'ello 'ello 'ello! The Bill's Reg set for Hollywood stardom after winning best actor award

By J J Anisiobi

Last updated at 12:31 PM on 13th August 2011

A former actor from The Bill has won hearts and awards in America.

Jeff Stewart, who played dopey Reg Hollis in ITV's The Bill for 24 years, has won a Best Actor Award at the Manhattan Film Festival.

His new film Under Jakob's Ladder, which also picked up the award for Best Film, has now launched Jeff into Hollywood stardom and he has already been signed up to five other movie projects.

And the winner is... Jeff Stewart, sporting his Zeus-like beard in 2009, has won a Best Actor award in American film Under Jakob's Ladder

And the winner is... Jeff Stewart, sporting his Zeus-like beard in 2009, has won a Best Actor award for his role in American film, Under Jakob's Ladder

55-year-old Jeff told the Sun: 'When they said, 'The best actor goes to Jeff Stewart' a cold shiver went from the tips of my toes to the top of my head and to the end of my fingers.

'I heard the announcement but it was like, 'Did he really say that?'

'I slowly walked up on stage. I said to the audience, 'This is absolutely extraordinary. This is amazing'. I thanked everyone.

It has been a 'hell of a journey' for Jeff who attempted to commit suicide three and half years ago after being fired from his popular role as PC Reg Hollis on The Bill.

Comeback kid: ex star of The Bill, Jeff, looking unrecognisable from his days of playing Reg Hollis, in London in 2009

After 24 years on the popular ITV1 police show Jeff was told that Reg would be axed in January 2008.

Whilst the actor was also facing difficult times off screen, the news came as shock and Jeff felt betrayed by the show.

He told the newspaper: 'I felt I had been badly let down.'

After hearing the plans from the shows producers Jeff went back to his dressing room and still dazed by the news he slit his wrists.

As he began to black out he changed his mind and rang the front desk for help.

Luckily he was found in time and was rushed from the studios in Merton, South West London to hospital.

Award winner: Jeff is a star in his own right now and has signed up to four more Hollywood movie projects

'I didn't see a counsellor, it was evident I was OK and I never worried how it would affect my career.

'I thought, 'I have a choice, you can either stagnate or blossom'' he added.

When pictures of Jeff emerged on the internet sporting a full beard, fans presumed he was still suffering depression however, Jeff defended his scruffy appearance as a way to distance himself from the clean shaven Reg with whom he had become synonymous.

He said: 'I didn't cut my hair for three years. It was a thought-out, deliberate choice.

'I thought, 'I have to look as different as possible'.

A distant memory: Jeff as daft PC Reg Hollis in The Bill

The bitter end: PCs Sally Armstrong (Ali Bastian), Benjamin Gayle (Micah Balfour) and Reg Hollis (Jeff Stewart) in a 2007 episode of The Bill

The beard worked, because Jeff made four films with that look and one of those films was the award winning Under Jakob's Ladder.

After auditioning for the film over the telephone, he flew to the states and won the role of Jakob Seel, a German living in 1940s Soviet Russia.

The film, which is about Stalin's secret police in the anti-religous state, was made in 21 days on a small budget of only £200,000 by brothers Robert and Nann Nunoz - the grandsons of real-life Jakob.

The film is now expected to be picked up by a big film studio after it will be shown at the London and Berlin film festivals.