Brian was born in 1951 in Pershore, Worcestershire and it was at the local high school that had his first taste of performing, under the directorship of Robert Ashford. At the age of thirteen he saw the Royal Shakespeare's production of 'Twelfth Night' directed by Clifford Williams.  

Ashford encouraged him to apply for a place in the National Youth Theatre in which he was successful. Between the ages of sixteen and seventeen he was a member of the National Youth Theatre, performing in London and Berlin. He also had a background part in the BBC's production of 'The Apprentices' by Peter Terson. The playwright would later write an original play for Brian to stage locally. 'Campers' was given its premiere in Stoke in 2001???

In the late 1960s Brian moved to Staffordshire to complete his teacher training at Madeley College and afterwards he secured a position at Edensor High School in Longton in1972. He stayed there until 2010 when he retired. During that time he designed and directed 37 school plays and pantomimes, gaining a reputation for excellent productions. On one occasion Brian challenged New Vic Theatre Director Peter Cheeseman to come and see one of his productions after Cheeseman had written a "terrible" article about school drama. He went to see it and then sent several letters saying he was completely gobsmacked and retracted his statement. Brian even took his production of 'Titanic The Musical' on tour to the States. He was also instrumental in setting up Stoke Schools Theatre and gave a young Neil Morrissey his first role in the early 1980s in 'Noah'. Brian also wrote his own plays, most successfully a joint venture with his cousin Trevor entitled 'Rodents'. This tale of warring squirrels came about after Brian was refused the rights to stage a production of 'Watership Down'.

Brian joined the Rep in 1974 after being encouraged by Jackie Clarke who had performed with him in a production by local group 'The Etceteras'. His first role was in 'The Queen of the Rebels' directed by Peter Dutton. Several leading roles followed in productions such as 'Vivat! Vivat Regina' (1977), 'Bedroom Farce' (1981), 'Death of a Salesman' (1982), 'Filumena' (1986), 'The Winslow Boy' (1987), 'Noises Off' (1987), and 'The School For Scandal' (1988). His stand-out perforamce at the old Rep came in 1992 when he played Alan Turing in 'Breaking The Code'. The Sentinel newspaper described his performance as 'peerless'.

As well as acting Brian also designed sets and directed shows (usually both at the same time). His 

Memorable productions of 'The Dresser' (1986), 'No More Sitting On The Old Bench' (1987), 'The Sunshine Boys' (1991) 'A Christmas Carol' (1991) and 'A Man For All Seasons' (1994).



Parts, set designs and shows directed

The Young Rep

Brian retired from teaching in 2010 when he also appeared in a documentary about Neil Morrisey's time in care. Neil surprised Brian on his final day at Edensor by turning up secretly with a film crew!