A History Of Liverpool Thespians - Brian Regan

Brian James Regan was born on the 2nd of October 1957 in Prescot, Liverpool and attended Yew Tree Comprehensive School in Dovecot, Liverpool. He left Yew Tree Comprehensive School dreaming of becoming a professional footballer after playing for Liverpool Reserves at 16 but instead trained as an apprentice electrician and started getting small parts at the Liverpool Playhouse. Having trained as an actor at the Playhouse he first appeared on TV as Marcus in the comedy series 'Chelmsford 123' (1988).

He joined the cast of 'Brookside' in 1982, first appearing in Episode six, and met Lisa at Mersey TV, where she was a secretary. They married in 1989 and daughter Ashley was born soon after. The character of Terry Sullivan was featured in some of the soap's most dramatic storylines, and he was a regular mainstay of the soap until he finally left the series in February 1997. He had previously left the show for a short time to move to London, where he pursued his acting career, but later rejoined the soap. 

Fame drew him into a party and night-clubbing crowd - with disastrous consequences, but his wife Lisa stuck by him. She would be unhappy about Brian coming home late from filming then going straight out with his mates. His troubles started in the late 1980s when he was declared bankrupt at Liverpool High Court. He lost thousands on a failed market stall with friends blaming Brian's fun-loving night-clubbing lifestyle for his money problems. When he bought the market stall, he would get up at 5am to sell cheap frames and hair spray at 50 pence a time, but it never turned into the money-making venture he had hoped. The stall had been really successful, a real money-maker, and had been going for years, yet when Brian took over it went downhill. It was meant to be insurance in case the acting dried up but instead it made things worse.  Unable to shake off his cash problems, his picturesque beamed cottage in Knowsley was repossessed, with the family given two weeks to leave. Homeless and now with two young children to support, executive producer Phil Redmond came to the rescue by offering Brian a one-bedroom flat in a house on the set at a nominal rent.

In addition to his role in 'Brookside', he also appeared during that time on television as a 'Special Guest' on 'Harry Enfield's Television Programme' (1992), 'Paparazzo' (1995), 'The Bill (1999) and as a reporter in the George Best film, 'Best' (2000). Brian has said it was when he was appearing in 'Brookside' that he began taking cocaine but never used the drug while he was working. Leaving the programme had a dramatic effect on his life and income. His acting career petered out after that, and he plunged into a life of drug dealing and addiction. In 2012, then living at St Mary’s Road, Garston, he was sentenced to four years and 10 months in prison for lying to police over his role in the murder of Iranian doorman Bahman Faraji in Aigburth, and for selling drugs. He was cleared of murder but convicted of perverting the course of justice after it emerged he lied to police when he was first arrested.

His only TV appearance following his prison sentence was in Jimmy McGovern's series of daytime drama plays 'Moving On' (2019) as a delivery driver.

see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/03/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians-jimmy.html