Jake Wood

Jake Dylan Wood (born 12 July 1972) is a British actor, best known in his native United Kingdom for playing Max Branning in long-running BBC soap opera EastEnders and in the United States as the voice of the GEICO gecko. He is also well known as Kill Crazy in the eighth series of the sitcom Red Dwarf. Wood was born in Westminster, London, England and he trained as an actor at the Anna Scher Drama School in Islington, North London. His first acting role was in the 1984 television series The Gentle Touch. He has since appeared in several television series including May to December, Minder, Only Fools and Horses, Nightingales, Murder in Mind, Press Gang, London's Burning, Sean's Show, Inspector Morse, One Foot in the Grave, Red Dwarf, A Touch of Frost, The Bill, Le Café des Rêves, Sea of Souls and Doc Martin. He made a cameo appearance as a carol singer on The Thin Blue Line and has appeared in the films Vera Drake (2004), The Aryan Couple (2004), The Illusionist (2006) opposite Edward Norton and "Dad Savage" (1998) with Patrick Stewart. Wood starred in the 1989 Yellow Pages TV Advert, entitled "Party Party" and, as of the 2010s, has been the voice of the GEICO gecko ads on American television. Wood also featured alongside Cobent CTO and ex-Metal Hammer journalist Tony Dillon as part of a team presenting Click, a computer games magazine on VHS video in the early 1990s. Wood also played the eldest son, Dougie, in sitcom family The Wilsons. In June 2006, he joined the BBC soap opera EastEnders playing Max Branning. In March 2008, he took paternity leave and re-appeared on screen on 23 June 2008. For his work in EastEnders, he has won awards at the British Soap Awards and Inside Soap Awards. In 1989, Wood appeared in Only Fools and Horses as an assistant for Rodney Trotter (Nicholas Lyndhurst), in the episode The Jolly Boys' Outing. In the 8th series of Red Dwarf he played Kill Crazy, a prison inmate. Wood took part in the 12th series of Strictly Come Dancing. He was partnered with Janette Manrara, reaching the semi-final. In May 2015, Wood announced that he would be taking a year long break from EastEnders. Wood said "I have been at EastEnders for nine years and I feel the time is right to give Max a break. It won't be for too long as I shall be back next year to see Max face another chapter of drama. Wood is a fan of Arsenal and took part in the 2007 Great North Run.