A History Of Liverpool Thespians - John McArdle

 

John McArdle was born on the 16th of August 1949 in Liverpool to John Joseph and Edeth (Webster) McArdle. He attended St. Bede's Secondary Modern School, but when only 16, his father, an Army physical training instructor, set off for work and never came home. He'd suffered a heart attack. John recalls' "When your father dies young, at 38, with five kids, it really does make an impact. I went off the rails, as young men do." After a journey into drink and drugs, and having left school without any qualifications, he landed work as a scaffolder, even though he was terrified of heights. However, not wanting to experience life following his dad's early death, he decided to emigrate to Australia. All was fine there and he and his mates were working until one mate, Bill, said he was going home and taking a ship going via New Zealand. They all boarded the ship to see him off, had one too many drinks and decided they'd go to New Zealand as well, for a laugh.With no tickets, John was arrested and put in the brig, and when the ship docked in New Zealand he was sent before 'a hanging judge' who sentenced him to three months in the notorious Mount Eden prison. His head was shaved and he was thrown into a cell with someone who frightened him. Crying his eyes out on the first night this bloke said, 'If you carry on like that I’m going to cut your throat.' He didn’t tell his mother he was in prison and he survived three months before he was deported back to Australia. Back there he found himself called up for the Australian army but the next day he applied for a job in New Guinea, and got it. Six months later, back from the Solomon Islands and now married, aged 21, the army found him in Perth. He begged them not to sign him up and a few weeks later got a letter saying, 'We don’t want you'.

After five years he decided to come back to England, with no plans until his wife asked what he had enjoyed at school, and he remembered he'd been keen on acting. So he joined the local College of Education and when the guy running it said he should become a professional it gave him real confidence. Aged 26, he then went on to drama school in London for three years but first he had to earn an Equity card which he did thanks to a stint touring prisons. At the age of 28 he began to train at London's E15 Drama School and later worked extensively in theatre, occasionally appearing in minor roles on television in the early 1980s with his first appearance being in 'Coronation Street', firstly as lorry driver Scouse Sammy (1982), and returning to the programme as Det Constable Meadows, investigating the death of businessman Don Ashton (1985). His first appearance led to a role as a teacher in the Channel Four soap opera 'Brookside'. The programme's producers were so impressed with John that in 1985 they invited him back to play the character of Billy Corkhill, a role which made him a household name alongside Ricky Tomlinson and Sue Johnston. Also working with writers such as Jimmy McGovern, he made himself memorable with his portrayal of a man beyond breaking point, which culminated with him ranting at neighbours and churning up their lawns as he drove his car around in circles. He has sincce said, "I can’t believe I’ve had the chance to work with heroes such as Helen Mirren, Billie Whitelaw. It’s been great to appear with the likes of Robbie Coltrane and Robert Carlyle, whom I discovered was a big Brookside fan.”

The Corkhill family arrived in 1985

 

John left Brookside in 1989 after 89 episodes and, whilst also maintaining his career in theatre, went on to appear in several television series, including 7 episodes of 'Firm Friends' (1992-94), 8 episodes of 'Seaforth' (1994), 8 episodes of 'And The Beat Goes On' (1996), 2 episodes of 'Prime Suspect' (1996), and in 38 episodes of 'Merseybeat' (2001-2004), for which he was Winner of the Royal Television Society Regional Awards for best actor.  It was on the set of 'Merseybeat' in 2002 when he was surprised by Michael Aspel and his Big Red Book.. He says, "The biggest surprise of the night was when my old mate Loz Yates turned up all the way from Australia. I hadn't seen him for 29 years and it was so great to see him; we relived our time in Mount Eden Prison. The last guest to come on was my old drama teacher from Northampton College of Further Education, Martin Banks – the man responsible for me becoming a professional actor." During the same period John appeared in 11 episodes of 'The Bill' (1994-2005). Following many other appearances in various TV shows such as his portrayal of Frank Taylor in an episode of BBC TV's 'Surviving Disaster' that concerned the Munich air disaster of 1958 which Taylor was the only newspaper reporter to survive, in 2010 he played Christopher Mead's father in 'Waterloo Road'.

As plumber Ronnie Hale in Emmerdale

 

Then in 2016 he landed another major role in the soap opera 'Emmerdale' and appeared as Ronnie Hale in 117 episodes. John is also an accomplished stage actor and his stage credits include 'An Enemy of the People', 'Things I Know To Be True' (Frantic Assembly) and 'The Red Lion' for Rapture Theatre, and he is a patron of the Octagon Theatre in Bolton. His film credits include 'Janice Beard', 'Charlie Noades RIP', 'There's Only One Jimmy Grimble', and 'Our Country's Good' at the Liverpool Playhouse.

John married his second wife the actress Kathy Jamieson, who was born in 1957 in Burnley and they have 3 children, Justin, Katie and Joseph.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2023/12/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians_11.html