Liam Gerrard

Liam Gerrard
Born
Kingston Upon Hull, England
NationalityBritish, Irish
Alma mater
OccupationActor
Years active2005–present

Liam Gerrard is a British-Irish film, television and theatre actor. He is also an acclaimed voice-over artist and audiobook narrator. He is best known for his BAFTA-nominated work: Walter Tull: Britain's First Black Officer, Peterloo and Coronation Street. To date he has narrated over 200 audiobooks.

Early life

Gerrard was born and grew up in Kingston upon Hull before moving to Dubai in his early teens studying at the English College Dubai, before studying at Lancaster University and training at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.[1]

Career

Gerrard made his film debut in the 2007 Hollywood film Death Defying Acts playing a reporter. The film also starred Guy Pearce, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Timothy Spall and Saoirse Ronan. He made his television debut in 2008 appearing in the television series Hollyoaks. In 2008 he starred in 6 WKD Original Vodka comedy television commercials leading their have you got a WKD side? campaign. He has appeared in over 50 plays. In 2006 he appeared in two British Shakespeare Company productions; A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet alongside Wayne Sleep, Mina Anwar, Sean Brosnan and David Davies.[2] The productions toured the United Kingdom extensively and transferred to Ramme Gaard under the patronage of Petter Olsen. In 2008 he joined Northern Broadsides and toured the UK with a production of Romeo and Juliet.[3] He went on to play the juvenile lead in Theatre by the Lake's world premiere of Melvyn Bragg's The Maid of Buttermere.[4] He subsequently appeared in two more productions at Theatre by the Lake; Tom's Midnight Garden and The Night Before Christmas. Other notable stage appearances include: Miss Julie the 4-hand David Eldridge adaptation, directed by Sarah Frankcom at the Royal Exchange;[5][6][7](also starring Maxine Peake, Joe Armstrong and Carla Henry), A Christmas Carol at both the Stephen Joseph Theatre and in later years at The Dukes,[8][9] Jekyll & Hyde at the New Wimbledon Theatre, Will Scarlett in Robin and Marian at the New Vic Theatre. In 2015 he appeared in the Royal Lyceum Theatre (Edinburgh) production of Caucasian Chalk Circle. The show received 4 and 5 star national reviews and won 4 Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland. The Telegraph hailed the show 'A Triumph'.[10][11][12] He is the youngest person to play the title role of Prospero in London theatre, in the 2013 Watford Palace production of The Tempest. In 2014 he appeared in the 4-hander triptych piece Symphony written by Ella Hickson, Nick Payne and Tom Wells for Nabokov and Soho Theatre. The show won a Musical Theatre Network award for best new musical at the Edinburgh Fringe then toured the UK before transferring to London's West End.[13] In late 2018 he played Tom Snout (Wall) in the Crucible Theatre production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.[14]

Gerrard also works extensively as a voiceover artist and was nominated for a BAFTA for his film Walter Tull: Britain's First Black Officer. He has narrated over 200 audiobooks including the Tom Delonge series Poet Anderson. In March 2024 he was nominated for an Audie Award in Hollywood for The Adventures of Finn MacCool & Other Irish Folk Tales which he edited and narrated. [15]

Filmography (selected TV / film)

Selected theatre

Audiobook selected bibliography

Awards and nominations

Award Body Award Title Result
BAFTA Children's Award Learning Secondary Walter Tull – Britain's First Black Officer Nominated
Audie Award Audie Award for Short Stories or Collections 2024 The Adventures of Finn MacCool & Other Irish Folk Tales Nominated
AudioFile Magazine Earphones Award H.G. Wells Short Stories Volume 1 Won
One Voice Conference Best Character Performance – Animation Walter Tull – Britain's First Black Officer Nominated
One Voice Conference Best Radio Drama Performance Pink Mist Nominated
One Voice Conference Best performance Audiobook Nominated

References

  1. ^ "Liam Gerrard is an award-winning voice artist with over ten years of experience". Tantor. 1 July 2018. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
  2. ^ "Liam Gerrard's comic turn as the servant Peter was a particular show-stopper". British Theatre Guide. 1 August 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  3. ^ John Peter (4 May 2008). "Romeo and Juliet, Theatre Royal Bury St Edmunds the Sunday Times review". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  4. ^ "The Maid of Buttermere To 18 April". ReviewsGate. 28 March 2009. Retrieved 1 October 2019.
  5. ^ Chris Bartlett (17 April 2012). "Miss Julie review at Royal Exchange Manchester". The Stage. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  6. ^ Alfred Hickling (17 April 2012). "Miss Julie – review 'Mercurial and Skittish". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  7. ^ "In this superb new production, Strindberg's darkly sexual 'Miss Julie' is more shocking and stirring than ever". The Telegraph. 17 April 2012. Retrieved 9 October 2019.
  8. ^ Michael Nunn (1 December 2013). "Debbie Oates updates Dickens' Christmas classic at the Dukes in Lancaster and it works, says Michael Nunn". WhatsOnStage. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
  9. ^ David Upton (14 December 2013). "Liam Gerrard, illusions consultant for The Dukes version of A Christmas Carol". British Theatre Guide. Retrieved 1 December 2013.
  10. ^ Mark Brown (24 February 2015). "The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Royal Lyceum, review: 'a triumph'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  11. ^ Mark Fisher (25 February 2015). "The Caucasian Chalk Circle review – a bold, brash extravaganza". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  12. ^ "Moving moments keep tension building to the end". The Times. 25 February 2015. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  13. ^ Rachael Smith (12 November 2014). "Review: Symphony, Soho Theatre". A Younger Theatre. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
  14. ^ "Bottom (Daniel Rigby in hilarious, razor-sharp form) in a rubber catsuit and the Wall (Liam Gerrard) channelling his inner Brian May". The Star. 4 October 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
  15. ^ https://www.thestar.co.uk/news/people/liam-gerrard-sheffield-actor-nominated-for-2024-audie-awards-4526170 [bare URL]
  16. ^ "The Loft". IMDb.
  17. ^ Madeline Martin (9 May 2015). "Audio book Narrator Interview with Liam Gerrard". MadelineMartin.com. Retrieved 1 October 2018.