Chris Chittell

Christopher John Chittell BEM (born 19 May 1948) is an English actor, known for his role as Eric Pollard in the ITV soap opera, Emmerdale, since 1986. He is the longest-serving character in the show's history, having played Eric for nearly 34 years.[1]

Chris Chittell
Born
Christopher John Chittell

(1948-05-19) 19 May 1948
Aldershot, England
OccupationActor
Years active1964–present
Known forRole of Eric Pollard in Emmerdale (1986–present)
Spouse(s)Caroline Hunt (1979–2005) (divorced)
(
m. 2016)
Children2

Early life and career

Chittell was born in Aldershot, Hampshire. His father served in the Indian Army, and on leaving school Chittell intended to join the Royal Navy, but instead, he became a model.[2] His first acting stint was in 1964, with the National Theatre, at Chichester Festival Theatre, in Peter Shaffer's The Royal Hunt of the Sun. He appeared as Potter in the 1967 film To Sir, with Love. In 1968 he appeared as a Trooper in The Charge of the Light Brigade, and made an uncredited appearance in If.... . This was followed by a starring role as one of the Freewheelers, made as an action/adventure children's serial by Southern Television between 1968 and 1973. He also acted for two seasons in the 1970s science fiction TV drama The Tomorrow People. His other film appearances included roles in The Beast in the Cellar (1970), The Weekend Murders (1971), The Raging Moon (1971), The Last Valley (1971), Erotic Inferno (1975), Golden Rendezvous (1977), Zulu Dawn (1979) and Game for Vultures (1979). He also appeared in a number of Swedish sex films in the 1970s including Swedish Sex Games (aka The Intruders and Let Us Play Sex) in 1975 (which also featured a young Stellan Skarsgård), and Sex in Sweden and Practice Makes Perfect (aka Girl on Her Knees) in 1977.

He performed on stage at the Old Vic in Macbeth with Peter O'Toole.[2][3] In 1972, Chittell appeared in the untransmitted Doomwatch episode "Sex and Violence", playing Dick Burns, widely believed to be a parody of Cliff Richard and Richard's part in the Nationwide Festival of Light. The "Sex and Violence" episode was included as part of the Doomwatch DVD box set release in April 2016.

Chittell is married to his Emmerdale co-star Lesley Dunlop, who plays Brenda Walker. He was awarded the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to drama and charity.[4]

Filmography
This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
Year Title Role Notes
1967To Sir, with LovePotter
1968The Charge of the Light BrigadeTrooper
1968If....SeniorUncredited
1970The Breaking of BumboThe Prisoner
1970The Weekend MurdersGeorgie Kemple
1971The Raging MoonTerry
1971The Last ValleySvenson
1971The Beast in the CellarBaker
1971They Call Him CemeteryJohn McIntire
1974

1974

 The Intruders

Man About The House

 Richard, the intruder

Alan, man from pub who was a supposed secret admirer of Chrissy
1975Erotic InfernoMartin Barnard
1977MollyPeter
1977Ta mej i dalenRichard
1977Golden RendezvousRogers
1978The Wild GeesePhilipsUncredited
1979Zulu DawnLt. Milne
1979Game for VulturesMcAllister
gollark: I hope you like maple, because we have a lot of maple now.
gollark: I'm planning to. The alternative is something like building one house per minute.
gollark: It makes 108 planks per cycle, and we get one cycle every 20 seconds or so...
gollark: We can make the bowls automatically too from the stupid amount of wood I keep getting.
gollark: Interesting. Very interesting.

References
  1. "Emmerdale actor Richard Thorp dies". BBC News. 22 May 2013.
  2. Hayward, Anthony The Emmerdale Companion Published by Orion Publishing Co. (1997) ISBN 0-7528-1043-X
  3. Archived 20 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine Chittell on the Emmerdale website
  4. "No. 62666". The London Gazette (Supplement). 8 June 2019. p. B25.
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