Bill Ward (actor)

Bill Ward (born 5 May 1967) is an English actor. He is known for his soap opera roles as Charlie Stubbs in Coronation Street and James Barton in Emmerdale.

Early life
Ward was educated at Oundle School and Bristol University where he obtained a degree in Modern British History, and worked as an advertising executive before beginning his professional acting career in the 1980s.

Career
He acted widely in theatre and television, joining the cast of Coronation Street in 2003, portraying local builder Charlie Stubbs, until 2007 when his character was killed by Tracy Barlow after a domestic abuse storyline. He made his second appearance in a major soap opera role as James Barton in Emmerdale beginning in 2013. However, Ward announced in August 2016 that he was quitting the soap, and his character was killed off in October 2016. Outside of acting, Ward is noted as a photographer.

Ward also had a role in 2003 in BBC TV's EastEnders, in which he played the role of Mike Parker. He also has had roles in shows such as ITV's The Bill and Heartbeat. In 2019, he starred as retired drag queen Hugo Battersby / Loco Chanelle in the acclaimed musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie at the Apollo Theatre for a limited run. In December 2020, it was revealed that Ward had undertaken work as a delivery driver for Tesco, after several acting jobs he had scheduled were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In September 2023, he appeared in an episode of the BBC soap opera Doctors as Mickey Gilmore.