AGE:45-50?
MARITAL STATUS:Girlfriend is actress Nicola Jeffries.
PLACE OF BIRTH:Pakistan
CHILDHOOD:Born and bred in Pakistan, where his father was chairman of Brooke Bond Tea, Nigel then went to a public school. He was determined to pursue a career in acting. He joined Birmingham Rep and then The Royal Shakespeare Company but then had several lean years before he had a stint at The National Theatre and began his TV career with roles in series such as Jemima Shore Investigates and A Question of Guilt before his career took off when he landed the Casualty part of Julian.
STUDIES:Read English at Oxford.
CAREER: He was determined to pursue a career in acting. He joined Birmingham Rep and then The Royal Shakespeare Company but then had several lean years before he had a stint at The National Theatre and began his TV career with bit-parts in series such as Jemima Shore Investigates and A Question of Guilt before his career took off when he landed the Casualty part of Julian. He played the part to perfection and became a big hit with female viewers of all ages. His pigeon hole at the warehouse was always crammed full of letters from adoring female fans ! But after three years in the role Nigel decided to leave Casualty behind him and move on to the role of Dangerfield. That series was very succesful but he didn't want to go on and on with it so he quit after three years.
TV CREDITS:Played Adam Von Trott Zu Solz in Christabel (1988), appeared in Honey For Tea (1994), was Dr.Paul Dangerfield in Dangerfield (1994-97) and narrated a Horizon special 'Ice Mummies' in 1997.
FILM CREDITS:Began his film career with a role in The Jigsaw Man (1983), played a reporter in White Mischief (1987), played 'The Man' in Personal Services (1987), played Mayer in George Elser (1989) and was the adult Tom Long in Tom's Midnight Garden (1999).
THEATRE CREDITS:Worked at Birmingham Rep and The Royal Shakespeare Company before a stint at The National Theatre.
PERSONALITY:Like his character of Julian, Nigel is quite shy and also like Julian he is very intense and determined. But unlike Julian Nigel is very sociable and during the filming of series 5 of Casualty he shared a flat with Robson Green (Jimmy) and Patrick Robinson (Ash). He also struck up a friendship with Nicola Jeffries (who was an assistant receptionist in series 7 of Casualty) and they became a couple. Also unlike Julian, Nigel can't stand the sight of blood and even the fake flesh on Casualty turned him 'green around the gills' !
INTERESTS:Doesn't like watching TV medical programmes with operations (he has to leave the room !) In summing up Julian Nigel said he saw him as 'a lonely, isolated man emotionally a mess. The reason he was so angry all the time was that it masked his shyness. And people shied away from him because of his manner. When he started to fall in love (with Sandra) he was embarrassed and rather shifty about the whole thing, he didn't want to give way to his feelings.'
OTHER TALENTS:Hopes in the future to branch into comedy roles. He certainly showed great comic timing in his role as Julian, particularly in his hilarious scenes where he rowed with Beth Ramanee !
Written by Christopher Watson