Fine Time Fontayne | |
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Born |
Ian Crossley 1951 (age 65–66) Wombwell, West Riding of Yorkshire,England, UK |
Occupation | Actor, theatre director |
Ian Crossley (born 1951), better known by the stage name Fine Time Fontayne, is an English actor and stage director.
Fontayne was born in Wombwell, West Riding of Yorkshire into a mining family. In the 1960s, he moved with his parents and brothers to Sheffield, where they ran a pub. He took his stage name when he began singing and playing at a local folk club in Yorkshire. He started acting in the 1970s with the Crucible Vanguard Company.
In the early years of his career Fontayne worked in cabaret, community and repertory theatre, as well as the Red Ladder Theatre Company. He has played a variety of roles in many long-running British TV series such as All Creatures Great and Small, Coronation Street, and Emmerdale. He is a frequent voice in BBC Radio drama (including The Blackburn Files and Street and Lane) and has appeared in films including 24 Hour Party People and Butterfly Kiss.
Fontayne appeared in the 2002 radio series The Little World of Don Camillo. He directed a successful production of Sleeping Beauty at the Mercury Theatre, Essex in December 2007 and January 2008. In 2011, he played Claudius in the touring Northern Broadsides production of Hamlet. He has frequently appeared in pantomime at the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry.