Early life

Glenister was born in Harrow, Middlesex, and grew up in Hatch End. He is the son of director John Glenister and the brother of fellow actor Robert Glenister. He attended Blackwell Secondary School (now Hatch End High School), and with the encouragement of his then-sister-in-law Amanda Redman, he pursued acting and attended drama school at the Central School of Speech and Drama.

Career

In the early 1990s, Glenister appeared in various TV series including Minder, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries, Heartbeat, The Chief, Dressing for Breakfast and Silent Witness. In 1997, he guest starred in Sharpe's Justice as Richard Sharpe's half-brother Matt Truman. He played William Dobbin in the 1998 mini-series Vanity Fair.

From 1998 to 1999, Glenister co-starred as a mini-cab driver who aspires to be a rock star in the series Roger Roger. He also played factory boss Mack Mackintosh in the first three series of Clocking Off from 2000-02. In 2001, he appeared in two of the Hornblower TV films as Horatio's antagonist Gunner Hobbs.

Glenister played the photographer who took nude photos for a Women's Institute fundraising calendar in the 2003 feature film Calendar Girls. Also in 2003, he appeared in the mini-series State of Play. Glenister played the German commandant, Baron Heinrich Von Rheingarten, in the 2004 mini-series Island at War about the Occupation of the Channel Islands during World War II. Glenister played social reformer and estate manager Mr. Carter in the 2007 BBC costume drama Cranford, as part of a cast including Judi Dench and Francesca Annis.

Glenister is probably best known for his role as DCI Gene Hunt in Life on Mars (2006-07), co-starring with John Simm as Sam Tyler, and its sequel Ashes to Ashes with Keeley Hawes as Alex Drake. Glenister also worked with Simm on State of Play and Clocking Off and the 2008 crime film Tuesday. Upon announcement of the film, Glenister joked that he and Simm were contractually obliged to work with each other once a year.

Glenister starred as demon hunter Rupert Galvin in the 2009 ITV drama Demons. He used an American accent for the role, which received some criticism from reviewers. After the series was cancelled, he said he had problems with the role and felt that he may have been miscast.

In 2011, Glenister reunited with John Simm once more in the Sky TV mini-series Mad Dogs about a group of old friends whose holiday in Majorca takes an unexpected turn. After a successful reception, Glenister returned for a second run of the series in 2012.

Glenister had a small role (credited as 'Poker Friend') in Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger in 2010 and plays Charles Forestier in a 2011 feature film of Guy de Maupassant's Bel Ami.

He stars in the 2011 conspiracy thriller Hidden on BBC One, and he played Captain Smollett in Sky1's adaptation of Treasure Island, broadcast at Christmas 2011. Glenister also appeared in the 2012 premiere of the play This House.

Since 2013, Glenister has played the role of Mr Trevor Gunn, a lothario PE teacher in David Walliams' BBC One comedy series Big School.

Glenister has a leading role in the current Kudos-produced BBC drama, From There to Here (2014) which focuses on the aftermath of the IRA bombing of Manchester in 1996.

In early 2014, Glenister presented the Channel 4 series For The Love Of Cars with fellow classic car enthusiast Ant Andstead. The two friends were set the challenge of restoring classic cars including a Mini Cooper, Land Rover, DeLorean DMC-12, MG T-type, Ford Escort and a Triumph Stag. The first series ended after 6 episodes, in which all 6 classic cars were sold at a London auction, with series 2 being aired in 2015.

Publications

A book by Glenister on 1970s and 1980s culture, Things Ain't What They Used to Be, was published in October 2008.

Charity work

Glenister is patron of the charity Momentum in Kingston upon Thames, which aims to help children and the families of children undergoing treatment for cancer in Surrey.

Personal life

Glenister has been married to actress Beth Goddard since 2006. Together, they have two daughters named Millie and Charlotte.

Glenister is a supporter of non-league football team Wealdstone FC. He is also known to be a fan of Arsenal FC.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role
1995	I.D.	Charlie
2003	Calendar Girls	Lawrence
2005	Kingdom of Heaven	Squire
2008	Tuesday	Earp
2010	You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger	Poker Friend
2012	Bel Ami	Charles Forestier

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Minder	Greg Hunter	Series 8, Episode 3: "Whatever Happened to Her Indoors"
	The Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Brian Gregson	Series 5, Episodes 4-6: "Murder Being Once Done" parts 1-3
	Drop the Dead Donkey	Harrison	Series 2, Episode 11: "George's Daughter"
	Bergerac	Philip	Series 9, Episode 11: "All for Love"
1992	Love Hurts	Mark	Series 1, Episode 6: "Stormy Weather" Series 1, Episode 7: "A Day in the Life"
	Heartbeat	Julian Cantley	Series 1, Episode 7: "Face Value"
	A Fatal Inversion	Young Detective	Episodes 2 and 3
1993	The Detectives	Uniformed Officer	Series 1, Episode 2: "Hostage"
	In Suspicious Circumstances	Herbert Bennett	Series 3, Episode 6: "Good as Gold"
1994	Law and Disorder	David MacNamara	Series 1, Episode 6: "Safe as Houses"
	The Chief	Angus Shadwell	Series 4, Episode 8
	Blue Heaven	Paul Twice	Series 1, Episode 6
1995	Loved Up	Ray	TV film
	Dressing for Breakfast	Mark	Series 1, Series 1, Episode 2: "Mark"
1996	True Love	Phil	TV film
	Silent Witness	PC Jerry Denning	Series 1, Episodes 5-6: "Darkness Visible" parts 1-2
	Frontiers	DS Danny Curtis	TV mini-series
	Soldier Soldier	Jimmy Reece	Series 6, Episode 3: "All for One"
1996-97	My Wonderful Life	Phil	Series 1, Episode 0: "True Love" Series 1, Episode 3: "Convent Girl" Series 1, Episode 6: "Portugal"
1997	The Perfect Blue	Tom	TV film
	Have Your Cake and Eat It	Joe Martin	TV mini-series
	Sharpe's Justice	Matt Truman	TV film
	Wycliffe	DS Eric Findlay	Series 4, Episode 9: "Dance of the Scorpions"
1998	Vanity Fair	William Dobbin	TV mini-series
1998-99	Roger Roger	Phil	Series 1-2: 13 episodes
2000-02	Clocking Off	James 'Mack' Mackintosh	Series 1-3: 11 episodes
2001	Lloyd & Hill	DCI Danny Lloyd	TV film
	The Hunt	Rob Campbell	TV film
2002	Hornblower: Mutiny Hornblower: Retribution	Gunner Hobbs	TV film
2003	The Other Boleyn Girl	William Stafford	TV film
	State of Play	DCI William Bell	TV mini-series
	The Vice	Jason Grant	Series 5, Episode 7: "Lust"
	Byron	William Fletcher	TV film
2004	Island at War	Oberst Heinrich Baron Von Rheingarten	TV mini-series
2005	The Stepfather	Dougie Molloy	TV film
	The Walk	Eddie	TV film
	Last Rights	Speers	TV mini-series
	Vincent	DCI David Driscoll	Series 1, Episodes 1-3
2006-07	Life on Mars	Gene Hunt	Series 1-2: 16 Episodes
2007	Cranford	Mr. Carter	TV mini-series
2008-10	Ashes to Ashes	Gene Hunt	Series 1-3: 24 episodes
2009	Demons	Rupert Galvin	Series 1: 6 episodes
2011-13	Mad Dogs	Quinn	TV mini-series
2011	Hidden	Harry Venn	TV mini-series
2012	Treasure Island	Captain Smollet	TV mini-series
2013	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Sir William Boyd-Carrington	Episode: "Curtain"
2013-present	Big School	Mr Trevor Gunn	Television sitcom series
2014	Jumbo: The Plane that Changed the World	Narrator
	From There to Here	Daniel Cotton	TV series
	For the Love of Cars	Presenter	TV series
2015-present	Prey	David Murdoch	Lead Role; Second series onwards
2016	Outcast	Reverend Anderson	Lead Role

[ Source: Wikipedia ]