Who is Frank Clayton in Emmerdale and who is the actor Michael Praed who plays him?
His happiness at reuniting with Megan Macey is short-lived after the pair finds themselves in a horrific car crash thanks to Ross Barton
MICHAEL Praed is best known these days for his role as dodgy Frank Clayton in Emmerdale, but many fans of the ITV soap will recognise him from his days on another famous soap.
So what do we know about the actor, who is his Emmerdale character and where might you know his face from?
Who is Michael Praed?
Michael Praed is a 58-year-old actor from Berkley in Gloucestershire.
His real name is Michael David Prince but there was already a Michael Prince in Equity so he chose his stage name Praed out of a phone book.
Michael shot to fame in the 80s playing Robin of Loxley in British TV series Robin of Sherwood, which was a worldwide smash hit.
He is currently on-screen playing Frank Clayton in Emmerdale – dad of series regulars Vanessa Woodfield and Tracy Metcalfe.
What else has he been in?
After making his name in Robin of Sherwood, Michael went on to star in mega famous American soap Dynasty.
He played the role of the Prince of Moldavia between 1985-86 who was married to Amanda Carrington in the show.
He went on to star as Phileas Fogg in The Secret Adventures of Jules Verne in the 90s.
He’s also known for narrating Timewatch between 2003 and 2009.
Is Michael Praed married and who is his partner?
Michael is married to actress Josefina Gabrielle who is best known for her performances in West End musicals.
She’s also appeared on television in Miranda Hart, Doctors and Heartbeat.
More Emmerdale
Who is his character Frank Clayton in Emmerdale?
Frank is dad to Vanessa Woodfield and Tracy Metcalfe, nee Shankly.
He walked out on Tracy’s mum two days after coming back from a family holiday to Skegness.
In 2016 Tracy’s husband David Metcalfe – who she’s now separated from – decided to visit Frank in prison in the hope he could reconcile the pair and Frank could come to their wedding.
There’s some confusion though as Frank reveals to David he’s been writing to his daughter ‘Teeny’ about his early release.
Tracy denies having received any letters and later Frank calls Vanessa revealing he’s also her dad and the two women are half-sisters.
Frank moved in with Vanessa after leaving prison and began dating Megan Macey – Gaynor Faye – but cheated on her with Charity Dingle – played by Emma Atkins – when they decided to rob the Whites of Home Farm together.
Megan and Charity got revenge by framing Frank for fraud, planning to put him back in prison. He was arrested but feeling guilty, Megan went to the police and confessed it was down to her.
Frank was not happy with Megan and told her the relationship was over, but they reunited in October 2017 when Megan’s young daughter Eliza started having seizures.
They split in July 2018 when Charity revealed to the Woolpack that Megan had slept with Graham Foster.