Feb 16, 1964

Salford, Lancashire, England

Christopher Eccleston is an English stage, television and film actor, best known as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in Doctor Who and other work in television, and for his roles in several high-profile low-budget films.
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Eccleston first came to public attention as Derek Bentley in the 1991 film Let Him Have It, based on true events. However, it was a regular role in the TV series Cracker (1993–94) — culminating in his character's dramatic death in the second series — that made hi... ... (read more...) m a recognisable figure in the UK.

He appeared in the low-budget Danny Boyle film Shallow Grave in 1994, in which he co-starred with the up-and-coming Ewan McGregor. The same year, he won the part of Nicky Hutchinson in the epic BBC drama serial Our Friends in the North, and it was the transmission of this production on BBC Two in 1996 that perhaps really made him into a household name in the UK.
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His film career has since taken off with a variety of high-profile but not — except in one or two cases — major roles, including parts in Jude (1996), Elizabeth (1998), eXistenZ (1999), Gone in Sixty Seconds (2000), The Others (2001), 24 Hour Party People (2002) and another Danny Boyle film, the horror movie 28 Days Later (2002). He did play a major role as the protagonist of Alex Cox's 2002 Revengers Tragedy, adapted from Thomas Middleton's play of the same name. He has starred alongside two major Hollywood actresses in smaller independent movies, playing opposite Renée Zellweger in A Price Above Rubies (1998) and Cameron Diaz in The Invisible Circus (2001). Despite starring in the car-heist movie Gone in 60 Seconds, he did not actually take his driving test until January 2004 and is only licenced to drive automatic transmission cars.