John Altman (actor)

John Clarkson Stewart (born 2 March 1952), known as John Altman, is an English actor and singer. He was among the original cast members of the BBC soap opera EastEnders, playing Nick Cotton, appearing in the first episode in February 1985 and remaining on the show as a recurring character. His character was killed off in the 30th anniversary episode of the show which aired in February 2015. Altman has also appeared in several films, television series and stage productions. In 2010, he became the new frontman of the band Heavy Metal Kids following the death of former frontman Gary Holton in 1985.

Altman was born in Reading, Berkshire, elder son of Cecil Clarkson Stewart (1921–1995), a first-class clerk at the Bank of England, and Tina Florence (1920–2016), daughter of actor Johnnie Schofield. He and his younger brother William were raised in Herne Bay, Kent.

Altman made his acting debut in the 1979 film The First Great Train Robbery where he played a minor role. Also in 1979, he portrayed musician George Harrison in the biographical television film Birth of The Beatles. He made brief appearances in several other films including Quadrophenia (1979), An American Werewolf in London (1981) and Memoirs of a Survivor (1981). In 1980, Altman worked as a model in creating prototypes of the Hawkmen that appear in the Dino De Laurentiis–produced film, Flash Gordon but did not appear in the film itself. In 1982, Altman played the role of a Royal Navy rating alongside Timothy Spall in the Channel 4 film Remembrance. Altman also featured in a 1982 short public information film, "Stupid Git", part of the British government's campaign against drink-driving.

In 1985, he began appearing as Nick Cotton in the new BBC television soap opera EastEnders, appearing in the first episode on 19 February that year. Altman was axed from the show the following year after Executive Producer Julia Smith told writers to 'write him out' of the show after he opposed a decision to make his character gay. However, he went on to make recurring appearances on the show over a span of nearly 30 years. He has had a major role in many famous storylines in the show including the murders of Reg Cox (whose body was found in the first episode) and Eddie Royle, his attempt to kill his own mother Dot by poisoning her and his various feuds with characters including Pete Beale, Den Watts and Mark Fowler. He also contributed towards the death of his own son Ashley by sabotaging a motorbike which Ashley ended up stealing and crashing.

His character was also given his own television spin-off episode titled Return of Nick Cotton which was completely centred on his character and aired in October 2000.

In 2015, his character was killed off in the episode that aired on 13 February 2015 and he made his final appearance as a corpse in the episode that marked the 30th anniversary of the show on 19 February 2015. His body was found in the same way as his victim Reg Cox was found in the first episode 30 years earlier. A year earlier, his character's death had been announced in the show, only for it to emerge within a few months that Nick had faked his own death.

In 1991, he played Thomas De Quincey in Malcolm Mclaren's 'The Ghosts of Oxford Street', where he appeared outside a purported subterranean 'Boots Apothecary', the origin of an urban myth that there is a parallel abandoned Victorian shopping street 'under' Oxford Street, London. This was actually the under-pavement storage vaults of 20–22 Stratford Place.

Away from television, he also appeared in an adult pantomime, which released on video in 1994 titled Pussy in Boots. In the pantomime he appeared alongside fellow EastEnders cast members Mike Reid and Barbara Windsor. In 2001 he won the Rear of the Year Award alongside Claire Sweeney. In the same year he also performed in the Leiber and Stoller tribute evening at the Hammersmith Apollo, singing "Trouble", originally performed by Elvis Presley.