Peter Kerrigan

Peter Kerrigan was a British actor from Liverpool, celebrated for his performances in a string of television plays, several of which were helmed by Ken Loach, and for portraying George Malone in Alan Bleasdale's Boys From the Blackstuff. He was born in Bootle in 1916 and began his working life as a docker. A member of the Communist Party, he established the Birkenhead Port Workers Defence Committee. During the 1950s he affiliated with the National Association of Stevedores and Dockers, and in 1958 he authored the pamphlet 'What Next For Britain's Port Workers?' for the Socialist Labour League, the party he joined after leaving the CP. Upon entering official retirement, Kerrigan turned to acting, appearing in the militant dockworkers drama The Big Flame, penned by Jim Allen and directed by Ken Loach. The play inspired the creation of a political group bearing the same name, largely centred in Liverpool. He quickly became sought after, featuring in Loach's The Rank and File and Days of Hope, along with the Play For Today productions The Spongers and United Kingdom, and the drama The Gathering Seed—all once more written by Allen. His credits also included Z Cars, The Sweeney, Family at War, Strumpet City, Crown Court, Brookside and Scully. He is perhaps best remembered as George Malone in The Blackstuff and its spin-off series, Boys from The Blackstuff, playing a blacklisted former docker and trade unionist. Kerrigan died at some point in 1999.