Peter Polycarpou

Peter Polycarpou is an English-Cypriot actor, best known for playing Chris Theodopolopodous in the television comedy series Birds of a Feather and Louis Charalambos in The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies. Early life Polycarpou was born in Brighton as son of a family of Greek Cypriots. Together with his sister Eve Polycarpou he spent his first years in the St Angela's children's home in Brighton. When he was six years old, he and his sister could return to live with their family. Career Polycarpou's work in movies includes Evita (alongside Madonna), Oklahoma!, and De-Lovely. On stage, he was the first actor to play the role of John in the musical Miss Saigon in London. He was an original cast member of the musical Les Misérables, being an understudy for the role of Enjolras while playing Jean Prouvaire (A role he reprised in Les Misérables: The Dream Cast in Concert), he later played Grantaire and Thénardier. He has also played The Phantom in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera. He has also appeared in the UK première of The Woods by David Mamet at the Finborough Theatre, London. Television work has included The Bill, Holby City, Casualty and Waking the Dead. In 1992, he sang the theme tune to Love Hurts charting in the UK at number 26. In 1998 and 1999, he played Ali Hakim in Oklahoma! opposite Hugh Jackman as Curly. He also played Dr. Neville Craven in the original West End production of The Secret Garden. In February 2006, Polycarpou appeared in EastEnders, playing Yannis Pappas, father-in-law of character Carly Wicks for 3 episodes. More recently, he played a leading role in the movie O Jerusalem, released in 2007. He also starred in a short film Broken alongside Michelle Collins playing the leading role of Solomon. The film about a Greek Cypriot immigrant family in 1960s London won several international awards. He wrote and co-directed his own short film Mad George with ex-musician and long time friend John Hoare. The film has shown at several International Film Festivals.