between 1993 and 1996, and later reprised his role in 2012 for the departure of Pam St Clement who played his on-screen mother Pat Butcher, and again between 2013 and 2014.[4][5][6] Due to the high-profile role, he was outed as gay by tabloids in 1996.[7] He also appeared as Nick Jordan in Casualty and its spin-off programme Holby City, between 1998 and 2000, returning to the role in Casualty between 2006 and 2013.[8][9][10]
Other television work included Crime Traveller (1997),[11] and Born and Bred (2002-2004).[12] His other theatre work included Sacred Heart (1999),[3][13] Art (2000),[14] Chicago (2004),[15] and The Sound of Music (2014).[16] In July 2024, it was announced that French would be reprising his role of David Wicks in EastEnders for a short stint later in the year.[17]
Filmography
| Year | Show | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1993–1996, 2012–2014, 2024 | EastEnders | David Wicks | Series regular (463 episodes) |
| 1997 | Crime Traveller | Detective Jeff Slade | 8 part series |
| 1998, 2008–2013 | Casualty | Nick Jordan | Series regular |
| 1999–2000, 2006, 2010 | Holby City | ||
| 2001 | The Fabulous Bagel Boys | DS Alexander Murchison | |
| The Gentleman Thief | Ellis Bride | ||
| 2004 | The Afternoon Play | Hardy Rose | 1 episode: "Sons, Daughters and Lovers" |
| 2001–2004 | Born and Bred | Dr. Tom Gilder | Series regular |
| 2005 | Casualty@Holby City | Nick Jordan | 2 episodes: "Deny Thy Father" (Parts 1&2) |
| 2006 | Dalziel and Pascoe | Gary Lescott | 1 episode: "Wrong Time, Wrong Place" |
| 2018 | Bargain Hunt | Self | 1 episode |
References
External links
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