Philip Goldacre

Philip was born in Sittingbourne, Kent, England in January 1954 the younger son of Leslie Gordon Goldacre (Dec 1923 - Jul 1990), a carpenter and joiner by trade who later built houses on his own account, and Iris Violet Beatrice Goldacre, nee Thomas (Nov 1924 - Apr 2013), and brother to Norman Christopher Martin Goldacre (Aug 1951- Feb 2014) His mother, Iris, was the owner and principal of the Iris Thomas School of Dance and Drama which she restarted once Philip had begun school. She wanted to be at home with her sons until they both started school. Philip was educated at Ufton Lane Infants School, Barrow Grove (now Westlands) Primary School and Borden Grammar School, all in Sittingbourne, between 1959 and 1970. He then went on to Medway and Maidstone College of Technology before joining the Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME), British Army, in 1971 to train as an Aircraft Technician, Airframe and Engines at the age of 17. During the training, he decided to leave the Army so he became a Clerk REME until he his discharge in 1975 with Exemplary service grading. Alongside working as an actor, Philip worked as an information systems analyst/designer/developer for 10 years working on some very big systems for organisations like London Fire and Civil Defence Authority and the National Health Service. He earned his MSc in Business Information Systems with the University of East London in 1999. He started in amateur theatre after leaving the Army and discovered he loved it more than anything he'd ever done, so decided to try to earn a living at it. Life and work have had their ups and downs since but, on the whole, it's been a huge amount of fun working with some really wonderful people. Long may it continue.