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Olivia Cooke was born and raised in Oldham, a former textile manufacturing town in Greater Manchester, North West England. She comes from a family of non-actors; her father, John, is a retired police officer, and her mother is a sales representative. Cooke attended Royton and Crompton Secondary School and studied drama at Oldham Sixth Form College, leaving before the end of her A-levels to star in Blackout.

At a young age, Cooke practiced ballet and gymnastics. She started acting when she was 8 years old at an after-school drama programme in her hometown, called the Oldham Theatre Workshop. For years, Cooke performed only as part of the ensemble, until she was 17, when she starred as Maria in Oldham Sixth Form College's production of West Side Story. Soon after, Cooke landed her first and last leading role for the Oldham Theatre, in Prom: The Musical, a remake of Cinderella.

Most recognizable to international audiences for her lead role in Shaun of the Dead (2004), Kate Ashfield is a powerful British actress known for superlative and award-winning work in This Little Life (2003) (B.I.F.A. nomination, Best Actress), Late Night Shopping (2001) (B.I.F.A. Best Actress Award), and countless others. She has been seen in classical and contemporary television and film roles, and she continues to build a varied and exciting list of credits.

Siobhan Finneran was born on 27 April 1966 in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Downton Abbey (2010), Boy A (2007) and Happy Valley (2014). She was previously married to Mark Jordon.

Sarah Lancashire was born on 10 October 1964 in Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK. She is an actress and producer, known for Happy Valley (2014), Yesterday (2019) and Clocking Off (2000). She has been married to Peter Salmon since 22 August 2001. They have one child. She was previously married to Gary Hargreaves.

Ricky was born in Oldham, Lancashire. His father was in the Royal Air Force which meant travelling the world to different bases. Ricky was scouted to play as a professional footballer for Arsenal and Celtic football clubs but this was thwarted by injury and instead he went to Southampton University to read Law. Whilst there he began modeling and became the Face of Reebok for 2000. He then moved into acting, with his first lead role in the football drama 'Dream Team'. In 2007 he left to play in another British soap, as P.C. Calvin Valentine in the award winning soap 'Hollyoaks'. In 2010, Ricky took his talents to Los Angeles immediately booking a lead in Sony romantic comedy Austenland before gaining several TV roles in mistresses, NCIS,single ladies amongst others. His versatility and nuance depicted as Lincoln in sci fi Netflix drama The100 before his breakout role and critically acclaimed portrayal as shadow Moon in the award winning American Gods ,streamed worldwide on Amazon

Born September 30, 1952, in Royton, near Oldham, England, Jack Wild was discovered by talent agent June Collins, mother of rock star Phil Collins. His breakthrough came when he landed the role of Oliver in the London stage production of "Oliver!" When it came to casting the film, the role of the Artful Dodger went to Jack, a role that resulted in his getting an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Fresh from this success, Jack was offered the lead role in the American television series H.R. Pufnstuf (1969). This Sid Krofft and Marty Krofft production featured Wild as a boy marooned in an enchanted land with puppets and actors in elaborate costumes. The success of this program led to Wild reprising the role for the film version, Pufnstuf (1970). Other roles followed, including Melody (1971) and Flight of the Doves (1971). Around the same time, Wild released three albums ("The Jack Wild Album"; "Everything's Coming up Roses", featuring along with cover numbers a couple of new songs written by up-and-coming songwriter Lynsey de Paul; and "Beautiful World"). By 1972, however, he was already being demoted to the role of supporting actor for The Pied Piper (1972). He also appeared in Our Mutual Friend (1976). He returned to films in two small roles: the miller's son in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) and a peddler in Basil (1998). Wild underwent surgery for oral cancer in July 2004, and had some vocal cords and part of his tongue removed. Unfortunately, the cancer proved untreatable and he died on 1 March 2006.

Jo (Joanne) Victoria Hartley is an English actress born in Oldham, Lancashire.

Her acting debut was playing Gretl Von Trapp in a theatre production of 'The Sound Of Music'.

In 2002 Shane Meadows cast Jo as Marie in the Film4 cult classic movie 'Dead Man's Shoes', starring Paddy Considine and Toby Kebbell. She reunited with Shane for the award winning movie 'This Is England' and critically acclaimed BAFTA award winning TV show 'This is England 86, 88 and 90' to play Cynthia.

She starred alongside Hugh Jackman, Taron Egerton and Christopher Walken as Janette Edwards in Dexter Fletcher's 'Eddie the Eagle', joined Alice Lowe and the cast for 'Prevenge', starred alongside Heather Graham and Stephen Mangan in David Cross's TV comedy 'Bliss', played the rebellious Angela in hit TV show 'Not Safe for Work' starring Zawe Ashton.

In 2015 Jo was cast as Pauline Gray in Ricky Gervais's hit movie 'David Brent-Life on the Road', she collaborated with Ricky once again to play June, in the award winning TV show 'After Life' for Netflix, then In 2019 Jo played Trina, a woman living with bi-polar disorder, in the Bafta award winning TV show (Best Drama), 'In My Skin' for the BBC and HULU.

Jo was nominated for a British Independent Film Award (Best Supporting Actress) for her role as Tina in Marley Morrison's multi-award winning British coming of-age movie 'Sweetheart' in 2021.

In 2022 she played Nicola Fishwick in 'Bank Of Dave' for Netflix, alongside Rory Kinnear, Joel Fry and Phoebe Dynevor and executive produced her first feature film, 'Swede Caroline', in which she plays the titular role of Caroline Shumpert.

Lancashire-born Warren Clarke was an actor of immense presence and considerable versatility who turned his wide-shouldered, robust appearance and lived-in, hangdog facial features into an asset. For more than two and a half decades he had toiled in a wide variety of supporting roles before finding international success as the often crude, irascible, heavy-drinking Superintendant Andy Dalziel in TV's Dalziel and Pascoe (1996). When the series began, Clarke had summed up Dalziel as 'a beer-swilling chauvinist pig', but the character evolved and became more complex and endearing (in a curmudgeonly sort of way) over the show's eleven-year duration. There were also commonalities between the actor and his creation: impatience, a reputation for not tolerating fools gladly; a humorous, irreverent nature and a shared dislike for political correctness. In private life, Clarke was passionate about football (a lifelong Manchester City supporter) and golf.

The son of a hard-working stained glass maker, Clarke developed his love for the performing arts while in his teens. A frequent visitor to the cinema for Saturday morning and matinée screenings ("Flash Gordon" seemed to have been a particular favourite), he was actively encouraged by his parents to follow his chosen vocation. He performed in amateur theatrics, meanwhile earning his money as a copy boy, running errands for the Manchester Evening News, then working in a fruit and vegetable market before securing his first acting gig with Huddersfield Rep at the age of eighteen. Clarke once recalled his first performance, as an elderly German academic, which was marred by a make-up malfunction when the self-raising flour he had put in his hair to make it appear white mixed with perspiration, turned to dough and ran down his face. He would eventually master the stage (enacting, among other parts, Caligula in John Mortimer's 1972 adaptation of "I, Claudius" and Winston Churchill in "Three Days in May" at the West End, a performance the reviewer of The Guardian described as "utterly persuasive").

From the late 1960's, Clarke found more or less regular television work, at first with Granada in series like The Avengers (1961) and Callan (1967). For years he remained a struggling actor, earning barely enough to make ends meet. He performed on stage at the Royal Court in London, and, to improve his situation, earned a second income as a van driver. He finally attracted attention on the big screen as a violent, bowler-hatted thug in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange (1971). The turning point in Clarke's career was his role as a pig-headed manager of an engineering firm involved in a chalk-and-cheese relationship with a liberal-minded academic in Nice Work (1989). In the years between, his expressive features graced a succession of diverse leading and supporting parts in both comedy and drama: Churchill in ITV's Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill (1974); Quasimodo in the 1976 television version of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame"; a mutinous Roman soldier in the epic miniseries Masada (1981); a surly East German STASI officer in the uproarious parody Top Secret! (1984); a pig-fixated Regency period industrialist in Blackadder the Third (1987); stalwart, bewhiskered Lawrence Boythorne in BBC's outstanding production of Bleak House (2005); "pathetically nice" market gardener Brian Addis in the first two seasons of Down to Earth (2000). Clarke's guest appearances were prolific: from Elsie Tanner's nephew in Coronation Street (1960) to a querulous diabetic patient in Call the Midwife (2012).

Always a welcome presence in period drama, he had been cast in Poldark (2015), a remake of the popular 1975 miniseries, based on the novels by Winston Graham. Filming had already begun in Bristol and Cornwall when Clarke died in his sleep at the age of 67.

'Eric Sykes' started as a radio scriptwriter but he soon found he could perform as well as write. The slight handicap of being very hard of hearing doesn't interfere with his wonderful comic timing. The spectacles he wears have no lenses but contain a bone conducting hearing aid.

Jack Deam was born in 1972 in Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for The Life and Times of Henry Pratt (1992), Life on Mars (2006) and Father Brown (2013).

Brian Cox was born on 3 March 1968 in Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Sunshine (2007), The Last Star and Absolutely Anything (2015). He has been married to Gia Milinovich since 2003. They have one child.

After leaving school he spent 9 years working at Oldham Repertory Theatre in Lancashire becoming the manager and married Gillian who was his assistant stage manager. They live at Weybridge, Surrey where they spend their leisure time on the river bank fishing for Perch and Chub and now and then go sea fishing for Cod and sea Trout yet he rarely eats what he catches. His record catch was a 20 pound pike on the Thames which Gillian cooked but he found it revolting and said it was just like old rope. He said that fly-fishing and spinning where you're on your feet all the time casting is much more interesting than just sitting waiting for a fish to bite. His rule is that as soon as he finishes a film or a series he takes a fishing break.

Paul Hilton was born in 1970 in Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Lady Macbeth (2016), Wuthering Heights (2011) and Wire in the Blood (2002). He is married to Anastasia Hille. They have one child.

Alex Carter was born on 7 May 1982 in Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for Dark Heart (2016), Cuffs (2015) and So Awkward (2015).

Adam Fogerty was born on 6 March 1969 in Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor and producer, known for The Gallows Pole (2023), Snatch (2000) and Legend (2015).

Nicola Stephenson was born on 5 July 1971 in Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for The Rainbow (1989), Clocking Off (2000) and Casualty (1986). She is married to Paul Stephenson. They have two children.

Mark wanted to be an actor after watching Steve McQueen movies as a child. While still at school he attended Oldham Theatre Workshop where he formed the Damned Busters and worked clubs, pubs and did street theatre to earn his Equity card. After a small part in a film 'Number One' Mark was cast as Ian on the BBC's much loved Seaview. Working mostly for Yorkshire television, Granada and BBC Manchester, Mark kept very busy for the next few years. With some theatre under his belt as well as commercials, noticeably as the door to door salesman in the award-winning Harp Lager campaign, he got the part of PC Phil Bellamy in ITV's Heartbeat. Mark made this character one of Britain's most-loved policemen but after sixteen years thought it time to hang up his uniform.

Mark set up a production company to produce his first short film To the Sea Again (2006) which he also directed. The film went on to play many festivals and took Mark to Hollywood for the final of Moondance 2007.

Neil Bell was born in 1970 in Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Dead Man's Shoes (2004), Dune: Part One (2021) and Enola Holmes (2020).

Christopher Biggins was born on 16 December 1948 in Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor and writer, known for The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975), Revelations (2005) and Masada (1981). He has been married to Neil Sinclair since 30 December 2006. He was previously married to Beatrice Aston.

Marlene Mc'Cohen was born in Oldham, England, UK. She is known for It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005), Interstellar Wars (2016) and Captain Battle: Legacy War (2013).

After his parents divorced, he became a wayward, rebellious teenager. Deciding he should instill himself with some discipline, he joined a naval training ship for two years. His first taste of acting came during ten years subsequent service in the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy.

Shobna Gulati is a British actress, writer, and dancer. Gulati is a soap star best known for playing Anita in Victoria Wood's Dinnerladies and Sunita Alahan in the long-running soap opera Coronation Street from 2001 to 2006, a role to which she returned at the end of 2009 and departed again in 2013. From 13 March 2013 to 30 May 2014, Gulati appeared as a panellist on the lunchtime chat-show Loose Women.

Gulati is also one of very few actors to have appeared in both Coronation Street and its rival series EastEnders (in 2000).

Gulati was born in Oldham, Lancashire to parents of Hindu Indian descent. She has a degree in Arabic and Middle Eastern politics from the University of Manchester.

One of Gulati's earliest appearances was as a dancer in the video for Boy George's 1991 single "Bow Down Mister." In the late 1990s, she received excellent reviews for her work in Victoria Wood's BBC sitcom Dinnerladies as a main character, this finished in 2000 after two years and she appeared in both series. She appeared as Ameena Badawi from October to December 2000, in EastEnders she is one of few to have appeared in both rival-soaps EastEnders and Coronation Street, also Gulati appeared in the crossover between both soap's (East Street) in 2010 as her main character, Sunita. In 2001, she appeared in the short film Shadowscan, directed by Tinge Krishnan, which won a Bafta Award; and, in 2004, Gulati was nominated for a Manchester Evening News theatre award for her work in the play Dancing Within Walls, which was staged at the Contact Theatre in Manchester.

Gulati has also appeared on the TV quiz shows Call My Bluff, Have I Got News for You, The Weakest Link, Russian Roulette and as Diana Ross in Celebrity Stars in Their Eyes. In early 2006, Gulati took part in the Reality TV series Soapstar Superstar.

After Gulati left Coronation Street initially in 2006, she played Nisha Clayton, a recurring role in the final series of Where the Heart Is and made appearances in New Street Law and the one-off comedy drama Magnolia which was written by Dave Spikey for BBC's Comedy Playhouse series.

In October 2006, Gulati appeared at the Royal Albert Hall as part of a short skit featured in The Secret Policeman's Ball. In the sketch, Gulati and co-star Nitin Ganatra play a holidaying couple who are under the mistaken belief Guantanamo Bay is a holiday resort. The sketch also starred American actors Chevy Chase and Seth Green.

Gulati has recently been seen as one of many storytellers in the CBBC revival of Jackanory and in the UK tour of the hit play Girls Night by Louise Roche. She also appeared on the Channel 4 special Empire's Children, tracing her family's history during the partition of India. In summer 2007, she appeared in Pretend You Have Big Buildings at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester.

In 2008, Gulati made her debut as a filmmaker, producing the short film Akshay for the Motiroti's 60x60 Secs.

During this same period, the actress returned to her Coronation Street role as Sunita Alahan, where she stayed for three years.

On 11 June 2009, Gulati appeared in the BBC1 programme Celebrity MasterChef. She did the first stage tour of Dinnerladies in early 2009 and she has appeared as a guest story teller for Bedtime Stories (CBBC). In November 2010, Gulati was a guest panellist on ITVs flagship show Loose Women, to celebrate fifty years of Coronation Street and in April 2012, to celebrate soap week and in June 2011, Gulati was a guest on Countdown. Upon announcing her departure from Coronation Street, the actress expressed her desire to write and perform more comedy than her soap-opera career permitted her time to do. In 2016, she appeared in the ITV/Netflix series Paranoid. Gulati also made a guest appearance on Casualty on 29th October 2016.

Gulati married the architect Anshu Srivastava in a Hindu ceremony on 10 November 1990 but the couple divorced in May 1994.

Angela Curran was born on 3 October 1948 in Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for The Iron Lady (2011), Mike Bassett: England Manager (2001) and Jane Eyre (2011).

Ian Mercer was born in 1962 in Oldham, Lancashire, England, UK. He is an actor, known for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), The Boat That Rocked (2009) and The Legend of Tarzan (2016). He is married to Susan Fennwick.

Ray Chan was born on 1 December 1967 in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, UK. He was an art director and production designer, known for Avengers: Endgame (2019), Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Children of Men (2006). He was married to Lindsay. He died on 23 April 2024 in Wales, UK.