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Maxton Gig Beesley Jr. (born 16 April 1971 in Burnage, Manchester, Lancashire), known simply as Max Beesley, is an English actor and musician.

Beesley is known for his role as Charlie Edwards in the British TV drama Hotel Babylon and has appeared in a variety of television shows including Bodies, Hotel Babylon, London Ink, Survivors and Mad Dogs.

He also played the lead in a television adaptation of The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling in 1997.

Early life and education[link]

Maxton Gig Beesley Jr. was born to Maxton Beesley Sr., a professional jazz drummer, and a jazz singer mother, who sang under the stage name Chris Marlowe.^[1] His parents divorced when he was a baby. His middle name was inspired by the American actor Gig Young. His father was also a regular guest on the Ted Rogers show 3-2-1, doing impressions amidst the sketches. He has a stepbrother, actor Jason Milligan, who is the husband of former Coronation Street and Cutting It actress Angela Griffin. Max Beesley is a Manchester United fan.

Music career[link]

Beesley is also a musician, having had a successful career before becoming an actor. He was a chorister at Manchester Cathedral and studied at Chetham's School of Music.^[2] He also studied percussion at the Guildhall School of Music & Drama with soul singer Omar ("There's Nothing Like This") and toured with the Brand New Heavies on keyboards and percussion. He is also a vibraphone player.^[3]

He has performed in concert as a percussionist and pianist for Robbie Williams, Take That and The Paul Weller Movement.^[2] Beesley played percussion and piano at Robbie Williams's Knebworth gigs of summer 2003 and at Hyde Park, for Live 8 London. Robbie Williams's first concert of his Close Encounters Tour in Perth, Australia on 30 November 2006 saw Beesley as percussionist for the second half of the show. He also played drums during the performance of Rudebox at Robbie's second Brisbane concert and during the recent BBC electric proms show. Beesley was also a member of the jazz band Incognito, but after an eight month tour with them, decided to end his music career and start in acting.^[3]

On 28 October 2006 Beesley appeared as a special guest playing piano for James Brown during his performance at the Roundhouse in London as part of the BBC's Electric Proms festival.^[4]

Acting career[link]

Beesley came to prominence with his first major acting role in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, a 1997 television mini-series based on the book of the same name.

He has starred in numerous roles both in the United Kingdom and the United States since this breakout role. In 2001, Beesley appeared opposite singer Mariah Carey in the film Glitter, a critical and commercial failure for which he was nominated for a Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actor and opposite Selma Blair in the film Kill Me Later. In Britain, he is best known as the star of the BBC Three medical drama Bodies, which broadcast from 2004-07. He also starred in BBC One series Hotel Babylon from 2006 to 2008. He left the show in the episode 'Under Pressure' aired on BBC One on 18 March 2008, 'riding off into the sunset' on a Harley Davidson. He returned for a guest appearance in episode 3 of series 4.

On June 2007, he starred in an ITV Four parter called Talk to Me written by Danny Brocklehurst. Beesley also appears opposite Malcolm McDowell in the film Red Roses and Petrol.

Beesley has also appeared in a five-part BBC thriller, The Last Enemy, also starring Robert Carlyle.

In September 2007 Beesley was a guest on ITV's Ant & Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway, where he and Jonathan Wilkes were successful against the duo in the lighthearted competition Beat the Boys, narrated by Stuart Hall. In October 2008, he appeared in the remake of the 1970s classic drama Survivors on BBC1 as remorseless former criminal Tom Price. The series consisted of six episodes, with a second series of six episodes transmitted in January 2010.

More recently Beesley starred in the two-part drama The Reckoning on ITV One in April 2011.

Beesley is currently the voice narrator for several TV adverts including NFU Mutual Insurance, Energizer Lithium Batteries, PC World and ITV.^[5] He also provided the voice-over for Manchester United's 2008–09 season review DVD. In 2011, he appeared in a TV ad campaign for the UK recruitment company jobsite and is also featured on their homepage. As of February 2012 the campaign was still active.

Beesley is the narrator of the documentary Chatsworth shown on BBC in May 2012.

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Maxton Beesley's website
• Max Beesley at the Internet Movie Database