Christopher Eccleston

Christopher Eccleston married Mischka in November 2011. Their first child, Albert, was born in February 2012, and their second child, Esme, was born in 2013. The couple divorced in December 2015.

He was a regular marathon runner till 2000. In September 2007, Salford's Pendleton College named its new auditorium the Eccleston Theatre.

He is an avid charity worker, and was a Mencap charity ambassador. He is also a supporter of the British Red Cross, and supports research for Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia—his father suffered from vascular dementia in his later years until his death in 2012.

Christopher Eccleston was born on February 16, 1964, in Langworthy, Salford, the UK, to Elsie and Ronnie Eccleston. He has two elder brothers, Alan and Keith, who are twins, and eight years his senior. When Christopher was seven months old, his family moved from Blodwell Street to Little Hulton.

He attended Joseph Eastham High School, where he was the head boy. As a teenager he was influenced by television dramas like ‘Boys from the Blackstuff’, and was inspired to pursue a career in acting.

He did a two-year Performance Foundation Course at Salford Tech, and was trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama. In his early years, he performed in classics, including the works of Chekhov, Shakespeare, and Molière.

When Christopher Eccleston was 25, he made his professional stage debut in the Bristol Old Vic's production of ‘A Streetcar Named Desire’. He struggled a lot initially, and while he was awaiting his acting career to take off, he did a variety of odd jobs—at a supermarket, on building sites, and as a model.

He first came to prominence as Derek Bentley in the film ‘Let Him Have It’ in 1991, and as Inspector Morse in an episode of ‘Second Time Around’, the same year. In 1992, he portrayed the role of Sean Maddox in ‘Friday on my Mind’, a BBC drama miniseries.

He did a regular role in the television series ‘Cracker’ in 1993-94, which heightened his recognition in the UK, and after he left the series, his character was killed off in 1994. In the same year, he appeared in the episode ‘One, Two, Buckle My Shoe’ of the series ‘Poirot’.

In 1994, he appeared in the Danny Boyle film ‘Shallow Grave’. In the same year, he landed the role of Nicky Hutchinson in the epic BBC serial ‘Our Friends in the North’, which aired on BBC Two in 1996.

In his film career he acted in a number of movies, such as ‘Jude’ in 1996, ‘Elizabeth’ in 1998, ‘eXistenZ’ in 1999, ‘Gone in 60 Seconds’ in 2000. In 2002, he portrayed a major role in ‘Revengers Tragedy,’ adapted from Thomas Middleton's play of the same name.

Christopher Eccleston was voted the Most Popular Actor at the 2005 National Television Awards for his portrayal in ‘Doctor Who’. The series was a highly successful one and has since garnered a cult following in the UK along with being recognized as one of Britain's finest television programs.