Connor McIntyre was born on the 30th of November 1960 in Toxteth, Liverpool. He came to education later in life having been turned off during his school years. He recalls, "It was Toxteth in the 1970s, the teachers were demoralised, I left with no qualifications." He started as an actor in Plymouth after moving down from Liverpool, joining the Barbican Theatre in Plymouth. This followed brief spells as a lifeguard, a boxing coach and a car salesman, when he wandered into the Barbican Theatre Plymouth and volunteerd to read new plays at the weekend, not really knowing what he was taking on. He says, "It was just an impulsive thing and my response to it was immediate. It was like falling in love – boom!"
He also went on to gain a First Class Honours Degree in Fine Art before embarking on an MA in Contemporary Art Practice in 2015. He remarks, "I can hear my Mum laughing, saying, 'Always the wrong way around with you lad, we couldn't get the police to get you to school. Now at 50 you decide to go to university!" When he's not acting you’ll find him at the Alamo Project, a large artist led studio space in Plymouth that he founded and is also the co-director of. Here he and partner Kate mentor fellow artists. Not bad going for a lad that rarely went to school.
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| As Pat Phelan |
Connor appeared on stage in 1992 at The Barbican Theatre, Plymouth in 'Audience', a remarkable story about former Czechoslovak president Václav Havel, and as Dr Pinch in 'Comedy of Errors' at the Theatre Royal, Plymouth. The following year, again at The Barbican, he appeared in 'Lunch' and 'One for the Road' and then in 'Harry's Christmas' (1994). His TV work began the following year with 'Backup' (1995) and 'Roughnecks' (1995) before regular work continued which included 'The Governor' (1996), 'Silent Witness' (1997), 'London's Burning' ((1995-98), 'The Bill' (1994-99), 38 episodes of the series 'Always and Everyone' (1999-2002), 8 episodes of 'Buried' (2003), a BAFTA winner for 'Best Drama series', followed by 'Outlaws'(2004), 10 episodes of 'Murder City' (2004-2006), the BAFTA nominated comedy drama 'Drop Dead Gorgeeous' (2006-07), 'Wire in the Blood' (2008), 5 episodes of 'The Case' (2011), 'Casualty' (1997-2013) and 'Ackley Bridge' (2021-222).
He has also graced the big screen, appearing in feature films like 'House of America' (1996) 'The Be All and End All' (2009), 'Charlie Noads R.I.P' (2008) and 'Our Kid' (2022) over the course of his varied career.
However, his career-defining role came when he was cast by Coronation Street bosses, going down in soap history with the likes of fellow villains Richard Hillman and Geoff Metcalfe. He was in the middle of his art degree, and did a few episodes and thought, 'Great, that’ll be a bit of paint money,' but that then turned into six months before he did his Masters degree, and a week after graduated they called him again and said, 'Do you want to do some more?' As Pat Phelan, the notorious serial killer and rapist who terrorised the cobbles, the corrupt Scouse builder first appeared on the Street in 2013, when his malevolent streak became immediately apparent and he went on to appear in 357 episodes (2013-18). Connor says, "What Corrie has given me, if we are talking about practical terms, it has given me a platform. Where else do you think you could get the opportunity to do what we do? So on this platform, we deal with the extraordinary as well as the mundane and to make that as truthful as possible. It has given me a platform to work in that way, the confidence to handle that and the pace is quite something. Equally as important to me, it's secured my studio, The Alamo, for the next couple of years and that means an awful lot to me. I have a large studio which is run by my partner, who is also a painter, and we take in graduates and mentor them, whether that is in visual arts or dramatic arts because we have a lot of actors who come there too. It’s the largest independent lead studio space in Plymouth, possibly the South West, and we don’t get money from anybody. And so my time on Coronation Street has also given me a window to other places to talk about these things. Friendships and awards as well; recognition by your peers and the industry and by the public. We get together for a short time to produce something collectively... there’s probably a very long list of things that Coronation Street has given me."
After being named Villain of the Year at the British Soap Awards for two years running, in 2018 he did his first panto in Manchester alongside his good mate Les Dennis, his first Cobbles victim. The pair donned their best wigs and colourful dresses to play the Ugly Sisters in the classic fairytale production.
The actor and painter was even shortlisted for the prestigious Jackson Painting Prize in 2023 - a competition recognising international artists of all styles.
see also :- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2024/05/a-history-of-liverpool-thespians_10.html
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