Mark Billingham

Mark Billingham is an English novelist, actor, television screenwriter, and comedian. He is best known for his crime novel series featuring the character Tom Thorne. Born on July 2, 1961, in Solihull, Warwickshire, Billingham grew up in Moseley, Birmingham. He attended the King Edward VI Camp Hill School for Boys and later studied drama at the University of Birmingham. After graduating, he co-founded the socialist theatre company Bread & Circuses and toured with shows across schools, colleges, and arts centers. In the mid-1980s, Billingham moved to London and began working as a jobbing actor, taking on minor roles in popular TV shows. He excelled in playing diverse villainous characters, such as soccer hooligans, drug addicts, and corrupt police officers.