William Ash

A veteran performer in series from Granada Television and ITV since childhood, actor William Ash moved capably from juvenile roles in comedies like "Mad About Mambo" (2000) to adult turns in dramatic fare in "Waterloo Road" (BBC One/Three, 2006-2015) and "The Tunnel (ITV, 2013-). Born in Chadderton, a town in Greater Manchester, England Ash was the son of an engineer and football enthusiast, and for much of his childhood and early teens, entertained the idea of playing the sport professionally as an adult. He was also a member of the Oldham Theatre Workshop, from which Granada Television frequently drew young talent like Ash to appear in its programming. He worked steadily throughout his adolescence, appearing in guest roles on series like "Coronation Street" (ITV, 1960-) and "Children's Ward" (ITV, 1989-2000), and made his feature debut in Ken Loach's "Raining Stones" (1993) . But Ash continued to harbor an interest in football until his mid-teens, when an accident left him with a broken leg that forced him to abandon his pursuit and gradually focus his attention on acting. After honing his craft at Bretton Hall College of Education, Ash worked steadily in television, both as a series regular on the small town drama "Where the Heart Is" (ITV, 1997-2006) and the Gen-X-centric "Burn It" (BBC Three, 2003) and as a guest performer on such series as "Clocking Off" (BBC One, 2000-2003). He also enjoyed a rare lead in a feature in "Mad About Mambo," a charming comedy about a Catholic teen who falls in love with a Protestant girl (played by Keri Russell) with whom he is learning to dance. But television remained his most consistent screen showcase, and in the new millennium, Ash had moved up to regular leading man status in projects like the crime miniseries "Conviction" (BBC Three, 2004), the school drama "Waterloo Road, and the crime series "The Tunnel," as British detective Stephen Dillane's partner. He also remained an in-demand guest player, most notably in "Paranoid" (ITV, 2016) as the brother of a mentally ill man accused of murder, and on "The Loch" (ITV, 2017) as a trouble man suspected of a role in serial killings.