Background
Lister was born Thomas Brown but took on his mother"s maiden name when acting professionally to avoid confusion with another actor going by the name Tom Brown.
Lister was born Thomas Brown but took on his mother"s maiden name when acting professionally to avoid confusion with another actor going by the name Tom Brown.
He studied at Birmingham School of Acting (Bachelor of Scientific Agriculture) for three years, pursuing his dream of being an actor and graduated in 2001.
He made his acting debut in 1999 playing a small part as a Sales Office Team Member and went onto appear in such television series as Heartbeat, Doctors and The Bill. In February 2004 he got his big break when he debuted on the British soap opera Emmerdale playing Carl King a role which he maintained until his departure from the serial on 18 October 2012, following eight years, after his character was murdered in the show"s 40th Anniversary live episode (17 October 2012). Since leaving the show Lister has appeared as Captain Hook in the Sunderland Empires Pantomime, Peter Pan.
Tom made his musical theatre debut in the world premiere of The Water Babies Musical at the Curve Leicester on 24 April 2014.
Tom is playing the character Grimes. In 2014 Tom began touring the United Kingdom as Wild Bill Hickok in the musical Calamity Jane.
Lister appeared alongside his Emmerdale co-stars Lucy Pargeter, Nick Miles, Kelsey-Beth Crossley and Nicola Wheeler as the King family in a special episode of All Star Family Fortunes, playing against Coronation Street"s Webster family and winning. He also appeared as singer Jamie Cullum in Stars In Their Eyes.
He also works with the anti-trafficking organisation Hope for Justice.
Lister has been nominated for "Sexiest Male" and "Villain of the Year" awards at The British Soap on various occasions. Other acclamations include: In 2007, Tom, along with Lucy Pargeter (aka Chastity Dingle), won Best Couple at the Irish television Now magazine awards for their portrayal of Chas and Carl. In 2009, Tom won Favourite Male Soap Star at the Irish television Now Magazine awards for his portrayal of Carl King.
