Steve Halliwell


Stephen Harold Halliwell is an English actor best known for his part in ITV's Emmerdale as smallholder Zak Dingle, which he has played since 1994. Halliwell is currently the second longest serving male cast member.

Early life

Halliwell was born in Bury, Lancashire, England, to Fred and Jenny Halliwell. He has an older brother, Clive, who is two years older than him.

Career

Halliwell was an apprentice engineer and had a number of jobs mainly in cotton and paper mills before drama training at the Mountview Theatre School. He was a founder member of the Interchange Theatre in Bury.
During the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, he featured in a number of UK television shows, including Here I Stand, Threads, Cracker, Crown Court, G.B.H. and Coronation Street.
Together with Emmerdale co-stars Billy Hartman and Alun Lewis, he was a member of UK 1990s country rock trio The Woolpackers who had a UK hit single "Hillbilly Rock, Hillbilly Roll" in November 1996.
In 2003, Haliwell took a short break from Emmerdale for personal reasons. In September 2018 Halliwell had to take five months off from Emmerdale for health reasons, which he later revealed was due to having heart surgery.
He released his autobiography in 2014 called If The Cap Fits: My Rocky Road to Emmerdale.