BILLY Elliot star Jamie Bell is to become a father for the first time.
The 26-year-old actor, from Billingham, near Stockton, and his wife Evan Rachel Wood are expecting a child together, after marrying last year.
Wood's publicist Amanda Silverman confirmed the pregnancy and said the couple were "thrilled".
Bell found fame as the talented young dancer in UK movie hit Billy Elliot, later to become a musical stage show.
Other movie successes have included Peter Jackson's King Kong remake and he provided the voice of Tintin in Steven Spielberg's The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret Of The Unicorn.
Bell and Wood - who starred in the acclaimed mini-series Mildred Pierce - first dated in 2005, and split a year later, although they went on to rekindle their relationship.
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