Please Rewind Talent Wall

Billy Hartman

Billy Hartman is a Scottish actor whose career has moved comfortably between film, television, theatre and music. Rather than staying in one lane, he has built a body of work that ranges from horror and fantasy films to familiar British television dramas, West End musicals and a spell as part of a country rock trio. On film, Hartman played Dougal MacLeod, cousin of Connor McLeod, in Highlander. It was a small role, but one that placed him inside the film’s distinctive mix of Scottish history, fantasy and action. He also appeared as a teenager in the 1980s American horror film Slaughter High, another genre credit with a very different tone. His television work shows similar variety. Under the name GBH, Hartman hosted the rock ’n’ roll revival show Oh Boy!, while the early 1980s brought a role in the comedy series Russ Abbot’s Madhouse. He later appeared as Billy in the Minder episode “Windows,” Superintendent Greenall in The Bill, and Dave Slade in the Heartbeat episode “Wild Thing.” A 1994 episode of A Touch of Frost cast him as probation officer Dave Cowden, and in 2013 he played Graham O’Reilly in Casualty. Hartman’s stage work includes playing Isaac Talentire in the original West End production of Howard Goodall’s musical The Hired Man. He also appeared on the studio cast album of Jesus Christ Superstar as Caiaphas and joined the 2015 London revival of Gypsy. Music forms another notable strand of his career. Alongside Emmerdale co-stars Steve Halliwell and Alun Lewis, Hartman was a member of the 1990s country rock trio The Woolpackers. Their single “Hillbilly Rock Hillbilly Roll” became a UK hit in November 1996. Taken together, these roles reveal a performer at home across comedy, drama, genre cinema, musical theatre and rock ’n’ roll television.