John Stuart "Jack" Ellis (born 4 June 1955 in London) is an English theatre and television actor best known for his portrayal of villainous prison officer Jim Fenner in the TV series Bad Girls. He has also appeared in ITV soap Coronation Street as Bookmaker Harry Mason. He has two children, Theo and Alice. He was educated at Highgate School as were his older brothers Robin Ellis, also an actor, and the director Peter Ellis.

Biography

Prior to Bad Girls, his most prominent TV role was Detective Inspector Muddyman in Prime Suspect. Ellis toured with Agatha Christie's The Unexpected Guest in 2007, and had a role in the film Outlaw (2007), starring Danny Dyer and Sean Bean.
Ellis has also been seen in Heartbeat. Ellis has appeared in many TV series either as a minor or major character which include The Fugitives (2005), playing the part of Salko, Blue Murder in the episode "Steady Eddie", portraying Dan Fulford, and Highlander: The Series. He played the lead role in the film Hunter.
Ellis is one of the few performers to have to acted in both Inspector Morse and its spin-off series Lewis. His first major part since Bad Girls came in summer 2006; Ellis appeared in several episodes of ITV drama Where the Heart Is as businessman Robert Ashford.

In late 2005 Ellis starred in A Few Good Men at London's Theatre Royal Haymarket, playing opposite Rob Lowe, John Barrowman and Suranne Jones.

Ellis started his role on Coronation Street as the new Rosamund Street betting shop owner Harry Mason in December 2007. He ran the shop with his son Dan, played by ex-The Bill star Matthew Crompton.

Also in 2007, Ellis appeared in an episode of Rome (TV Series).

Ellis starred in the Theatre Royal Windsor pantomime Peter Pan (Christmas 2008) playing Captain Hook.

Sam Mendes directed Ellis as Hastings in a William Shakespeare's Richard III starring Kevin Spacey. The show began in June 2011 and toured the world, culminating in a season at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in New York in early 2012.

Later in 2012 he toured in a new production of Dickens' Great Expectations playing Jaggers. The production opened in the West End of London in February 2013 at the Vaudeville Theatre.
In 2014, he starred as Deputy Governor Danforth in the much acclaimed production of The Crucible by Arthur Miller directed by Yael Farber at the Old Vic.