By Paul Mendelson

After terrorising Central School of speech and Drama for three years, Philip headed off into the big wide world of thespianism in Carol Churchill's "Mad Forest". His first proper professional role was as Mercutio in "Romeo and Juliet" at the Lyceum Edinburgh which was, without doubt, the campest production of this mighty play yet seen. There was a lot of dancing when there should have been fighting, a great deal of eye-liner and many hands on hips, but when Mercutio dies, everyone knew that the brightest star on stage had left Verona.

Following this somewhat inauspicious start, eighteen months later, Philip is cast as the dope-head boyfriend of a council-estate mum in Johnathan Harvey's ground-breaking play "Beautiful Thing" at the Bush Theatre in London. Anyone who doubted Philip's ability both to create laughter and to move his audience was soon inspired by this touching and witty portrait.

Phil admits that theatre can be hugely hard work, but he still took on a mighty role in the West End in 2003 in "The Feast of Snails". However, as television and film work came beckoning, Phil was happy to swap the boards for the sets and locations. "At least you get a second chance," he always says, "...or, in my case, a second, third and fourth chance." We won't even mention Philip's record for the number of takes required (it's under three figures, anyway).

After playing the standard young actor roles on television, the big parts came calling: "Love Hurts" and "True Love", "The Perfect Blue" and "Sharpe". Then, the shows where Philip led the cast: "Clocking Off", "Lloyd and Hill", "The Hunt", "The Walk", "State of Play" and "Island at War". And then... "Life on Mars". Gene Hunt has become a modern phenomenon, beloved by ladies and policemen alike - and several lady policewomen too. And, for those who know him, it offers us a chance of respite from all of Phil's John Thaw impersonations from "The Sweeney" and the improvisations of "The Professionals". Now, he's getting paid for them.

A few years back, we thought we might lose Phil to Hollywood; several of his friends have headed out there, never to be seen again on British TV, but Philip's film choices have been markedly well chosen: "Calendar Girls" - one of only two decent male parts - saw him head off to Hollywood to launch one of the UK's most successful ever movies. "ID" a hard-hitting undercover police drama made in 1995 started him off and coming up in 2008, "Tuesday" another corruscating look at the underworld and the battle between law and anarchy.

Most antcipated of all perhaps, the return of DCI Gene Hunt, this time coping with the peculiarities of life in the 1980s - and in the big smoke too. London may just prove his hardest assignment yet!

It is interesting, in this celebrity-obsessed culture in which we live, to watch your friends develop their careers in showbusiness. It's easy enough to see that glamour as such, is a rare commodity, and that the magic of the finished work is attained only after months - and sometimes years - of hard work, not just by the actors but by a huge team. It's often the case that the actors have almost no idea how a finished scene will really look, once the dubbing, the CGI, and the full edit has been added. But, the ability to inhabit the character, to hold the audience, to make them believe that you are who you say you are, is a talent rarely demonstrated so consistently, as by Philip Glenister.

In real life, Phil has the same presence, the same warmth, that you see on the screen - the ability to concentrate at the strangest moments, and a wit and speed of thought that surprises all his friends. Above all, when you know Philip, you realise that he's not Gene Hunt, nor any other of his memorable characters; he's the real deal - an actor who can inhabit a role and make it his own. As a man - a human being - he's one of the good guys; as a friend, loyal and generous; as a dad and husband - well, there are plenty of smiles to go around.

Theatre work:
"A Feast of Snails" (West End play - 2002), "Translations" 1996,
"Crossing the Equator" 1995,
"The Slicing Edge" 1993,
"Beautiful Thing" 1993,
"Road" 1993,
"The Nose" 1993,
"Oedipus Tyrannos" 1992,
"Romeo & Juliet" 1991,
"A Free Country" 1990,
"Mad Forest" 1990

Film & TV work:
"Ashes to Ashes" .... DCI Gene Hunt (2008)
- TV Series
"Tuesday" .... Earp (2008)
- FILM (post-production)
"Life on Mars" .... DCI Gene Hunt
- TV (16 episodes, 2006-2007)
"Cranford" .... Mr. Carter
- TV Series (2007)
"Vincent" .... DCI David Driscoll
- TV (2 episodes, 2005)
"Kingdom of Heaven" .... Squire)
- Film (2005
"Last Rights" .... Speers - TV (2005)
"The Walk" .... Eddie - TV (2005)
"The Stepfather" .... Dougie Molloy
- TV (2005)
"Island at War" .... Oberst Heinrich Baron Von Rheingarten - TV Series (2004)
"Byron" .... William Fletcher - TV (2003)
"Calendar Girls".... Lawrence Sertain
- FILM (2003)
"The Vice" .... Jason Grant
- TV (1 episode, 2003)
"State of Play" .... DCI William Bell
- TV series (6 episodes, 2003)
"The Other Boleyn Girl".... William Stafford - TV (2003)
"Hornblower".... Gunner Hobbs
- TV series (2001)
"The Hunt".... Rob Campbell - TV (2001)
"Lloyd & Hill".... DCI Danny Lloyd - TV (2001)
"Clocking Off" .... James 'Mack' Mackintosh 
- TV Series (6 episodes, 2000-2002)
"Vanity Fair" .... William Dobbin - TV (1998)
"Wycliffe" : Dance of the Scorpions.... Det. Sgt. Eric Findlay - TV (1997)
"My Wonderful Life" .... Phil
- TV series (2 episodes, 1997)
"Sharpe's Justice" .... Truman - TV (1997)
"The Perfect Blue" .... Tom - TV (1997)
"Have Your Cake and Eat It" .... Joe Martin - TV (1997)
"Roger Roger" .... Phil - TV (2 episodes, 1996)
"Soldier Soldier" .... Corp Jimmy Reece
- TV (1 episode, 1996)
"Frontiers" .... DS Danny Curtis - TV (1996)
"Silent Witness" .... PC Denning
- TV (1 episode, 1996)
"True Love" .... Phil - TV (1996)
"Loved Up" .... Ray - TV (1995)
"I.D." .... Charlie - FILM (1995)
"Blue Heaven" .... Paul Twice
- TV (1 episode, 1994)
"The Detectives" .... Uniformed Officer
- TV (1 episode, 1993)
"Heartbeat" .... Julian Cantley
- TV (1 episode, 1992)
"Face Value" .... Julian Cantley - TV (1992)
"Love Hurts" .... Mark
- TV (2 episodes, 1992)
"Bergerac" .... Philip - TV (1 episode, 1991)
"Drop the Dead Donkey" .... Harrison
- TV (1 episode, 1991)
"London Kills Me" ....Suited Man - TV (1991)
"Murder Being Once Done" .... Brian Gregson - TV (1991)