Ben Keaton is an Irishactor who appeared as Jeff Brannigan in ITVsoap operaEmmerdale. He appeared in BBC's Casualty playing the part of Spencer between 1999-2002. He guest starred as Father Austin Purcell in "Think Fast, Father Ted", an episode of the Channel 4's sitcom Father Ted. He had a small part in the British filmEast is East as a priest. Keaton is also a well established actor in the theatre, and has appeared at The Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester in Animal Crackers, American Buffalo, Harvey, Cyrano de Bergerac, and playing the role of David Bliss in Noël Coward's Hay Fever. Keaton also works as a comedian, and has won the Perrier Comedy Award at the 1986 Edinburgh Festival, two Manchester Evening NewsBest Actor Awards and a Laurence Olivier Nomination. He is a regular guest member with the Comedy Store Players, the Steve Frost Improv All Stars and Eddie Izzard, and appeared in this style of comedy at the Royal Exchange in his show "Ben Keaton & Friends" which has included Stephen Frost, Niall Ashdown, Steve Steen, Andy Smart, Brian Conley and Paul Merton. He was a founder member of the improv group South Of The River with Jeremy Hardy and Kit Hollerbach. He set up The Phwoar Horsemen Improv Group in 2016 with Paul Mutagejja. He has written 5 TV series for the BBC and his own series for Channel 4. He had his own special on Channel 4 - Ben Keaton's Finest Half Hour. He wrote and directed the live arena production of Sky TV's Brainiac and went on to write and direct the Science Museums first touring stage production. He began teaching at the University of Lincoln in 2008 where he specializes in Physical Theatre and Acting for Camera. Keaton set up in 2013 teaching all aspects of filmmaking to young people. In 2014, Keaton returned to the role of Father Austin Purcell, performing a stand-up routine and hosting pub quizzes entirely in character. Keaton also set up a Twitter page for the character, and a website where fans can purchase customised video greetings. In 2015 he set up with Paul Mutagejja to teach performing and writing comedy for stage and screen. His documentary series The I Am Project, records the lives of children who are moving from primary to secondary school and from secondary to further education. This project has been taking place in a variety of schools since 2008. This series has been admitted into the Media Archive of Central England. In 2017 he and his son Waldo Fox Kennedy set up Bracket Energy Media Production. They produce video for business and specialise in online content. Keaton lives in Lincolnshire.
