Alan Ford (actor)

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title: "Alan Ford (actor)" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1938-births", "living-people", "20th-century-english-male-actors", "21st-century-english-male-actors", "actors-from-the-london-borough-of-southwark", "alumni-of-east-15-acting-school", "english-male-film-actors", "english-male-soap-opera-actors", "english-male-television-actors", "male-actors-from-london", "military-personnel-from-the-london-borough-of-southwark", "royal-army-ordnance-corps-soldiers", "people-from-camberwell", "people-from-elephant-and-castle"] description: "English actor" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Ford_(actor)" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary English actor ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
image
name	Alan Ford
birth_date
birth_place	Camberwell, London, England
occupation	Actor
alma_mater	East 15 Acting School
yearsactive	1973–present
::

| image =
| name = Alan Ford | birth_name = | birth_date = | birth_place = Camberwell, London, England | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Actor | alma_mater = East 15 Acting School | yearsactive = 1973–present}}

Alan Ford (born 23 February 1938) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in Guy Ritchie gangster movies Snatch and Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and for appearing as separate characters in eight episodes of The Bill.

Early life

Ford was born on 23 February 1938 in Camberwell, South London, the eldest son of a seamstress and a taxi driver, and grew up in Elephant and Castle. He left school at the age of 15 and took on various jobs, ending with two years of national service in the Royal Army Ordnance Corps.

Studies and training

Ford's first role was as one of the firemen in Fahrenheit 451. He then secured a place at East 15 Acting School. For three years he studied drama in all its forms: Shakespeare, Chekhov, restoration, commedia dell'arte, pantomime, music, dance, fencing, Stanislavski and improvisation. One of his tutors there at that time was the then unknown Mike Leigh.

Acting career

Ford has appeared on stage at the National Theatre, Royal Court Theatre, the Theatre Royal Stratford East and many repertory theatres.

Ford appeared in Exorcist: The Beginning and, much earlier, as Roosta in the original radio version of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, along with a small speaking role in The Long Good Friday.

Ford played Clifford Harding in G.F. Newman's Law & Order in 1978, then had a brief role in the film An American Werewolf in London, where he plays the taxi driver who says the line, "It puts you in mind of the days of the old demon barber of Fleet Street, doesn't it?" in response to the recent wave of murders around London. He has also proven himself a comic actor. He was involved in the Armando Iannucci production Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge, playing a boxing promoter called Terry Norton; and he worked again with Iannucci playing the 'East End Thug' in The Armando Iannucci Shows. He later appeared as a priest in every episode of Snuff Box. In 2015, he played former Thotch band manager 'Big' Basil Steel in Brian Pern: 45 Years of Prog & Roll.

In 1998, Ford narrated and appeared in the Guy Ritchie directed crime comedy Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and, in 2000, he appeared as the crime boss 'Brick Top' in Ritchie's film Snatch.

In 2003, Ford provided the voice of Goliath in the British version of JoJo's Circus.

Ford was featured in the 2010 music video "For He's a Jolly Good Felon" by The Lostprophets.

In 2011 he starred as crime boss 'Carter' in the film noir Jack Falls alongside his Lock, Stock co-stars Jason Flemyng and Dexter Fletcher, while in 2014, he was cast in the crime thriller Two Days in the Smoke alongside fellow Lock, Stock actor Stephen Marcus.

In 2013 Ford had a guest role in the Norwegian-American TV show Lilyhammer as crime family boss 'Uncle Terry'.

In 2018, Ford appeared in a primary supporting role as Dale Jacobs in the psychological thriller Winter Ridge.

It was announced in November 2023 that Ford was to be cast in EastEnders as Billy Mitchell's (Perry Fenwick) father Stevie Mitchell. The character first appeared for the funeral of the character Aunt Sal (Anna Karen).

Writer

In 2006, Ford published his novel Thin Ice. He said the book "evolved from a collection of anecdotes and actors' tales."

In music

Ford's voice is featured in the dubstep song "Cockney Thug" by Rusko, "Well 'Ard" by Caspa and The Others, "Crunch" by Flux Pavilion and Datsik, "Damien" by Modestep & Funtcase, the death metal song "A Child Is Missing" from the Illdisposed album The Prestige and the hip-hop song "Sinister" by Aesop Rock, Vast Aire and Yeshua from the 2001 Centrifugal Phorce compilation Euphony.

Personal life

Ford has been a vegetarian since 1973.

Filmography

Film

::data[format=table]

Year	Film	Role	Notes
	1977	The Squeeze	Taff
	1980	The Long Good Friday	Jack
1981	Venom	Peters
An American Werewolf in London	Taxi Driver
	1991	Buddy's Song	Phil
1992	Chaplin	Warder
	1998	Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels	Alan/Narrator
2000	Snatch	Brick Top
Furry Story	Fredglob (voice)
	2002	The Great Dome Robbery	Narrator
	2004	Exorcist: The Beginning	Jefferies
	2008	NightDragon	Hansen
	2009	Dead Man Running	Sol
2010	Mission London	Sibling
The Ballad of Mulla and Mullins	Johnson	Short Film
2012	The Sweeney	Harry
Cockneys vs Zombies	Ray Macguire
Airborne	Max
Strippers vs Werewolves	Harry
2011	Lethal	Simon	post-production
Jack Falls	Carter
2013	The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared	Pim
2014	Two Days in the Smoke	Jack
Undercover	Himself
2015	Skin Traffik	Paul Hamilton
2016	*Alice, Through the Looking *	The Chairman
2018	Winter Ridge	Dale Jacobs
Gamble	Narrator
2019	Riot Club	Eddie Beaumont	Short
2022	The Kicked Dog	Alan	Short
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	TV Show	Role	Notes
	2024	EastEnders	Stevie Mitchell
	2020	The Kemps: All True	Alan Ford
	2017	Thunderbirds Are Go	Light Fingered Fred
2015	Unforgotten	Tommy Pinion	1 episode: "Episode 3"
Toast of London	Alan the Fear Therapist	1 episode: "Over the Moon"
2014	Toast of London	Alan the Homeopath	1 episode: "Fool in Love"
Pod Prikritie	Himself	episode 9
2013	Lilyhammer	Terence
Toast of London	Mick Carriage	1 episode: Vanity Project
	2011	Casualty	Norman Danvers
	2010	Hotel Trubble	Delgado
2009	My Almost Famous Family	Terry	2 episodes: Beat Surrender / The Girl Is Mine
Doctors	George Swade	1 episode: Mr Jelly
The Legend of Dick and Dom	King of Kong	1 episode: Rock Hard
2008	Hotel Babylon	Terry McCaffrey	1 episode: Episode No.3.5
Casualty	Tony Tillings	1 episode: Thicker Than Water
	2007	The Real Outlaws	Himself – Presenter
2006	The Bill	Davey Rolfe	1 episode: 470
Jane Hall	Dougie Stringer	1 episode: Episode No.1.1
Snuff Box	Rick – Priest	5 episodes
2004	Passer By	Publican	TV
Keen Eddie	Longfellow	1 episode: Sticky Fingers
The Bill	George Dooley	1 episode: 188
2003	Waking the Dead	Jack Ely	2 episodes: Walking on Water: Part 1 / Walking on Water: Part 2
William and Mary	Taxi Driver	1 episode: Episode No.1.1
	2001	The Armando Iannucci Shows	East End Thug
	2000	Hero to Zero	Ron Warley
1998	Mosley	Prison Officer	1 episode: Beyond the Pale
An Unsuitable Job for a Woman	City Receptionist	1 episode
1997	The Bill	Jimmy Robson	1 episode: Joker
The Knock	Robbie Reynolds	1 episode: Episode No.3.7
1996	London Bridge	Ron	Episode No.1.15
No Bananas	Bernie Silver	2 episodes: Sitzkreig / The Wedding
Madson	Adrian	1 episode: Episode No.1.2
1994	The Bill	Eric	1 episodes: Ducking and Diving
Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge	Terry Norton	1 episode: Episode No.1.5
Little Napoleons	Gerald Nowell	1 episode: The Big Interview
Class Act	Geoff the Builder	2 episodes: Episode No.1.2 / Episode No.1.3
Murder Most Horrid	First villain	1 episode: Smashing Bird
Minder	Bennett	1 episode: Bring Me the Head of Arthur Daley
Love Hurts	Punter	1 episode: The Parent Trap
	1993	The Upper Hand	Barman
1992	The Bill	Maydell	1 episode: On the Record, Off the Record
The Darling Buds of May	Danvers	1 episode: Oh! To Be in England: Part 1
	1991	The New Statesman	Police Inspector
1990	The Bill	Frank Litton	1 episode: Old Wounds
Grange Hill	Mr Ratcliffe	3 episodes: Episode No.12.2 / Episode No.13.19 / Episode No.13.20
1989	The Bill	Harry	1 episode: Just for the Crack
Birds of a Feather	Prison Officer	2 episodes: Substitute / Sailing
	1988	Bergerac	Sammy Kline
	1987	Rockliffe's Babies	Tommy
1986	C.A.T.S. Eyes	Taxi Driver	1 episode: Tranmere Dan and Tokyo Joe
Running Scared	Ron Martin	unknown episodes
The Best Years of Your Life	Father	TV
1985	The Bill	Tony Kemp	1 episode: Home Beat
Summer Season	Harold	1 episode: Rachel and the Roarettes
1983	Keep It in the Family	Van driver	1 episode: A Touch of the Orient
Give Us a Break	Nobby Wilson	4 episodes
	1982	BBC2 Playhouse	Actor
	1981–1982	The Chinese Detective	Jack Arthur Bross
1981	Maybury	Mr Clegg	1 episode: Maisie and Mac
Smuggler	Giles Sawney	2 episodes: The Respectable Traitor: Part 1 / The Respectable Traitor: Part 2
1980	Strangers	Johnny James	1 episode: Clowns Don't Cry
Play for Today	Mr Chancer	2 episodes: The Adventures of Frank: Everybody's Fiddling Something / The Adventures of Frank: Seeds of Ice
	1979	Play for Today	Police sergeant
1978	Armchair Thriller	Bill	1 episode: The Limbo Connection: Part 1
Law & Order	Clifford Harding	3 episodes: A Detective's Tale / A Villain's Tale / A Brief's Tale
	1976	Softly, Softly: Task Force	Micky Dixon
	1974–1975	Romany Jones	Ken
	1973	Softly, Softly: Task Force	Tommy Buckley
::

References

References

1. "Alan Ford profile". Alanford.info.
2. Wilcock, Jessica. (23 April 2012). "Matt Di Angelo to star in Two Days in the Smoke | News | Screen". Screendaily.com.
3. Alexander, Susannah. (18 November 2023). "EastEnders to cast Hollywood star for Aunt Sals funeral". [[Digital Spy]].
4. (28 December 2023). "EastEnders casts Alan Ford as Billy Mitchell's estranged dad".
5. Ford, Alan. ''Thin Ice''; Orion Publishing Group, Limited; {{ISBN. 978-0-7538-2103-9; 2006, {{ISBN. 978-0-297-84785-4
6. "''Thin Ice''". Alanford.info.

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