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Danny Dyer
Danny Dyer Soccer Aid for UNICEF 2023.jpg
Dyer at Soccer Aid for UNICEF 2023
Born
Danial John Dyer

(1977-07-24) 24 July 1977 (age 47)
London, England
Occupation
Years active 1993–present
Spouse(s)
Joanne Mas
(m. 2016)
Children 3, including Dani

Danial John Dyer (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in Human Traffic (1999), with other notable roles Billy the Limpet in Mean Machine (2001) and as Tommy Johnson in The Football Factory (2004). Following the success of The Football Factory, Dyer was often typecast in "hard man" roles, although it was this image that allowed him to present The Real Football Factories, its spin-off, The Real Football Factories International and Danny Dyer's Deadliest Men. Dyer has also worked in theatre, having appeared in three plays written by Harold Pinter, with whom he had a close friendship.

In 2013, Dyer joined the cast of the BBC soap opera EastEnders, in the role of Mick Carter, and remained in the series until 2022. He had previously turned down a role in 2009 and, in his 2010 autobiography Straight Up, said he would not join the cast until he was "fat, bald and fifty". He won the Serial Drama Performance award at the National Television Awards in 2015, 2016, and 2019. From 2019 until 2022, he presented the BBC game show The Wall.

Early life

Danial John Dyer was born in the Custom House area of London on 24 July 1977, the son of Christine (née Meakin) and Antony Dyer. He has a younger brother, Tony (born 1979), and sister, Kayleigh (born 1986). His parents split up when he was nine and he was raised by his mother in Custom House. He began acting when he was a teen, and was bullied at school so badly by his peers that he lied about taking acting classes.

In 2016, Dyer's family history was the subject of a Series 13 episode of the BBC genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?, where it was revealed that his family hails from the Poplar area of London. Census records showed many of them working in the manual occupations connected to the docks on the River Thames. Further research found that Dyer is a descendant of Thomas Cromwell and of Elizabeth Seymour, the sister of Henry VIII's third wife Jane Seymour. Elizabeth married Cromwell's son Gregory Cromwell and, with the Seymour family's assertion to be descended from Edward III (Dyer's 25th generation ancestor), the line can be traced back to William the Conqueror and Charlemagne. In response, geneticist Adam Rutherford argued that an English person being descended from a Plantagenet king was "not remarkable", musing that "almost every Briton" can claim such descent.

Career

Television

Dyer was discovered at a local school by an agent who auditioned him for the part of Martin Fletcher in the Granada Television series Prime Suspect 3 (1993), beginning his acting career at 16. He also appeared on television in episodes of Cadfael (1994), A Touch of Frost (1995), Loved Up (1995), Thief Takers (1996), Highlander and Soldier Soldier (both 1997). His many other television roles include appearances in the 2003 Channel 4 drama Second Generation, directed by John Sen; as Malcolm, main character Michelle's stepfather, in Skins; as a football player in the second series of Hotel Babylon; and as Matt Costello in what was supposed to be the pilot episode for Breathless, a BBC two-part television series in development from BBC Northern Ireland, renamed first Blood Rush and then Kiss of Death, when it premiered on BBC One as a one-part drama on 26 May 2008.

Danny Dyer in 2007
Dyer in 2007

Beginning in 2007, Dyer became the presenter of The Real Football Factories and The Real Football Factories International, a TV documentary series on Bravo, for which he travels, in the former throughout the United Kingdom and in the latter throughout the world, to meet and interview football club fans and hooligans. In Danny Dyer's Deadliest Men, "a gritty and hard-hitting documentary series that sees him venturing into the dark depths of the British underworld and hunting down some of the most notorious and feared men in Britain today", began airing on Bravo in the United Kingdom on 20 October 2008.

In April 2009, he turned down a role in EastEnders, claiming that although he thought the role sounded good, he did not think he could cope with the pressure of additional publicity.

In February 2012, Dyer appeared as a paramedic in an episode of Casualty. In March 2013, Dyer appeared as a guest on Celebrity Juice. Dyer appeared in the sixth series of Hollyoaks Later in October 2013, as The White Man. On 1 October 2013, the BBC announced that Dyer had been cast in EastEnders from Christmas 2013, as Mick Carter, the new landlord of The Queen Victoria pub. After he began appearing as Mick, Dyer revealed that he had been offered and had turned down the part of Carl White, who was eventually played by Daniel Coonan. In February 2017, it was announced that Dyer would be taking a "short break" from EastEnders. In January 2022, it was announced that Dyer had quit EastEnders after over eight years in the role of Mick.

In June 2018, Dyer appeared as a guest panellist on Good Evening Britain, a one-off spin-off show of Good Morning Britain, to discuss Britain's exit from the European Union. In August 2018, Dyer began narrating MTV reality series, True Love or True Lies. In 2019, Dyer appeared in a history documentary, titled Danny Dyer's Right Royal Family. The two-part series premiered on BBC One on 23 January 2019. Also that year, Dyer co-presented True Love or True Lies on MTV alongside daughter Dani, as well as beginning his presenting role on The Wall on BBC One. After he announced his departure from EastEnders, it was subsequently confirmed that Dyer would also be leaving The Wall.

Film

Danny Dyer at Upton Park, 02 Oct 2010
Dyer at Upton Park in 2010

Dyer is known for his "bad boy" or "hard man" roles in film. Dyer's first film role was in Human Traffic (1999). His subsequent movie work includes Mel Smith's High Heels and Low Lifes (2001) and starring roles in Borstal Boy (2000), Mean Machine (2002) and in four films by the British film director Nick Love: Goodbye Charlie Bright (2001); The Football Factory (2004); The Business (2005); and Outlaw (2007). Among other film roles, he also appeared as the character Steve in Christopher Smith's Severance (2006); as Hayden in Adulthood (2008); and as himself in the feature documentary Tattoos: A Scarred History.

In 2008, he finished filming his roles as Pete and Tom in City Rats and 7 Lives, respectively. April 2009 saw the straight to DVD release of City Rats. Later that year, Dyer completed filming on Jack Said, a Brit noir thriller in which he played Nathan alongside Ashlie Walker, Terry Stone, David O'Hara and Simon Phillips, which was released in November 2009. This film is the prequel to Jack Says, which was released in 2008, and starred Mike Reid.

In 2009, he shot several horror films including Doghouse under the direction of Jake West, and Basement under the direction of Asham Kamboj. He played one of the lead roles in the British vampire film Dead Cert. In June 2010, he was cast for the lead role in the remake of the British horror film The Asphyx, but it failed to secure production finance and was indefinitely shelved. Dyer co-starred with Anna Walton in Deviation, a British dark thriller written and directed by J. K. Amalou.

In 2012, Dyer played the lead role in Ray Cooney's Run for Your Wife. Upon release in 2013, it was savaged by critics, who described it as one of the worst British films of all time. The film took in a mere £747 during its opening weekend.

Theatre

Dyer has performed on stage, most notably in two plays written and directed by 2005 Nobel Laureate Harold Pinter: as the Waiter in the London première of Celebration (2000), at the Almeida Theatre, which transferred to Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, in New York, as part of the Harold Pinter Festival held there in July and August 2001; and as Foster in the revival of No Man's Land (1975), at the Royal National Theatre, in London, during 2001 and 2002. In March 2008, he played Joey in a revival of Pinter's The Homecoming (1964), directed by Michael Attenborough, at the Almeida Theatre, in London. He also performed in Peter Gill's play Certain Young Men (1999) in London. From 9 September 2009 to 3 October 2009, Dyer appeared as Sid Vicious in a new play called Kurt and Sid in London's West End at the Trafalgar Studios.

Selected other work

Dyer is the voice of Kent Paul in the video games Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (2004). He also appears in The Twang's 2007 video for "Two Lovers".

I Believe in UFOs: Danny Dyer, a documentary that sees Dyer journey to various "UFO hotspots" in the UK and the US in hope of experiencing a UFO sighting, was broadcast on BBC Three on 26 January 2010. In 2016, he appeared in drag in the Lucy Rose music video for "Nebraska". In 2020, he began co-hosting Sorted with the Dyers, a podcast alongside daughter Dani.

In 2021, along with Will Mellor, Dyer recorded a new version of "Vindaloo" for NHS Charities. In January 2022, Dyer quit EastEnders so that he could accept an offer to appear on a Sky series.

Personal life

Dyer resides in Debden, Essex. He began dating Joanne Mas in 1992 but they separated after the birth of their first daughter, future television personality Dani Dyer, in 1996. They began dating other people, but soon started an affair with each other and decided to reconcile. Dyer and Mas eventually married on 3 September 2016, after she proposed to him in March 2015. They also have a second daughter and a son.

A lifelong football fan, Dyer supports West Ham United. In December 2007, he became the chairman of Kent League side Greenwich Borough after appointed by club president, fellow actor Tamer Hassan. He said, "I just love football and the chance of being involved with a club is like a dream come true." The appointment was actually a publicity stunt to raise the profile of the club.

In 2016, Dyer travelled to Sierra Leone to take part in Sport Relief. He said, "I don't know what to expect when I go over there, but I'm hoping that it will make some kind of difference. It's an honour to be asked."

In 2011, Dyer released an autobiography titled Straight Up. In 2016, he released a second autobiography titled The World According to Danny Dyer: Life Lessons from the East End.

Filmography (selected)

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1999 Human Traffic Moff
The Trench Lance Cpl. Victor Dell
2000 Borstal Boy Charlie Milwall
Greenfingers Tony
2001 Goodbye Charlie Bright Francis
High Heels and Low Lifes Danny
Mean Machine Billy the Limpet
Tabloid Joe Public
Is Harry on the Boat? Brad
2003 Wasp Dave Short film
2004 Free Speech Mark
The Football Factory Tommy Johnson
2005 The Business Frankie
2006 The Other Half Mark Lamanuzzi
Severance Steve
2007 Outlaw Gene Dekker
Straightheads Adam
The All Together Dennis Earle
2008 Adulthood Hayden
2009 City Rats Pete
Malice in Wonderland Whitey
Doghouse Neil
Jack Said Nathan
Dead Man Running Bing
Just for the Record Derek La Farge
The Rapture Wraith
Catwalk Photographer
2010 Basement Gary
Devil's Playground Joe
Dead Cert Roger Kipling Cameo
The Last Seven Angel of Death
2011 Age of Heroes Rains
Freerunner Mr. Frank
7lives Tom
2012 Deviation Frankie
2013 Run For Your Wife John Smith
Vendetta Jimmy
2014 Blood Shot (aka In a Heartbeat) Phillip
The Hooligan Factory Jeff Cameo
2015 Assassin James

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1993 Prime Suspect Martin Fletcher Episode: "Prime Suspect 3"
The Bill Darrell Hughes Episode: "Unlucky for Some"
1994 Cadfael Bran Episode: "The Leper of St. Giles"
1995 A Touch of Frost Shaun Everett Episode: "Dead Male One"
Crown Prosecutor Shane Cassidy Episode: "Episode #1.5"
Loved Up Billy TV movie
Children's Ward Tony Episode: "Episode #8.3"
1996 The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Tom Episode: "Heartstones, Part 2"
Thief Takers Alec Episode: "The Outcasts"
Screen Two Bert Episode: "Loving"
The Bill Gavin Parker Episodes: "Home Truths" and "Merrily on High"
1996–1997 Bramwell Danny Episodes: "Episode #2.3" and "Episode #3.3"
1997 Ain't Misbehavin' Young Ronnie 3 episodes
Highlander Andrew Baines Episode: "Avatar"
Soldier Soldier Gary Fox Episodes: "Line of Departure" and "Sounds of War"
2002 Dead Casual Wayne TV movie
Foyle's War Tony Lucciano Episode: "A Lesson in Murder"
2003 Serious and Organised Darren Evans Episodes: "Greed" and "Unfaithful"
Second Generation Jack TV movie
2004 Family Business Yankie 6 episodes
2005 MIT: Murder Investigation Team Marc Sharaff 1 episode
Rose and Maloney Danny Episode: "Carl Callaghan"
2006 All in the Game Martin TV movie
2007 Hotel Babylon Dave Osbourne Episode: "Episode #2.2"
Skins Malcolm Episodes: "Cassie" and "Michelle"
2008 Kiss of Death Matt Costello TV movie
2011 Mongrels Himself Cameo
2012 Casualty Rossy Episode: "Love Is"
2013 Plebs Cassius Episode: "The Gladiator"
Power to the People Marc Cannon Episodes: "Ops Populus" and "Keeping the Faith"
Hollyoaks Later The White Man 4 episodes
2013–2022 EastEnders Mick Carter Regular role 1145 episodes
2018 True Love or True Lies Himself Co-presenter
All Round to Mrs. Brown's Himself 1 episode
2019 Danny Dyer's Right Royal Family Himself Main role
2019–2022 The Wall Himself Presenter
2020 EastEnders: Secrets from the Square Himself Episode: "Mick and Linda"
2021 The Wheel Participant Christmas special
2023 Cheat Co-host Alongside Ellie Taylor. Game show
Scared of The Dark Host Presenter. Reality TV series.
Absolutely Dyer: Danny & Dani do Italy Himself With Dani Dyer
Heat Steve Cameron Four-part series
Henpocalypse! Himself TV Series
2024 The Great Celebrity Bake Off for Stand Up To Cancer Himself One episode
Celebrity Gogglebox Himself; With Dani Dyer Series 6
Danny Dyer: How To Be A Man Himself In-production
Mr. Bigstuff Lee Six-part comedy. Second series commissioned
Rivals Freddie Jones

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2002 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Kent Paul
2004 Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
2021 Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition Archival recordings
Remasters of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas only

Music videos

Year Title Artist
2016 "Nebraska" Lucy Rose
2024 "Sail Away"

Stage

  • Certain Young Men (1999), by Peter Gill
  • Celebration (2000), by Harold Pinter
  • No Man's Land (2001–2002 revival), by Harold Pinter
  • The Homecoming (2008 revival), by Harold Pinter
  • Kurt and Sid (2009), by Roy Smiles

Awards and nominations

Year Awards Category Work Result Ref.
2014 The British Soap Awards Best Actor EastEnders Nominated
Best On-Screen Partnership (shared with Kellie Bright) Nominated
2015 Best Actor Nominated
2016 Nominated
Best On-Screen Partnership (shared with Kellie Bright) Nominated
2015 20th National Television Awards Serial Drama Performance Won
2016 21st National Television Awards Won
2021 26th National Television Awards Nominated
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