Nicholas Ball (actor)

John Nicholas Ball (11 April 1946 – 4 June 2024) was an English actor. He was best known for playing the title role in the television series Hazell.

Ball portrayed the vicious gang lord Terry Bates in EastEnders between 2007 and 2009. He played Garry Ryan in series five of Footballers' Wives and both series of its spin-off programme Footballers' Wives: Extra Time. The voice of Nicholas Ball can be heard as well on various audio books offered via the internet; he has narrated books from such authors as Christopher Hitchens and James Maybrick. In 2019 he appeared in an advert for Premier Inn, playing the part of Lenny Henry's manager.

Personal life
Ball was born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, and raised in Hastings, Sussex, and trained to be an actor at Bristol Old Vic.

Ball was married to actress and psychologist, Pamela Stephenson from 1978 until she left him for the comedian Billy Connolly. He later married his long-term partner, actress Ayda Kay, in 2019.

Ball died on 4 June 2024, at the age of 78.

Filmography

 * Overlord (1975)
 * The Picture of Dorian Gray (BBC) (1976)
 * The Crezz (1976)
 * Rogue Male (1976)
 * Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe? (1978)
 * Hazell (1978–1979)
 * The House that Bled to Death (1980) (TV) in the Hammer House of Horror series
 * ''Play for Today Sorry (1981)
 * The Young Ones Series 1; Episode: Interesting (1982)
 * "Who Cares Wins – The Key To Success" (Austin Rover staff training video) (1983)
 * Bergerac Two appearances: Series 2; Episode 7 (1983); Christmas Special (1988)
 * Alas Smith and Jones, at least one appearance. Episode 1 (January 1984)
 * Lifeforce (1985)
 * Colin's Sandwich Series 2 (1989)
 * Heartbeat Series 7; Episode 7 (1997) – Charlie Fenton
 * Red Dwarf Series 4, Justice (1991) – the Simulant
 * The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous (1997)
 * Croupier (1998)
 * Jonathan Creek Series 3; Episode 5 (1999) – Vince Rees
 * Footballers' Wives: Extra Time Series 1–2 (2005–2006)
 * Footballers' Wives Series 5 (2006)
 * Pie in the Sky Series 3; Episode 4 (1996) – DCI Doggett
 * Heartbeat Series 16; Episode 19 (2007) – Gregory Flambard
 * EastEnders (2007–2009)
 * Sisterhood (2008)
 * Hustle (2009) – Frank Rose
 * Holby City (2015) – Barry Copeland
 * The Krays: Dead Man Walking (2018) – Harry Webster
 * Doctors (2020) – Harold 'Aitch' Snetterton
 * The Krays: New Blood (2021) – Harry Webster