Craig Fairbrass
{{Short description|English actor (born 1964)}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2017}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Craig Fairbrass
| image = Stuttgart 2023 -Comic Con Germany- Craig Fairbrass- by-RaBoe 001 (cropped-J1).jpg
| image_size = 240
| caption = Fairbrass in 2023
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1964|1|15|df=y}}
| birth_place = Mile End, London, England
| death_date =
| death_place =
| occupation = {{hlist|Actor|producer|screenwriter}}
| years_active = 1979–present
| spouse = {{marriage|Elke Kellick|1987}}
| children = 2
| website = {{url|https://craigfairbrass.co.uk}}
}}
Craig John Fairbrass (born 15 January 1964) is an English actor, producer, and screenwriter. He has made appearances in For Queen and Country (1988), London's Burning (1990), Cliffhanger (1993), Killing Time (1998), EastEnders (1999–2001), The Great Dome Robbery (2002), The Long Weekend (2005), Rise of the Footsoldier film series (2007–present), The Bank Job (2008), House of the Rising Sun (2011), St George's Day (2012), Breakdown (2014), The Hooligan Factory (2014), Muscle (2019) and Villain (2020).
He is also the original voice of Gaz and Ghost in the Call of Duty video game series (2007–present).
Early life
Craig John Fairbrass was born at Mile End Hospital in London on 15 January 1964,{{cite web|title=Craig Fairbrass: A British Actor's Powerful Rise to Iconic Status|website=Salon Privé|date=26 October 2023|accessdate=15 January 2024|url=https://www.salonprivemag.com/so-just-who-is-craig-fairbrass/}} the son of seamstress Maureen (nee Bryan) and dock worker Jack Fairbrass. He grew up in Stepney and has a younger sister named Lindsey.{{cite web | url=https://craigfairbrass.co.uk/resume-of-work | title=Resume of work for Craig Fairbrass the actor }} After being expelled from Eaglesfield Boys Comprehensive School in Woolwich at the age of 15, he successfully auditioned for the National Youth Theatre.{{cite news |last=Foster |first=Tom |date=8 August 2017 |title=Five Things You Didn't Know about Craig Fairbrass |url=http://www.tvovermind.com/entertainment-news/five-things-didnt-know-craig-fairbrass |work=TVOvermind |access-date=31 March 2018}} He then began searching for a talent agent to represent him, supporting himself financially by working as a roofer in the daytime, and working evenings as a doorman, at what he would later call some of the "less desirable nightspots" in southeast London. From these jobs, he saved enough money to buy a small sandwich shop at Woolwich Market, for a while, until he began to secure more acting roles.
Career
After a few years of walk-on roles in Emmerdale, Three Up Two Down, and Shelley, Fairbrass made his first real TV appearance as an actor in the 1984 BBC television series Big Deal as Nev in the episode "Fighting chance" followed by another BBC role in Tucker's Luck. He made his feature film acting debut as D.C. Challoner in the 1988 Working Title thriller For Queen and Country opposite Academy Award winner Denzel Washington. Film and television appearances quickly followed, including the Ray Winstone film Tank Malling, and the Channel 4 Film, The Final Frame playing Suggs's right-hand man, Franklin. He also landed a regular role as Gary 'Technique' Pagnall in the ITV drama series London's Burning in 1990. That same year Fairbrass was cast opposite Helen Mirren as Detective Inspector Frank Burkin in the Bafta/Emmy Award-winning original Prime Suspect 1 and 2.{{cite book |last=Roberts |first=Jerry |date=2009 |title=Encyclopedia of Television Film Directors |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kW8j6sHvrewC&pg=PA573 |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Scarecrow Press |page=573 |isbn=978-0-8108-6138-1}}
In 1991, he travelled to Los Angeles and secured his first Hollywood acting role in the 1993 action blockbuster Cliffhanger with Sylvester Stallone.{{Cite web |title= Craig Fairbrass credits |url= https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/craig-fairbrass/credits/3030064420/ |work= tvguide.com |access-date=31 May 2023}} This led to roles in independent films with lead roles in Beyond Bedlam (1994), with Elizabeth Hurley, Galaxis (1995), with Brigitte Nielsen, Proteus, Killing Time, and Darklands.
In 1999, Fairbrass landed the regular role of Dan Sullivan in EastEnders, leaving the show in August 2001.{{cite news |title=The Stars of EastEnders – Then and Now |url=https://vedomosti.spb.ru/stars-eastenders-now/ |work=Vedomosti |date=24 January 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180501092851/https://vedomosti.spb.ru/stars-eastenders-now/ |archive-date=1 May 2018 |url-status=dead }} He then took the lead role of Ray Betson in the Channel Five crime drama The Great Dome Robbery.
Fairbrass returned to the U.S., starring in the Chris Klein comedy, The Long Weekend, and as Henry Caine opposite Nathan Fillion in White Noise 2. In February 2007, he appeared as the renegade Jaffa, Arkad, in the episode "Talion" in the final season of Stargate SG-1, as a guest lead in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, opposite Lena Headey, and as guest lead Devon Burke, a rogue MI5 agent in David Mamet's hit show The Unit.
In 2007, he starred in the feature film Rise of the Footsoldier, as real life gangster Pat Tate, and opposite Jason Statham in The Bank Job. The following year he joined Til Schweiger in the game-based action film Far Cry (2008). In 2011, Fairbrass took the co-lead in the crime thriller St George's Day, other lead roles included Vikingdom 3D, House of the Rising Sun, opposite Dave Bautista, Hijacked, and Get Lucky and Let me Survive.
In 2012, Fairbrass took his first lead role in a US action thriller The Outsider, which starred Jason Patric, James Caan and Shannon Elizabeth. In Bula Quo!, he co-starred alongside Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi. In 2014, he took the lead alongside James Cosmo, Bruce Payne, Emmett Scanlan, and Olivia Grant. in the psychological thriller, Breakdown.
In 2015, he played the lead role of Jack Cregan in the revenge thriller London Heist alongside Steven Berkoff, which he also co-wrote.{{cite news |last=Sandwell |first=Ian |date=17 March 2015 |title='Gunned Down' starts London shoot |url= https://www.screendaily.com/news/gunned-down-starts-london-shoot/5084321.article |work=Screen Daily |access-date=31 March 2018}} The film was produced by his own son, Luke Fairbrass. Craig Fairbrass went on to win the Best Actor Award at the 2016 Marbella International Film Festival for the role.{{cite web |url= http://www.marbellafilmfestival.com/awards-2016/ |title=Awards 2016 |date=19 July 2016 |publisher=Marbella Film Festival |access-date=31 March 2018}}{{cite news |last=Smith |first=John |date=14 September 2017 |title=EWN EXCLUSIVE: The glitz and glitter of the Marbella International Film Festival returns |url= https://www.euroweeklynews.com/news/on-euro-weekly-news/costa-del-sol-malaga/145664-ewn-exclusive-the-glitz-and-glitter-of-the-marbella-international-film-festival-returns |work=EuroWeekly News |access-date=31 March 2018}}
In 2017, Fairbrass reprised his role of Pat Tate in Rise of the Footsoldier 3: The Pat Tate Years, a prequel to the 2007 original and proved to be Fairbrass's most powerful performance to date, winning him the best actor award at the 2018 National Film Awards in London.{{cite web |url= http://www.nationalfilmawards.org/winners-announced-at-the-4th-annual-national-film-awards-uk/ |title=Winners announced at the 4th annual National Film Awards UK |date=29 March 2018 |publisher=National Film Awards |access-date=31 March 2018}}
In 2020, Fairbrass played Eddie Franks in the London crime thriller Villain. He reprised his role of Pat Tate in the fifth installment of Rise of the Footsoldier Origins, directed by Nick Nevern.
In 2022, Fairbrass starred in Ross McCall's A Violent Man.{{cite web|url= https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/feb/01/a-violent-man-review-craig-fairbrass|title=A Violent Man review – hardnut prison drama is guilty as charged|website=The Guardian|last=Felperin|first=Leslie|date=1 February 2022|access-date=22 March 2022}}
=Voice=
Fairbrass provided additional voices in the video game Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (2007), then again as one of the most iconic characters in the game's history as Ghost in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) and as various characters in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Fairbrass also voiced a main role in the video game Battlefield V (2018) during the War Stories campaign mission, “Under No Flag” as George Mason.
Personal life
Fairbrass married former Page Three glamour model Elke Kellick in 1987.{{cite news |title=Interview: How I muscled into the Square; Craig Fairbrass talks about his transformation from Hollywood beefcake to Albert Square's latest bad guy. |first=Sally |last=Morgan |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Interview%3A+How+I+muscled+into+the+Square%3B+Craig+Fairbrass+talks+about...-a072206367 |newspaper=The Mirror |date=24 March 2001 |access-date=1 January 2013}} They have two sons together.
Fairbrass has been typecast as a hard British gangster and while he enjoys the roles in films revolving around knife crime, criminal gangs, and violence, Fairbrass stated in a 2020 interview: "Every time I meet on these films I always talk about 'Can we turn the violence down? Can we stay away from certain things where we don't want to glorify?' I'm very wary of the violence that is in the films. It's like playing Call of Duty [...] people say to me, 'How do you feel that you're [...] voicing characters in games that could be the instigation for someone to go out and commit murder?' I'm just an actor. At the end of the day, it's all make believe. Some people take it a step further."{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT5I0FMRxjA|title=VILLAIN: Craig Fairbrass Interview (2020) British Gangster Films|website=YouTube }}
Filmography
= Television =
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1980
| Shelley | Darth | Episode: "May the Best Man Win" |
| 1984
| Big Deal | Nev | Episode: "Fighting Chance" |
| 1985
| Who, Sir? Me, Sir? | Lifeguard | Episode: #1.2 |
| 1985
| Dino | Episode: #3.9 |
| 1986
| Gypsy Man | 8 episodes |
| 1987
| Macho | Episode: "The Marathon" |
| 1987
| Man On The Beach | Episode: "Come Sail with Me" |
| 1990
| {{sortname|The|Final Frame|nolink=y}} | Franklin | Television film |
| 1990–1991
| Gary 'Technique' Pagnall | 7 episodes |
| 1991
| D.I. Frank Burkin | Television miniseries |
| 1992
| Darth | Episode: "Accountants & Zulus" |
| 1992
| DI Frank Burkin | Television miniseries |
| 1998
| Hero | 8 episodes |
| 1998
| The Bill | Steve André | Episode: "All for One" |
| 1999
| John Harkin | Episode: "Figure Eight" |
| 1999
| An Unsuitable Job for a Woman | Jason | Episode: "Living on Risk" |
| 1999–2001
| 137 episodes |
| 2004
| Steven Smith | Episode: "Twice Bitten" |
| 2006
| Terry Rose | Episode: "War of the Roses" |
| 2007
| Arkad | Episode: "Talion" |
| 2007
| {{sortname|The|Unit}} | Devon Burke | Episode: "Side Angle Side" |
| 2008
| Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles | Fake Sarkissian | Episode: "What He Beheld" |
| 2012
| Timarek | Episode: "Three on a Match" |
| 2023
| Chef Zeff | 4 episodes |
| 2023
| Guy | 6 episodes |
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 1979
| Scum | Extra | Uncredited |
| 1984
| Real Life | Boyfriend | |
| 1988
| Driver | |
| 1988
| Challoner | |
| 1989
| Jackie | |
| 1993
| Delmar | |
| 1994
| Beyond Bedlam | Terry Hamilton | |
| 1995
| Galaxis | Tarquin | |
| 1995
| Proteus | Alex, DEA Agent | |
| 1996
| Frazer Truick | |
| 1998
| Det. Robert Bryant | |
| 1999
| Weak at Denise | Roy | |
| 2002
| Ray Betson | |
| 2004
| Se sarà luce sarà bellissimo - Moro: Un'altra storia | Brigatista | |
| 2005
| Frank Silver | |
| 2007
| Henry Caine | |
| 2007
| Pat Tate | |
| 2008
| Nick Barton | |
| 2008
| Far Cry | Jason Parker | |
| 2009
| Major Paul Davidson | |
| 2010
| The Shouting Men | Tony | |
| 2010
| Just for the Record | Malcolm 'Mental Fists' Wickes | |
| 2010
| Cole | |
| 2010
| Freddy 'Dead Cert' Frankham | |
| 2010
| Freight | Jed | |
| 2011
| Charlie Blackstone | |
| 2012
| Deranged | Anthony | |
| 2012
| Hijacked | Bruce Leib | |
| 2012
| Ray Collishaw | |
| 2013
| Sebastian | |
| 2013
| Simon | |
| 2013
| Sven | |
| 2013
| Let Me Survive | Sean | |
| 2013
| Mercenary | Voice |
| 2014
| Lex Walker | Also writer |
| 2014
| Mickey | |
| 2015
| Rise of the Footsoldier 2: Reign of the General | Pat Tate | Flashback |
| 2016
| Alfie Jennings | Also executive producer |
| 2017
| London Heist | Jack Cregan | Also executive producer and writer |
| 2017
| Rise of the Footsoldier 3: The Pat Tate Story | Pat Tate | Also executive producer |
| 2019
| Lincoln Burgess | |
| 2019
| Rise of the Footsoldier: Marbella | Pat Tate | |
| 2019
| Muscle | Terry | |
| 2020
| Villain | Eddie Franks | |
| 2021
|Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins | Pat Tate | |
| 2022
|A Violent Man |Steve Mackelson | |
| 2023
|Rise of the Footsoldier: Vengeance | Pat Tate | |
=Video games=
| class="wikitable sortable" |
| Year
! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable" | Notes |
|---|
| 2007
| Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare | Gaz, Wallcroft, additional voices | |
| 2009
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | Lt. Simon "Ghost" Riley | |
| 2010
| Swift | |
| 2011
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 | Wallcroft, additional voices | |
| 2012
| Infex | Doyle | |
| 2016
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Remastered | Gaz, Wallcroft, additional voices | |
| 2016
| Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare | Tee, additional voices | |
| 2018
| George Mason | |
| TBA
| Vat Tagaca |In production |
Awards and nominations
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|http://www.craigfairbrass.co.uk}}
- {{IMDb name|0265492}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fairbrass, Craig}}
Category:20th-century English male actors
Category:21st-century English male actors
Category:British male film actors
Category:British male television actors
Category:British male soap opera actors
Category:English male voice actors
Category:Male actors from London