Stephen Graham receives OBE in King Charles' first New Year's Honours List

Actor Stephen Graham has been appointed OBE (Order of the British Empire) for his services to drama, having been recognised for his work in the New Year Honours List - the first for King Charles III.

The 49-year-old from Merseyside made a name for himself in the likes of 2000 Guy Ritchie comedy Snatch and 2002’s Gangs Of New York, the latter of which saw him played criminal Stephen Shang.

He also portrayed Baby Face Nelson in Public Enemies in 2009, infamous mobster Al Capone in period crime drama series Boardwalk Empire, and mobster Anthony Provenzano in 2019’s gangster epic The Irishman, alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro.

However, he is best known for the role of short-fused English nationalist Andrew ‘Combo’ Gascoigne in the 2006 film This Is England – a character he later reprised in the Channel 4 series This Is England ’86, This Is England ’88 and This Is England ’90.

Optimum Releasing

The OBE nod caps a particularly stellar year for Graham, who starred in the hard-hitting ITV drama The Walk In, the musical film Matilda, comedic police series Code 404 and hugely popular BBC show Peaky Blinders.

He also starred in Help, set in a Liverpool care home alongside Jodie Comer, with the Channel 4 film winning the International Emmy for TV movie/mini-series in November.

Hard-hitting prison drama Time, co-starring Sean Bean, also won best mini-series at the Bafta TV Awards this year.

Graham is set to star in an upcoming biographical drama about competitive American swimmers, Young Woman And The Sea, and Second World War historical drama Blitz along with Saoirse Ronan.

He will also return in a series spin-off of Boiling Point, which will start filming early next year and the story will pick up six months after the end of the film, with Vinette Robinson's character, Carly, becoming head chef of her own restaurant.

Vertigo Releasing

Along with Graham, a number of the film's cast will also be back to reprise their roles, while his production company Matriarch Productions will also be helping bring Boiling Point to TV.

BBC executive producer Rebecca Ferguson said she had been 'stunned by the absolute thrill ride' of Boiling Point and thought it was great that the film was going to become a series.

She said: "The opportunity to expand this break-out hit into five new unmissable episodes of television was too good to miss.

"It's an absolute pleasure to build on my existing relationship with Philip Barantini and work with this incredibly talented team of film-makers to bring their vision to BBC One and iPlayer viewers."