By Peter Hart & Angie Quinn
Daniel Laurie has been a cast member on the beloved period drama Call the Midwife for around seven years.
The actor, 28, is known for playing Reggie Jackson on the BBC show. The character was introduced in a storyline that saw him orphaned due to the death of his mother. Reggie's cousin Fred Buckle (played by Cliff Parisi) and his wife Violet Buckle (Annabelle Apsion) then stepped in to care for him.
Reggie became a resident at the Glasshouse Trust, which has been described as "a care facility for young adults with disabilities," shortly afterwards. He has returned to Poplar throughout the series though to visit loved ones in the area, including to see his pal Cyril Robinson (Zephryn Taitte).
The character has appeared in several episodes of the show's latest series, which concludes next weekend. Fans may be interested to find out more about the actor behind the role, so here's a little bit about Daniel's life off-screen.
Daniel comes from a family of actors, with his parents having worked in the industry previously. His late father Leslie Grantham \- who passed away in 2018 - is best known for playing Dennis Watts, known as 'Dirty Den,' on EastEnders.
Whilst Daniel's mother Jane Laurie, now 70, appeared films and TV show in the 1980s. This included her having been in the cast of projects like the Return of the Soldier (1982), the Last Place on Earth (1985) and Foreign Body (1986).
Discussing their family, Jane told the Daily Mail back in 2006 that Leslie was a "fantastic" dad to Daniel, who has Down's syndrome. She said at the time: "When he was just a few days old, Leslie looked down at the baby and said 'you know, there are some hard things in life, but this isn't one of them'."
Daniel once told the Mirror that he left education after being "badly bullied," before pursuing his own career in acting. He said: "I hated school. I was badly bullied and that made me walk out of school, but because of that, acting found me when I was 17." He added: "Luckily my mum Jane found an acting career for me."
He's since appeared in shows like Sky One's Stella in 2016, where he played Jamie, appearing alongside the likes of Ruth Jones. He went on to appear in ITV's Vera and had a role in the film the Dark Tower (2020). He was more recently in ITV's Finding Alice, which aired in 2021.
Daniel's role in Call the Midwife - in which he stars alongside his late father's former colleague Cliff - has led to acclaim. He was notably nominated for the Best Actor award at the TV Choice Awards in 2022, for example.
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