John Lyons

John Lyons (born 14 September 1943) is an English stage and screen actor. He played Detective Sergeant George Toolan in the long-running UK detective drama, A Touch of Frost (1992–2010) alongside David Jason. Early life Lyons was born in Whitechapel in 1943, the son of a dock worker and an office cleaner, and the youngest of three children. Aged six, he would help the local milkman deliver milk to the neighbouring block of flats before school. Leaving school at fifteen, Lyons became a labourer for British Rail at Paddington Station. An aspiring footballer, every Sunday morning, he and several hundred others would play football on Hackney Marshes. Aged 17, a member of his team happened to be a journalist who gave him a business card advertising a new drama school, East 15. Lyons attended the drama school for three years after being accepted after an audition. Career Lyons' first acting job out of drama school was in Catch Hand. After this, he worked consistently in many popular television series including On the Buses, Man About the House, George and Mildred, Doctor in Charge and UFO. Lyons also had a prominent role playing Detective Sgt. Jim Huke in a 1976 episode of The Sweeney and shortly after also appeared in the second film of the series. Following appearances in Spooner's Patch, Bottle Boys and Upstairs Downstairs, in 1992, Lyons starred in the detective series A Touch of Frost opposite David Jason as DS George Toolan, a role he would play until the show's end in 2010. At the same time, Lyons also starred in Shameless, Spooks and Doctors, although he now mainly appears on stage.