John Nettles

John Nettles has been a familiar face on British and International television screens for over thirty years. From his early beginnings in the UK hit comedy The Liver Birds (1969), he became a household name overnight playing the Jersey detective "Jim Bergerac". The series, Bergerac (1981), was a huge hit in Britain and was exported to many countries across the world including France, Spain and Greece, gaining him thousands of fans.
His new found fame as Bergerac gave him almost film-star-like fame and fortune, not to mention thousands of female admirers!
Despite Bergerac (1981) being mothballed in the early 1990s, the series still has a considerable fan base and lingering popularity abroad, especially in Jersey, where images of John Nettles are still used for advertising tourist attractions and other services on the island.
Nettles is a very balanced and underrated actor, happy both on-screen or on-stage. His polished Shakesperean performances have won him critical acclaim and many consider him to rival fellow British stalwarts of theatre such as 'Patrick Stewart' and Sir 'Ian McKellen'.
Oddly enough, however, he has never really ventured onto the big screen and has seemed happy to stick to stage and television throughout his successful career.
Most recently he has enjoying continued success playing the very dapper DCI Tom Barnaby in ITV's Midsomer Murders (1997), a sort of easy-going version of Inspector Morse (1987).