Biography

Kevin Whately

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From the age of one, Kevin Whately lived at Humshaugh near Chollerford in Northumberland. At school, he appeared in plays and when he asked his teacher about acting, he was told ' You'll never make a proper living'. He therefore joined a Newcastle accountancy firm. Eventually, he moved to London where he attended a drama school, but, needing money, he spent early mornings busking at Oxford Street tube station and evenings taking tickets at The Old Vic Theatre. Later, he moved to Perth in Scotland, where he spent a season in rep. In 1980, he met his wife when they were performing in a production of 'A Nightingale in Berkley Square'. He then moved into television. He is Vice President of the People's Theatre in Newcastle and has an Honorary Doctorate from Newcastle University.
- IMDb mini biography by: Tonyman 5

He informed Colin Dexter that he would like to have played cricket professionally for England if he had not become an actor, so Dexter devised the storyline for Deceived by Flight (1989) in which Sergeant Lewis has to go undercover in a cricket team to investigate drug smuggling.
Despite training as an actor in London, Kevin retained his strong Newcastle accent, which was still unusual for an actor at that time.
Has two children with Madelaine Newton: Catherine Whately ("Kitty") (born 1983) and Kieran (born 1985). Catherine appeared as Kevin's on-screen daughter in Season Two Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983).
Attended and graduated from the Central School of Speech and Drama (CCSD) in London, England (1975).
Resides in Woburn Sands. This is in the Thames Valley police district. The same district where his character Inspector Lewis serves in both the Morse and Inspector Lewis productions.

[on John Thaw] John had a wonderful sense of humor which is belied sometimes by journalists' impression of him as irascible. He loathed the whole celebrity circuit. In between takes he was like an Irish storyteller in a bar - he wouldn't tell jokes, just stories and you would find yourself rolling around and crying with laughter. He was a wonderful mimic, particularly of people on the set rather than famous people.
I'm not interested in more money for the sake of it. You're aware that if you're nicking all the budget, somebody else is getting threepence ha'penny, or the production values aren't going to be so high.
It always staggers me when series don't use their sidekicks. I don't meant to slight them in any way, but Frost and Midsomer Murders, although they have got ongoing sidekicks, didn't seem to develop them as much as we always have.
[on Inspector Lewis (2006)] It was coming up with the idea of a prototype Morse - the Hathaway character - that I think has made it.

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