John Nettles, an English actor, was born on 11 October 1943 in St Austell, Cornwall. He was the adopted child of Eric Nettles, a carpenter by profession, and his wife, Elsie. John Nettles attended a local grammar school in St Austell. On a scholarship, he went on to study history and philosophy at the Southampton University in 1962. In July 1995, he married Cathryn Sealey in Evesham, Worcestershire.
John Nettles discovered his passion for acting when he was at the university, where he gave his first performance. Following this debut performance at the university, he was called to perform in a number of theatre parts and from 1969-70, he was part of repertory at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter. In 1970, he made his first screen appearance in the comedy film, One More Time directed by Jerry Lewis. The next year, John Nettles started acting as Dr. Ian Mackenzie in the British drama series, A Family At War broadcast on ITV and was a part of the TV series from 1970 to 1972. He has also performed small roles in television programmes, like The Liver Birds, Enemy at the Door and Robin of Sherwood.
In 1981, John Nettles got a chance to perform as the detective Sergeant, Jim Bergerac in the Jersey-set British crime drama, Bergerac. The series included eighty seven episodes and was broadcast on BBC from 1981-91. He worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company for five seasons and featured in The Winter's Tale, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Julius Caesar, Richard III and The Devil is an Ass.
John Nettles has acted in an episode of ITV’s drama series, Boon in 1992. The following year, he performed as Jim Bergerac in the police comedy series, The Detectives. 1n 1995, he was asked to play the character Tom Barnaby in the mystery murder series, Midsomer Murders by the producer Brian True-May. John Nettles became popular for his role as a policeman and he still continues to perform in the series. It was considered as one of the greatest roles in his career. He acted as Barnaby in the “Boxing Day” episode of the comedy show, French & Saunders in 2003 and has also featured in Heartbeat. From 1996 to 2005, John Nettles was the narrator of the Airport, a BBC documentary. He featured in the Will Smith Presents the Tao of Bergerac, a comedy series aired on BBC Radio 4 in 2007.
Apart from acting, John Nettles has written a couple of books, which include the Bergerac's Jersey, John Nettles' Jersey and Nudity in a Public Place.
