Craig Kelly
Craig was born in 1970 in Lytham St Annes near Blackpool in Lancashire. His father is originally from Liverpool and his mother from Glasgow. One of two brothers, Craig’s younger sibling is Dean Lennox Kelly who followed Craig into the acting profession at a young age and is best known for his role of Kev in Shameless.
At school Craig was good at sports and English and soon realised he had bit of a talent for entertaining his peers by impersonating his teachers which generally got him in to trouble but was ultimately one of the things that lead to him deciding to enroll on a drama foundation course at 16 years old in his hometown St Annes On Sea.
At eighteen, his next move was to Drama Centre London, where he trained as an actor for three years. On leaving Drama Centre Craig immediately landed a starring role in a film starring opposite Harvey Keitel and his career in acting had begun.
Craig has worked in numerous roles in TV, film and theatre his most notable jobs being a starring role in Young Americans, a small role in Titanic, a starring role playing Vince in Queer as Folk and a series regular in Casualty. In 2009 Craig played the role of series regular Luke Strong, the charming new factory boss and ladies man in Weatherfield’s Coronation Street. Craig was also recently in critically acclaimed ITV drama Collision where he and Dean played actual brothers on screen for the first time. An extensive list of Craig’s work can be seen on IMDB.
At the end of 2009 Craig took part in BBC1′s Strictly Come Dancing with Flavia Cacace where he got through eight weeks of eliminations, finally being voted out in his hometown of Blackpool.
Craig is one of the UK’s most prolific voiceover artists, voicing the likes of Channel 4′s Shipwrecked and BBC’s The Real Hustle as well as multiple commercials, trailers and programmes.
Craig is an avid Liverpool fan and a keen footballer, recently realising his dream by playing opposite Kenny Dalglish in a charity match at his beloved Anfield.
Craig is also a black belt in kick boxing having trained in the sport for ten years.
September 24th, 2009 at 1:37 am
Good luck Craig on Strictly. I realise you are probably really nervous about your first “proper” dances on the show but you are in capable hands – Flav is the best there is (and I should know) – she has the patience of a saint. There are a lot of fans out there that can hardly wait and will be supporting you all the way.
To the powers that be on this website – please open up the comments bit to the blog so we can support Craig during his time on SCD. Im sure he would appreciate the support and encouragement while “fierce fiesty Flav” (she’s not really!) works her magic!
September 25th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Message from admin. Comments have been opened up. We were waiting for Spam filters which are now in place. Enjoy!
September 26th, 2009 at 10:35 am
Craig, 3 words….WOW, WOW,WOW….Your first dance last night was rich, confidant and your foot work? Just fantastic. We here felt that the judges were slightly harsh with you but still, take it and move on. We are all behind you for tonight and know that you’re going to do really well and surprise alot of people! GO TEAM KELLY!!!!!
October 20th, 2009 at 8:58 am
Craig,
As a fellow dancer and resident in Lytham St Annes I support you all the way. It is wonderful to see you improving and developing week by week. Keep up the good work.
October 25th, 2009 at 12:17 pm
After seeing last nights show, and your brother mentioning that your mum and dad met at a holiday camp in Blackpool in the sixties. That must be Pontins . Me , my sister and brother in law worked there too in the sixties. Ive just read your blog and realise that we do know your Mum n Dad . We were good mates back then. My name is Dianne, my sister is called Marilyn and my brother in law is Geordie Mark. Please mention this to your mum n dad , we would love to get in touch again. By the way ,keep up the good work and hope you make it to Blackpool i
October 26th, 2009 at 7:08 pm
Craig, Channel that character you played on Waking the Dead. I bet that guy would go out there and dance like nobody’s business.
Best of luck!
December 11th, 2009 at 9:22 am
whoops, a spelling mistake!
December 15th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
Hi there – you were on the same cruise as me and my hubby. I was dying to say hello but i didn’t want to disturb your time upon the fantastic Sea Princess. Hope you enjoyed it as much as we did
December 30th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Hi!!
I’m a mexican boy, i really love u!!! i don’t speak english but i can tell you, that i’m in love!!
February 20th, 2010 at 12:33 pm
Hi, I remember you from school. Always good to see a local lad doing good. xx
April 14th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Just to say I re-watched Queer as Folk the other day, what a great series with 3 amazing actors. Nice to see you starring in Coronation Street.
Keep up the great work, hope to see you return to our screens soon
Sophie
April 20th, 2010 at 11:58 pm
my bloke looks like you!
October 29th, 2010 at 6:27 pm
hey.i’m fishot from China.seems nobody left any word since long time ago.dont worry.i’m just doin’ now.i’m watchin’ ur series play Queer As Folk now.i did see the US version couple of days ago.just wanna say that you and Hal are so cute and totally adorable.so lovely.i know this series were released more than 10years ago,and perhaps you did pay any attention anymore on it.but they are always our Light.you know ,the people like queer.forget the tough and suffering life.may you love your life and keep fit.and last,,i love your British accent.so amazing.
October 29th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
sorry for my previous wrong typing.it was supposed to be like this “perhaps you didnot pay any attention anymore on it”
December 15th, 2010 at 9:23 pm
Hello from Toronto, Canada…
Craig you are INSANELY adorable and INCREDIBLY sexy; I could just eat you!!!
January 9th, 2011 at 3:22 am
Hi Craig,
Hope you are well. As much as I hate to go on about the past (as it makes me feel old) I just had to say how amazing and inspirational “Queer as FolK” was (and is) to me, and gay men everywhere. Yes, it was 12 years ago (yikes!). I didn’t watch the whole series at the time, but it was on my naive, frightened radar. Now, at age 27, I have watched every episode and I must say it has not aged a day (except for the music). It really is an honest, insightful and touching portrayal of the realities of life as a gay man. Also, you are INCREDIBLY cute, sexy and just plain lovable in it. Never change!
Love, Shane
January 10th, 2011 at 11:08 pm
Craig you are really GREAT!!You are one of my favourite actors and one of the best…so SEXY and BEAUTIFUL!I loved you as Vince Tayler!I wish you the best…cause you are THE BEST!!
June 1st, 2011 at 4:42 pm
Craig was born in 1970 in Lytham St Annes near Blackpool in Lancashire. His father is originally from Liverpool and his mother from Glasgow.
June 19th, 2011 at 12:38 pm
I’m a french fan of 60 and I’ve just seen you in Waking the dead.You are fantastic,
so great!bewitching,sexy and lovable.It was a revelation!
Toulouse(France)June 19,2011
February 8th, 2012 at 12:13 am
CRAIG KELLY – just great!