Stephen Robert Dixon, a British actor and academic born in 1956 in Manchester, England, has had a diverse and accomplished career spanning multiple decades. He studied performing arts at the Victoria University of Manchester, graduating alongside Rik Mayall. Dixon's early career involved working as an actor in various films and television shows, including Privates on Parade, The Young Ones, and The Krypton Factor.
In the early 1980s, he began working as a stand-up comic at The Comedy Store in London for three years. Dixon also worked extensively in theatre, collaborating with renowned directors such as Nicholas Hytner, Steven Berkoff, and Richard Eyre. He has also worked with experimental theatre companies like Incubus and Lumiere & Son. Additionally, Dixon has directed productions in Mexico, Latvia, and the UK, and produced an opera for Opera North.
As a director, Dixon has won an Industrial Society directing award for corporate video and has directed five independent films, including large-scale productions made through community texts. He has also worked as the Director of Training for Glasgow Film and Video Workshop and directed television programs for Anglia and Granada Television, where he produced an arts series. Dixon's notable appearance on Coronation Street in 1984 saw him play a taxi driver escorting the long-serving character Elsie Tanner out of Weatherfield after 24 years on the show and 45 years on the street.
In the 1990s, Dixon transitioned to lecturing and has since become a respected academic in the field of performing arts. He began his academic career at the University of Salford before moving to Brunel University in London, where he served as head of the School of Arts and later as one of the university's Pro-Vice-Chancellors. Dixon has published a book on Digital Performance, released by MIT Press, and has made significant contributions to the field of performing arts.
