Dexter Fletcher
Dexter Fletcher | |
|---|---|
 Fletcher at the 58th BFI London Film Festival in 2014 | |
| Born | 31 January 1966 |
| Occupation(s) | Director, Writer, Actor |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Spouse | |
Dexter Fletcher (born 31 January 1966) is an English actor and director. He appeared in Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, crime comedy Smoking Guns, as well as television roles in such shows as the comedy-drama Hotel Babylon, the HBO series Band of Brothers, and earlier in his career, the children's show Press Gang and the film Bugsy Malone. He also had a short-lived stint at presenting the third series of Channel 4's GamesMaster that aired between 1993 and 1994.
Fletcher made his directorial debut with Wild Bill (2011), and also directed Sunshine On Leith (2013) and Eddie the Eagle (2016). Fletcher replaced Bryan Singer as director of Bohemian Rhapsody, a film biopic about the band Queen, released in October 2018; due to DGA rules, he received executive producer credit. His most recent film, Rocketman (2019), is based on Elton John.
Career
Fletcher trained at the Anna Scher Theatre drama club.[1] Fletcher's first film part was as Baby Face in Bugsy Malone (1976). He made his stage début the following year in a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. As a child actor, Fletcher was a regular feature in British productions in the early 1980s such as The Long Good Friday, The Elephant Man, and The Bounty. As an adult, he has appeared on television as rebellious teenager Spike Thomson in Press Gang and also Murder Most Horrid (1991) with Dawn French. His American accent had some fans convinced that he actually is an American.[2] He has starred in the films Caravaggio (1986), The Rachel Papers (1989), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998), Layer Cake (2004), AffirmFilm's Solomon as Rehoboam, and Universal's Doom as a communications officer nicknamed "Pinky".[3]
On television, he has appeared in the major HBO drama, Band of Brothers and in a supporting role in the BBC One historical drama The Virgin Queen (US PBS 2005, UK 2006). He also appeared in Kylie Minogue's 1997 released music video for "Some Kind of Bliss". Fletcher has starred on BBC One in a series based on the Imogen Edwards-Jones's book, Hotel Babylon which ran for four series before being cancelled in 2009.[1] He also appeared in one episode, "The Booby and the Beast", of BBC's Robin Hood series 2 as the German Count Friedrich and in the 2008 radio series The Way We Live Right Now.
He appeared in Bo! Selecta spin off, A Bear's Tail as 'The Scriptwriter' after fellow Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels star Nick Moran portrayed this role in the pilot, but not in the series proper. He played a brief role in the BBC series New Tricks, in the episode "Final Curtain", where he played fictional actor, Tommy Jackson.
He also appeared in the Boon episode "Walking Off Air", playing Eddie Cotton.[4] In 2009, he appeared in Misfits as Nathan Young's dad, reprising the role in 2010 for the second series. Fletcher stars in 2009 in the vampire film Dead Cert, which is directed by Steven Lawson.[5]
2011 saw him acting in his first role as a police officer, as Detective Edwards in the British film noir Jack Falls, alongside his Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels co-stars Jason Flemyng and Alan Ford. In 2012, Fletcher had a small role in horror-comedy Cockneys vs Zombies, where he played the character 'Dad Maguire'. In 2015 Fletcher played the role of 'Scooter' in episode 5 of the 8-part BBC TV drama The Interceptor. He also took the lead role as history teacher Mr Sheers in supernatural British teen film Coven. In 2016 Fletcher played the role of 'Paul' in the cult British crime comedy, Smoking Guns.
Directing
Fletcher's debut as a director was for a script he co-wrote, Wild Bill,[6] was released on 20 March 2012. His second film as director is a musical film by Stephen Greenhorn, Sunshine on Leith based around the popular Proclaimers songs which was released on 4 October 2013.[7] In 2016, he directed the feature film Eddie the Eagle. On 6 December 2017, Fletcher was announced as Bryan Singer's replacement director on the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. The film was released on 2 November 2018. While Fletcher had helped finish the film, Singer received sole directing credit.[8] Fletcher's latest directing role is on Rocketman, a biopic about the life of Elton John.
Presenting
Fletcher presented the third series of Channel 4 show GamesMaster in 1993. Dexter was originally slated to be a special guest on the third series but was then asked to be presenter, after Dominik Diamond left the show due to his disapproval at McDonald's landing a sponsorship deal with them.
Fletcher recalls presenting GamesMaster was 'very unforgiving' and 'quite intimidating'[citation needed]. He claimed the most difficult part was 'just getting up, taking a deep breath, and going out there and doing it'.[9] His style of presenting was heavily criticised by viewers who said his 'in your face' method was too 'OTT' and did not suit the show. Some viewers suspected his genuine Cockney accent was put on for effect.[citation needed] The series finished in 1994 and Dominik Diamond returned for the last four series until the show ended in February 1998. The show's creator Jane Hewland later said in a retrospective interview, that she sees the third series as a "lost" one, due to admitting to a series of poor decisions and mistakes, including hiring Fletcher as main presenter. His name was however included on a rolling list of acknowledgements, which replaced the usual end credits when the final episode was broadcast, but he has not taken on any other presenting role before or since.
Voice work
Fletcher has been the voice for McDonald's television adverts and (feigning a US accent) is the narrator of The Game audio book written by Neil Strauss. He also narrated the Five series Airforce Afghanistan, as well as the Chop Shop: London Garage series on the Discovery Channel. In 1993, he was the voice of Prince Cinders in the short animated comedy of the same name. Also in 1993, he was the uncredited UNIT soldier narrator of the UNIT Recruiting Film - a five-minute spoof piece that preceded a BBC1 repeat of the sixth and final episode of Doctor Who story Planet of the Daleks.[10]
In 1998, Fletcher featured on the song "Here Comes the Flood" from the album Fin de Siecle by The Divine Comedy. In 2014 he narrated the BBC1 show Del Boys and Dealers.
Personal life
Fletcher was born in Enfield, England to parents who were teachers and grew up in Woodford Green and Palmers Green.[11] He dated his Press Gang co-star Julia Sawalha[12][13] and also had a relationship with actress Liza Walker. In 1997 he married Lithuanian film and theatre director Dalia Ibelhauptaitė in Westminster.[14] His best man was fellow actor Alan Rickman.[1] Dexter's brothers are also actors; Graham Fletcher-Cook[15] and Steve Fletcher.[16]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Credited as | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | |||
| 1999 | Let the Good Times Roll | No | Yes | Short film |
| 2011 | Wild Bill | Yes | Yes | |
| 2013 | Sunshine on Leith | Yes | No | |
| 2016 | Eddie the Eagle | Yes | No | |
| 2018 | Bohemian Rhapsody | Uncredited | No | Replaced Bryan Singer as director for the final two weeks of filming, but received an executive producer credit due to DGA rules. |
| 2019 | Rocketman | Yes | No | |
As executive producer
- Just for the Record (2010)
- Dead Cert (2010)
- Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
As actor
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Bugsy Malone | Babyface | |
| 1978 | Les Miserables | Gavroche | TV film |
| 1979 | The Long Good Friday | The boy who asks for money to watch Harold's car | |
| 1980 | The Elephant Man | Byte's Boy | |
| 1984 | The Bounty | Able Seaman Thomas Ellison | |
| 1985 | Revolution | Ned Dobb | |
| 1986 | Caravaggio | Young Caravaggio | |
| 1988 | The Raggedy Rawney | Tom | |
| 1989 | The Rachel Papers | Charles Highway | |
| 1990 | Twisted Obsession | Malcolm Greene | |
| 1991 | All Out | Angelo | |
| 1993 | Prince Cinders | Prince Cinders | |
| 1996 | Jude | Priest | |
| 1997 | The Man Who Knew Too Little | Otto | |
| 1998 | Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels | Soap | |
| 1999 | Topsy-Turvy | Louis | |
| Tube Tales | Joe | Segment: Mr Cool | |
| 2002 | Below | Kingsley | |
| 2003 | Stander | Lee McCall | |
| The Deal | Charlie Whelan | TV film | |
| 2004 | The Secret of Year Six | Mike | |
| Layer Cake | Cody | ||
| 2005 | Doom | Marcus "Pinky" Pinzerowski | |
| 2006 | Tristan & Isolde | Orick | |
| 2007 | Stardust | Skinny Pirate | |
| 2008 | Autumn | Michael | |
| 2010 | Kick-Ass | Cody | |
| Amaya | Frenchman | ||
| Dead Cert | Eddie Christian | ||
| 2011 | Jack Falls | Detective Edwards | |
| Fedz | Hunter | ||
| The Three Musketeers | D'Artagnan's father | ||
| Wild Bill | Mysterious Barry | ||
| 2012 | Coven | Mr Sheers | |
| 2014 | Muppets Most Wanted | Cameo; deleted scenes | |
| Respectable: The Mary Millington Story | Narrator | ||
| 2018 | Terminal | Vince |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Press Gang | James (Spike) Thomson | TV series |
| The Bill | Tony Gillespie | Episode: "The Strong Survive" | |
| 1997 | Famous Five | Lou (one off) | TV series |
| 2001 | Band of Brothers | John Martin | TV series |
| 2004 | The Virgin Queen | Thomas Radclyffe, 3rd Earl of Sussex | TV series |
| 2006–2009 | Hotel Babylon | Tony Casemore | 32 episodes |
| 2009 | Misfits | Mike Young | TV series |
| 2011 | White Van Man | Ian | TV series |
| 2013 | Death in Paradise | Grant, The Cabin Barman | TV series |
| 2014 | Rev. | Mike Tobin | Episode: 3.3 |
| Mount Pleasant | Gus |
References
- ^ a b c "Dexter Fletcher". BBC Drama. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
- ^ "Dexter Fletcher answers your questions" (reprint on unofficial fansite). The Times. UK. 13 July 2004. Retrieved 22 December 2006.
- ^ "Dexter Fletcher". IMDb.
- ^ "Walking Off Air", Boon, aired 2 October 1989 Series 4, Episode 1
- ^ More cast, new poster for vampire film DEAD CERT Archived 12 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ acast (21 May 2019). "Dexter Fletcher • Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip #269 | Distraction Pieces Podcast with Scroobius Pip on acast". acast. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- ^ "Curtis Brown". www.curtisbrown.co.uk.
- ^ Dexter Fletcher Replaces Bryan Singer On ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ Deadline. Retrieved 6 December 2017.
- ^ "GamesMasterLive.co.uk - 1990's Gaming Nostalgia". www.gamesmasterlive.co.uk.
- ^ "UNIT Recruiting Film". Doctor Who Guide. Retrieved 8 June 2018.
- ^ "Fame and fortune: Dexter Fletcher". 14 February 2008. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- ^ Steven Moffat & Julia Sawalha, Press Gang: Season 2 DVD audio commentary
- ^ Wise, Jon (18 February 2007). "Booze, drugs and women frenzy left me broke and homeless. Now i'm living it up at the Hotel Babylon". The People. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
- ^ "Marriages England and Wales 1984–2005".
- ^ Graham Fletcher-Cook at IMDb [unreliable source?]
- ^ Steve Fletcher at IMDb [unreliable source?]
Bibliography
- Holmstrom, John. The Moving Picture Boy: An International Encyclopaedia from 1895 to 1995. Norwich, Michael Russell, 1996, p. 358-360.
External links
