1. Christopher Eccleston is an English actor whose work has encompassed Hollywood blockbusters and arthouse films, television dramas, Shakespearean stage performances and science fiction, most notably the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC series Doctor Who.
Christopher Eccleston starred as Matt Jamison in The Leftovers, and has frequently collaborated with filmmakers Danny Boyle and Michael Winterbottom.
Christopher Eccleston received a second nomination for The Second Coming.
Christopher Eccleston won an International Emmy Award for his performance in Accused.
Christopher Eccleston was born on 16 February 1964 into a working-class family in the Langworthy area of Salford, then part of Lancashire.
Christopher Eccleston is the son of Elsie and Ronnie Eccleston.
Christopher Eccleston has twin brothers, Alan and Keith, who were born eight years before he was.
The family lived in a small terraced house on Blodwell Street before moving to Little Hulton when Christopher Eccleston was seven months old.
Christopher Eccleston attended Joseph Eastham High School, where he became head boy.
At the age of 19, Christopher Eccleston was inspired to pursue acting by such television dramas as Boys from the Blackstuff.
Christopher Eccleston completed a two-year Performance Foundation Course at Salford Tech, then went on to train at the Central School of Speech and Drama.
Christopher Eccleston was influenced in his early years by Ken Loach's film Kes and Albert Finney's performance in the film Saturday Night and Sunday Morning.
Christopher Eccleston soon found himself performing the classics as well, including the works of William Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, and Moliere.
Christopher Eccleston first came to public attention as Derek Bentley in the film Let Him Have It, and for a guest appearance in the Inspector Morse episode "Second Time Around", both 1991.
At around the same time, Christopher Eccleston appeared in the Poirot episode "One, Two, Buckle My Shoe".
When Hicks got married in March 2009, Christopher Eccleston was his best man.
Christopher Eccleston played the Duke of Norfolk in Elizabeth, appeared in Gone in 60 Seconds - years before taking his driving test in January 2004 - and The Others.
Christopher Eccleston took the lead role in Revengers Tragedy, adapted from Thomas Middleton's play of the same name.
Christopher Eccleston starred in the independent films A Price Above Rubies and The Invisible Circus.
Christopher Eccleston appeared in a variety of television roles, mostly British dramas, including Hearts and Minds for Channel 4, Clocking Off and Flesh and Blood for the BBC, a modern version of Othello, and the religious fantasy epic The Second Coming for ITV, in which he played Steve Baxter, the son of God.
Christopher Eccleston made guest appearances in the comedy-drama Linda Green and the macabre sketch show The League of Gentlemen.
Christopher Eccleston appeared in Hamlet in the 2002 production at Leeds's West Yorkshire Playhouse.
Christopher Eccleston has been twice nominated in the Best Actor category at the British Academy Television Awards, both during this period, the first in 1997 when he lost to Nigel Hawthorne in The Fragile Heart.
Christopher Eccleston was nominated again in 2004, losing to Bill Nighy who took the award for his performance in State of Play.
Christopher Eccleston won the Best Actor category at the 1997 Broadcasting Press Guild Awards for Our Friends in the North.
On 2 April, 2004, the BBC revealed that Christopher Eccleston was to play the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the revival of Doctor Who.
Christopher Eccleston was the first actor born after the inception of the original series to play the role.
On 11 June, 2005, when asked about his feelings about working on Doctor Who, Christopher Eccleston told a BBC interviewer: "Mixed, but that's a long story".
Christopher Eccleston later stated that he had left the show because he "didn't enjoy the environment or the culture that the cast and crew had to work in", but that he was proud of having played the role.
Christopher Eccleston was voted "Most Popular Actor" at the 2005 National Television Awards for his portrayal of the Doctor.
In July 2012, Christopher Eccleston spoke positively of his time on Doctor Who during a talk at the National Theatre.
Christopher Eccleston began appearing as a guest at Doctor Who conventions for the first time in 2018.
Christopher Eccleston had previously expressed his reluctance to appear at conventions, saying in 2017 that he preferred to "just earn [his] living by acting".
Christopher Eccleston has since said that his experience of meeting fans at conventions "healed something in [him]" and made him re-evaluate his relationship to the series.
Christopher Eccleston was later confirmed to appear in a further four boxsets, releasing in 2022 and 2023, as well as an episode of the 60th anniversary audio series Once and Future.
Christopher Eccleston has said that it is unlikely that he will reprise the role on television as his relationship with the BBC "has not healed".
On 30 October 2005, Christopher Eccleston appeared on stage at The Old Vic theatre in London in the one-night play Night Sky alongside Navin Chowdhry, Bruno Langley, David Warner, Saffron Burrows and David Baddiel.
Christopher Eccleston sat on the 2nd Amazonas International Film Festival Film Jury in November 2005.
In December 2005, Christopher Eccleston travelled to Indonesia's Aceh province for the BBC Breakfast news programme, examining how survivors of the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami were rebuilding their lives.
Christopher Eccleston joined the cast of the NBC TV series Heroes in the episode "Godsend", which was broadcast on 22 January 2007.
Christopher Eccleston played a character named Claude who has the power of invisibility, and helps Peter Petrelli with his powers.
Christopher Eccleston appeared as the Rider in a film adaptation of Susan Cooper's novel The Dark Is Rising.
Christopher Eccleston appeared on the BBC Four World Cinema Award show in February 2008, arguing the merits of five international hits such as The Lives of Others and Pan's Labyrinth with Jonathan Ross and Archie Panjabi.
In 2009, Christopher Eccleston starred opposite Archie Panjabi in a short film called The Happiness Salesman.
Christopher Eccleston agreed to do the film because of Panjabi and the fact that it was a winner of the British Short Screenplay Competition.
Christopher Eccleston was cast as John Lennon in a BBC production called Lennon Naked which aired in the UK on 23 June 2010, with Christopher Eccleston playing the title role, and Naoko Mori, who had previously appeared with him in Doctor Who, as Yoko Ono.
In November 2010, Christopher Eccleston starred in the first episode of BBC One anthology drama Accused.
Christopher Eccleston won an International Emmy Award for his role.
On 31 December 2011, Christopher Eccleston played the role of Pod Clock in an adaptation of Mary Norton's children's novel The Borrowers on BBC One.
In September 2012, Christopher Eccleston starred in the film Song for Marion, known as Unfinished Song with Terence Stamp.
In 2013, Christopher Eccleston portrayed the villainous Malekith in Thor: The Dark World, the sequel to Thor and the eighth instalment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
From 2014 to 2017, Christopher Eccleston starred as Reverend Matt Jamison on the HBO drama series The Leftovers and earned consistent acclaim for his performance across all three seasons.
In 2015, Christopher Eccleston starred in the television series Fortitude as a scientist based in Arctic Norway alongside Stanley Tucci and Michael Gambon before he and Marsha Thomason played a married couple who own a guest house in the Lake District in the series Safe House.
Later in 2015, Christopher Eccleston starred as Leonard "Nipper" Read in Legend, a film about the Kray twins, opposite Tom Hardy.
In 2016, Christopher Eccleston began appearing as Maurice Scott in the BBC drama The A Word.
Christopher Eccleston played the lead role in the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Macbeth in 2018.
Also in 2018, Christopher Eccleston starred in two films; opposite Tom Wilkinson as crime boss Harvey in Dead in a Week or Your Money Back and as a Nazi officer Heinz in Where Hands Touch.
In 2021, Christopher Eccleston starred in the six-part television mini-series Close to Me.
Christopher Eccleston is a lifelong supporter of Manchester United, and was a regular marathon runner until 2000.
Christopher Eccleston became a Mencap charity ambassador on 28 April 2005, and is a supporter of the British Red Cross.
Christopher Eccleston was hospitalised in 2016 with severe clinical depression.
Christopher Eccleston has criticised the Conservative Party and expressed concern at opportunities for actors from his background to achieve his level of success in the future.
Christopher Eccleston endorsed Labour Party incumbent Andy Burnham in the 2021 Greater Manchester mayoral election.
Christopher Eccleston is a British republican who supports the abolition of the British monarchy.