Ben Cross (born 16 December 1947) is a British actor of the stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire. Cross was born Harry Bernard Cross in London to a working class Irish Catholic family. His mother was a cleaning woman and his father a doorman and nurse. He began acting at a very young age and participated in grammar school plays – most notably playing Jesus in a school pageant at age 12. Cross was educated at Devonport High School for Boys, a grammar school in Plymouth, Devon, but was bullied by a teacher and left home at 15. Cross initially worked in various jobs including work as a window cleaner, waiter and joiner. He was master carpenter for the Welsh National Opera and property master at the Alexandra Theatre in Birmingham. In 1970 at the age of 22, he was accepted into London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) - the alma mater of actors such as John Gielgud, Glenda Jackson and Anthony Hopkins, but later expressed little interest in pursuing the classical route.