NORTH-EAST actor David John Watton has won a scholarship to a top drama school.
Mr Watton, born in Thornaby, begins a three-year BA in acting at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, in London.
It is where stars such as Amanda Holden and Nick Moran, of the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, learnt their trade.
He beat 2,000 hopefuls to win a place and admitted a rare speechless moment when he heard the news.
Mr Watton, 24, who has edited a magazine in Newcastle since 1999, said: "The award pays all of my tuition fees, and it would have been very, very hard for me to go to drama school without it, so I'm very lucky."
His stage acting experience has come at Live Theatre, Newcastle; the city's Playhouse and performing in Bram Stoker's Dracula in the Castle Keep.
His grandparents still live in Thornaby and his mother, Gillian, teaches at Stockton's Rosehill Infants.
Published: 12/08/2004
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