Alex Newcombe Walkinshaw (born 5 October 1974) is an English actor. After making his professional acting debut in 1990, he has since played roles including Dale "Smithy" Smith in the ITV police procedural series The Bill, Adrian "Fletch" Fletcher in BBC medical dramas Casualty and Holby City, Jez Diamond in the BBC school-based drama series Waterloo Road and Ross Marshall in the BBC soap opera EastEnders.
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Early life
Walkinshaw was born on 5 October 1974 in Barking, London. In between acting jobs in the 1990s, he also worked as a labourer, office fitter and at a snooker hall in Barking. He is the cousin of television personality and model Jodie Marsh.
Career
Walkinshaw's first television appearance was at the age of 12 as an extra in Grange Hill, where he stayed for a year. From 1992 to 1993, he appeared in the sitcom Side by Side. He first appeared in The Bill in three episodes as a guest star in 1992, 1993 and 1995, before joining as a regular cast member in 1999. It was whilst he was acting at the Royal Court Theatre that he was spotted by one of the producers of The Bill and was encouraged to audition for the programme. He joined The Bill as PC Dale Smith, better known as "Smithy". He departed from the series in 2001, but eventually returned. In 2008, he was nominated for Outstanding Drama Performance at the National Television Awards. The award was won by David Tennant. After The Bill was axed in 2010 by ITV, Walkinshaw admitted that "It was emotional shooting the final scenes" and that he found it "tough" to leave behind some of his co-stars.
