DATE OF BIRTH : 11th August 1968
LIVES : Cumbernauld, Scotland. While working on Peak Practice, his family rented a cottage in the Derbyshire countryside.
FAMILY : Gray is the youngest of seven children. His father died of a heart attack in 2000.
RELATIONSHIPS: Divorced from Lynn, who works for an insurance company, they met as teenagers and married in Dublin on 9th May 1996.
CHILDREN : One son, Conor, born in 2000.
TRAINED : Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Dramatic Art. Gray however, was nearly chucked out of drama school, ‘At the end of my first term I had to beg the principle to let me stay. They felt I was asking too many questions, so I did a deal – if I shut up, I could stay on.’
LIKES : Cooking, hill walking
ON FAN MAIL : ‘I don’t even read the fan-mail – not any of it. I think it gives you a false sense of security.’
ON HIMSELF : ‘I am just a jobbing actor from Scotland and I don’t think of myself as particularly good looking.’
FAVE TV : The Lakes, Ally McBeal, Fawlty Towers. He liked Fitz in Cracker and Chandler in Friends.
FAVE MUSIC : Cocteau Twins
DREAM CAR : Aud. A41 8J1
IF HE COULD PLAY ANY OTHER CHARACTER IN CASUALTY : He would have played Charlie, ‘For no other reason than he has played it for 13 years and must have made loads of money.’
REAL LIFE ACCIDENTS : At the age of 15, he fell over a fence and ended up with two broken wrists and broke all the bones in one hand.
TELEVISION CREDITS : Taggart; Bad Boys; Casualty; Celebrity Ready Steady Cook; Light Lunch; Call My Bluff; GMTV; National Lottery Live; This Morning; Blankety Blank; Peak Practice; River City; Cruise of the Gods; Coronation Street; Doctor Who; Titanic – Blood and Steel
He has also appeared on ‘Lifeline’ appealing on behalf of ‘Combat Stress’
BOOKS : Appears in ‘CASUALTY : Behind the Scenes’ by Rachel Silver.
AGENT : BWH, Fifth Floor, 35 Soho Square, London, W1D 3QX.
DID YOU KNOW?
* Gray has become involved with The Multiple Sclerosis Society after his CASUALTY character was diagnosed with the disease, and amongst other things has hosted a talent evening raising money for the charity. He has also been involved with the British Heart Foundation and recently did a 17 mile walk for the charity.
WHERE ARE THEY NOW?
Since leaving CASUALTY, Gray O’Brien has appeared regularly on TV including Peak Practice, BBC Scottish soap River City and more recently as villain Tony in Coronation Street, which he played for three years.