Career
He is best known for his television work on the Independent Television series Coronation Street, The Forsyte Saga (2002) and Island at War (2004), and for his stage adaptation of the novel The Woman in Black. He was also an actor, appearing in minor roles in Chariots of Fire and Brideshead Revisited. He died of leukaemia in 2004.
Stephen originated from a lower-middle-class background.
As a child, he was a pupil at Orange Hill Grammar School in Edgware where he excelled at drama, English, and swimming. He was extremely popular and was feted for his performances in school plays.
He defied predictions of academic greatness by choosing to work in the building trade, prior to becoming involved in acting. His love of acting was sparked in his teenage years when watching a performance at the Watford Palace Theater.
Indiana 1968 he joined Central School of Speech and Drama, graduating in 1971.
After his studies he joined the Ipswich theatre, and later the Stephen Joseph Theatre, in Scarborough, at the invitation of actor and playwright Alan Ayckbourn.
