Michael Cashman
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Michael Cashman (born December 17, 1950 in London) was a British actor and is now a Labour politician. He has been a Member of the European Parliament for the West Midlands constituency since 1999.
As an actor, he is possibly best known for his role as Colin Russell in BBC TV's EastEnders - a character famous for being the first man to kiss another man in a soap opera in the UK: he also played Mike Wallace in The Sandbaggers. He was also in the Time-Flight story in Doctor Who.
He is open about his homosexuality and regularly comments on government policy decisions relating to sexual orientation. He had a civil partnership with Paul Cottingham, his partner of over twenty years, on 11 March 2006. He is also an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.
Politics
In the European Parliament he is Labour spokesperson on human rights and has also been rapporteur on an important initiative on funerals of those who die in third countries - an issue he was motivated to act on after the death of his own father.He is a trenchant critic of discrimination against minorities within the European Union. His most recent campaign has been to support the gay pride march in Warsaw, which he attended[link].
Cashman's record in the Labour Party - opposition to Ken Livingstone's candidacy for Mayor of London and personal loyalty to Margaret McDonagh - suggests he sits on the Labour right.
Equity
He is the treasurer of Equity and lead the campaign to obtain pension rights for members.Trivia
He was born 3 weeks prematurely, partially due to his mother defending his father in a street fight.He appeared in a West End production of Oliver when he was 12 and later took the lead role. He performed for future president Richard Nixon.
External links
- [Michael Cashman's web site]
- [OpsRoom.org - The Sandbaggers information site]
- [Michael Cashman IMDB entry]
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