Gary Stretch (born in St. Helens, Merseyside) attended Cowley High School before becoming a British boxer and male model and actor.

During the early nineties, Gary Stretch was the glamor-boy of British boxing. His good looks coupled with KO power in his fists ensured he was big box-office. He also made money as a male model on the catwalk. Some said he earned more as a model than actually fighting, and his appearances in the British tabloid newspapers made sure that he was never out of the headlines.

Despite winning the British light-middleweight championship, his big moment came in 1991 when he challenged Chris Eubank for the WBO world middleweight championship in London. "Beauty V The Best" attracted the big celebrity crowd, and it was a major sporting event. Despite not really training for the contest, he gave the iron-chinned champion hell for five rounds before the fight was very controversially stopped in the sixth round. After many unsuccessful attempts for a rematch, Stretch had one more fight then retired. He currently divides his time between Los Angeles and the UK. In 2004, his hard work finally paid off when he was cast as psychotic gangster "Sonny" in Shane Meadows' gritty cult thriller Dead Man's Shoes (2004). Stretch received a BIFA nomination alongside another British talent, Paddy Considine. He went on to appear in the Oliver Stone film Alexander (2004).

Filmography

• Tis a Gift to Be Simple (1994) … Perry Truman
• Dead Connection (1994) … Richard Welton
• Infidelity/Hard Fall (1997) … Shane
• Business for Pleasure (1997) … Rolf
• Shergar (1999) … SAS Soldier
• Dead Dogs Lie (2001) … Duck
• Final Combat (2003) … Jaikra
• A Good Night to Die (2003) … Ronnie
• Dead Man's Shoes (2004) … Sonny
• Alexander (2004) … Cleitus
• The King Maker (2005) … Fernando De Gamma
• World Trade Center (2006) … John's Paramedic
• The Commander: Windows of the Soul (2007) … Jack Bannerman
• Afghan Knights (2007) … Nash
• Tied in Knots (2008) … Jay
• Freebird (2008) … Fred
• Deadwater (2008) … Colin Willets
• The Heavy (2009) … Mitchell 'Boots' Mason
• The Girl from the Naked Eye (2010) … Frank
• Baseline (2010) … Rob

References

External links