1. Mark Philip David Billingham was born on 2 July 1961 and is an English novelist, actor, television screenwriter and comedian known for the "Tom Thorne" crime novel series.
15 Facts About Mark Billingham
1. 2.
Mark Billingham attended the King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys in nearby King's Heath, and lived in that general area "right the way through university" while attending the nearby University of Birmingham.
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Mark Billingham has headlined at the Comedy Store, where he appears regularly as a Master of Ceremonies.
4.
In Maid Marian and Her Merry Men, Mark Billingham played Gary, a dim-but-lovable guard in the employ of the Sheriff of Nottingham, as part of a double-act with Graeme.
5.
Robinson, Lloyd and Mark Billingham remain friends, and Robinson is partially credited for Mark Billingham's literary career on the DVD release of Maid Marian, in which the three discuss writing for the series and in general.
6.
From an early age, Mark Billingham wrote often "funny" stories for popularity and enjoyment.
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Mark Billingham is a self-confessed fan of crime fiction, "as well as a really serious collector" and has stated that the expense of collecting books inspired him to get into interviewing and reviewing books, partly for the complimentary copies.
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Mark Billingham became the first crime writer to win the Theakston's Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award twice when his novel Death Message won in 2009, against Reginald Hill, Val McDermid, Ian Rankin and Lee Child.
9.
Mark Billingham offers the first chapter of each Tom Thorne book on his website.
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Mark Billingham recalls being terrified by the audacity of the criminals, and later used the event as inspiration for his second Thorne novel, Scaredy Cat.
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Mark Billingham has received nominations and awards related to all aspects of his various careers.
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In 2011, Mark Billingham was inducted into the ITV3 Crime Thriller Awards Hall of Fame.
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Mark Billingham was shortlisted for the 2015 Dagger in the Library UK Crime Writers' Association award for an author's body of work in British libraries.
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Mark Billingham was shortlisted again in 2019 and won the award in 2022.
15.
In 2015, Mark Billingham collaborated on a musical project called The Other Half with My Darling Clementine, reading an original story alongside a soundtrack by the Americana band.