18 Facts About James Bolam

James Christopher Bolam was born on 16 June 1935 and is an English actor.

James Bolam played the serial killer Harold Shipman in the ITV drama Shipman and portrayed Harold Wilson in the BBC documentary The Plot Against Harold Wilson.

James Bolam was born on 16 June 1935 in Sunderland, County Durham.

James Bolam trained as an articled clerk to a chartered accountant, before becoming an actor, and formally trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama, London, where he won the gold medal and the Margaret Rawlings Cup.

James Bolam first appeared on screens in the early 1960s, initially in television shows such as Z-Cars and the Northern social realist films A Kind of Loving and The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner, in the latter film as the best friend of the title character.

James Bolam appeared with John Thaw in the Granada serial, Inheritance in 1967.

In 1975, James Bolam appeared alongside the original cast in a further BBC Radio series adapted from the 1973 TV series and in 1976 there was a reunion in a feature film spin-off from the series, simply entitled The Likely Lads.

The rift, according to Bewes, developed through his indiscreetly telling a journalist that when James Bolam's wife revealed she was pregnant, James Bolam was so startled that the car he was driving mounted a pavement and almost crashed into a lamp post.

James Bolam denied there was a rift between the two men when Bewes died in November 2017, claiming that they "didn't talk for 40 years because of their busy schedules rather than resentment".

James Bolam is known for being guarded about his private life.

In 1976, James Bolam returned to straight drama; he played Jack Ford in the BBC Television series When the Boat Comes In, which ran until 1981.

James Bolam provided the voice for The Tod in the animated film version of The Plague Dogs.

James Bolam was the narrator for the three-part football documentary Three Lions, which aired before Euro 2000 on BBC One.

James Bolam portrayed Harold Wilson, the former Prime Minister, in the 2006 BBC documentary The Plot Against Harold Wilson.

James Bolam appeared in Frank Loesser's musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at the Chichester Festival Theatre during the 2005 summer season.

James Bolam played the role of Grandpa in the Cbeebies show Grandpa in My Pocket.

James Bolam plays golf and is a member of the Stage Golfing Society.

James Bolam was appointed MBE in the 2009 Birthday Honours "For services to Drama".