# Tony Maudsley
**Tony Maudsley** (born 1968) is an English actor best known for playing the hairdresser Kenneth Du Beke in the ITV sitcom *Benidorm* and the undertaker George Shuttleworth in the ITV soap opera *Coronation Street*. His career spans television comedy and drama, film, stage musicals, panto and radio.
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1968, Kirkby, Liverpool, Merseyside, England[1](https://thebritishmedia.co.uk/tony-maudsley/) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/tony-maudsley) |
| Training | Royal Welsh College for Music and Drama, graduated 1994[3](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/) |
| Breakthrough | *A Life for a Life* (1999), as Stefan Kiszko; won the RTS Award for Best Newcomer and was nominated for RTS Best Actor[3](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/) • [4](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/interview-bringing-beni-to-brighton/) |
| Signature TV role | Kenneth Du Beke in *Benidorm*, series 4 through series 10 (2011–2018)[5](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/tony_maudsley/) |
| Current TV role | George Shuttleworth in *Coronation Street*, joining in 2018[6](https://www.coronationstreetexperience.co.uk/fan-hub/i-m-your-friendly-neighbourhood-undertaker-tony-maudsley-who-plays-george-shuttleworth-at-the-coronation-street-experience/) |
| Film franchise | Grawp in *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix* (David Yates, Warner Bros)[3](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/) |
| Stage musicals | Edna Turnblad in *Hairspray* at Leicester Curve and on the UK tour[3](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/) |
| Agent | Ruth Young, United Agents[3](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/) |
## Training and breakthrough
Maudsley trained at the Royal Welsh College for Music and Drama, graduating in 1994[3](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/). In a 2019 interview he described a roundabout route into acting: a drama teacher took him to a youth theater while he was at school in Liverpool, he gave up a college course, worked in an MFI warehouse, and decided at 23 to try acting, entering drama college in Wales[4](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/interview-bringing-beni-to-brighton/).
His first major role came soon after graduation. After a national tour of *South Pacific* closed without selling, he was called to audition for the television film *A Life for a Life*, playing Stefan Kiszko, a man wrongly convicted as a child killer, opposite [Olympia Dukakis](https://www.edgepedia.org/olympia-dukakis)[4](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/interview-bringing-beni-to-brighton/). The role won him the 1999 Royal Television Society Award for Best Newcomer and brought a nomination for RTS Best Actor[3](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/). His agent biography also lists a Liverpool Film Office Award for Best Performance in a Drama[3](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/).
The exposure opened doors in film. According to Maudsley, Tim Burton had seen the film and asked him to audition for *Sleepy Hollow*, in which he played Van Ripper[4](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/interview-bringing-beni-to-brighton/) • [3](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/).
## Benidorm and Kenneth Du Beke
Maudsley joined *Benidorm*, the ITV comedy series set at a Spanish holiday resort, in series 4 and played Kenneth, a flamboyant hairdresser, as a series regular through series 10[4](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/interview-bringing-beni-to-brighton/) • [5](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/tony_maudsley/). He had first auditioned for a different part in the series and did not get it; when he auditioned for Kenneth three years later he was, by his own account, 20 stone, sweating and flustered after rushing across London from a rehearsal, and guessed the producers "saw what they were looking for"[4](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/interview-bringing-beni-to-brighton/).
**Character details.** Much of Kenneth's comic identity came from Maudsley's own contributions: the character's rude T-shirts and hot pants. He drew up the T-shirt slogans himself, with family members contributing some, and the lawyers at ITV vetted them for a 9pm broadcast slot[4](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/interview-bringing-beni-to-brighton/) • [7](https://www.italktelly.com/post/i-talk-to-tony-maudsley). He has said that the show's appeal lay in depicting working-class people enjoying a holiday, with characters audiences recognized from their own families[4](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/interview-bringing-beni-to-brighton/).
After the television series ended, Maudsley reprised the role in the *Benidorm Live* stage tour, directed by the show's creator Derren Litten[3](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/). He described live audiences roaring at each performer's first entrance after their years of investment in the characters[4](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/interview-bringing-beni-to-brighton/).
## Coronation Street
Since 2018 Maudsley has played George Shuttleworth in *Coronation Street*, a long-running British soap set in the fictional Weatherfield[6](https://www.coronationstreetexperience.co.uk/fan-hub/i-m-your-friendly-neighbourhood-undertaker-tony-maudsley-who-plays-george-shuttleworth-at-the-coronation-street-experience/). George, from a family of undertakers, runs Shuttleworth's Independent Funeral Directors, and the character was introduced at his father's will reading[6](https://www.coronationstreetexperience.co.uk/fan-hub/i-m-your-friendly-neighbourhood-undertaker-tony-maudsley-who-plays-george-shuttleworth-at-the-coronation-street-experience/). Maudsley has described his start on the soap, which coincided with the coronavirus pandemic, as a "strange start"[8](https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/tv/news/tony-maudsley-reflects-strange-start-coronation-street-amid-coronavirus-pandemic-1258414.html). Storylines in 2025 tied George to the departure of Eileen Grimshaw, his on-screen girlfriend, played by [Sue Cleaver](https://www.edgepedia.org/sue-cleaver)[9](https://www.whattowatch.com/features/coronation-streets-sue-cleaver-on-why-she-is-really-leaving-after-25-years-on-the-cobbles).
## Film roles
His film work ranges across period and contemporary productions. The agent's film list includes Joseph Sedley in [Mira Nair](https://www.edgepedia.org/mira-nair)'s *Vanity Fair* (2004), roles in [Stephen Fry](https://www.edgepedia.org/stephen-fry)'s *Bright Young Things* and [Jez Butterworth](https://www.edgepedia.org/jez-butterworth)'s *Birthday Girl*, Jim in *The Scouting Book for Boys*, and Grawp, the giant brother of Hagrid, in *Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix*, directed by David Yates[3](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/). On Rotten Tomatoes his highest-rated listed film is *Club Le Monde* (2002) at 80 percent and his lowest *The Intended* (2002) at 35 percent[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/tony-maudsley). He told *Scene Magazine* that audiences who know him from sitcoms are often surprised by the fantasy franchise credit, since he played Hagrid's 16-foot-high brother through motion and voice work[4](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/interview-bringing-beni-to-brighton/).
## Stage work
Maudsley's stage credits cover musicals, straight plays and pantomime. He played Edna Turnblad in *[Hairspray](https://www.edgepedia.org/hairspray-musical)* at the Leicester Curve and in the UK tour, a role he discussed in connection with [Divine](https://www.edgepedia.org/divine-performer), the original Edna in [John Waters](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-waters)'s 1988 film[3](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/) • [10](https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/entertainment/theatre/775700/tony-embraces-divine-role/). His listed stage work also includes *Our Lady of Blundellsands* at the Liverpool Everyman, *The Anniversary* at the Liverpool Playhouse and Garrick Theatre, *Dogs Barking* at the Bush Theatre, and panto roles as the Genie in *Aladdin* and Dame Trot in *Jack and the Beanstalk*[3](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/).
He has also worked regularly on [BBC Radio 4](https://www.edgepedia.org/bbc-radio-4), including as Joshua in all four series of *Revolting People* and roles in *Old Harry's Game*[3](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/).
## References
1. [Tony Maudsley 2026: The Actor Behind Some of British TV's Most Memorable Characters, thebritishmedia.co.uk](https://thebritishmedia.co.uk/tony-maudsley/)
2. [Tony Maudsley, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/celebrity/tony-maudsley)
3. [Tony Maudsley, United Agents](https://www.unitedagents.co.uk/tony-maudsley/)
4. [Interview: Bringing Beni to Brighton, Scene Magazine (2019)](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/interview-bringing-beni-to-brighton/)
5. [Tony Maudsley, British Comedy Guide](https://www.comedy.co.uk/people/tony_maudsley/)
6. ["I'm your friendly neighbourhood undertaker": Tony Maudsley at the Coronation Street Experience (2023)](https://www.coronationstreetexperience.co.uk/fan-hub/i-m-your-friendly-neighbourhood-undertaker-tony-maudsley-who-plays-george-shuttleworth-at-the-coronation-street-experience/)
7. [I Talk To Tony Maudsley, iTalkTelly (2016)](https://www.italktelly.com/post/i-talk-to-tony-maudsley)
8. [Tony Maudsley reflects on 'strange start' at Coronation Street, FemaleFirst](https://www.femalefirst.co.uk/tv/news/tony-maudsley-reflects-strange-start-coronation-street-amid-coronavirus-pandemic-1258414.html)
9. [Sue Cleaver on leaving Coronation Street, What to Watch (2025)](https://www.whattowatch.com/features/coronation-streets-sue-cleaver-on-why-she-is-really-leaving-after-25-years-on-the-cobbles)
10. [Tony embraces a divine role, Press and Journal (2015)](https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/entertainment/theatre/775700/tony-embraces-divine-role/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › English actors: 2000s onward › Surnames L to Mb*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license