Ian Sharrock as “Jackie Merrick”
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Ian Sharrock as “Jackie Merrick” |
Ian was a professional actor in the UK for over twenty-eight years, beginning his career at the Corona Academy of Theatre and Dramatic Art in Hammersmith, London, at the tender age of eleven.
Learning his craft over the following nine years he worked in all the theatrical disciplines; Theatre, Television, Film and Radio, working alongside many well known and established stars such as; Danny Kaye, David Niven, Jodie Foster, Brian Cox and Mia Farrow.
In 1980 Ian joined the cast of “Emmerdale Farm” and spent the next nine years playing the role of ‘Jackie Merrick’. (Pictured here with his on-screen father Jack Sugden played by recently deceased and greatly missed friend and fellow actor Clive Hornby) It was an extraordinarily exciting period of his life working at Yorkshire Television within a close-knit “family” of fellow actors and great fun too; for a young man creating a character that was to be (affectionately) dubbed as YTV’s answer to ‘James Dean!’
On leaving the show in ’89 Ian resumed the life of a jobbing actor and enjoyed a continuous series of successes both in the theatre (such as the part of ‘Mole’ in The Wind In The Willows for the National Theatre Company at The Old Vic) and on TV (‘Jed’; Steve Coogans “Mentalist!” in ‘I’m Alan Partridge’).
Despite all his successes on TV and film it is live theatre that has the real claim to his heart and he was a respected and sought after leading man for over a decade in a great many diverse productions throughout the UK; from farce to tragedy and thriller to pantomime.
“There can be no more enjoyable and truly rewarding experience for an actor than to take an audience by the hand and lead them through an adventure of the imagination that can be so absorbing and distracting as to allow them to literally forget all their problems for an hour or two and collectively enjoy the suspension of their own disbelief” say’s Sharrock... or in other words... “I luv live theatre –there’s nart like it!”
With a new millennium came a new wife, a new country and a whole new life!
Ian has now, with the help of his wife and some close friends, formed “The English Live Theatre Company” which launches its first production at The Theatre in Garden City, San Eugenio on the 31st of August from 7.30 pm and promises a great night of live entertainment. Click the button below for more info.
Ian hopes that if all goes well he can use his contacts back in the UK to bring more and more Live Theatre to our Island.