Tony Audenshaw

Antony Audenshaw (born 1964, in Denton, Lancashire) is an English actor, best known for his role as Bob Hope on the popular ITV1 soap Emmerdale a role he has played since 2000.

In 1989 he appeared in Inspector Morse as a fast bowler for the Clarets cricket team in the episode "Deceived by Flight". Between 1994 and 1996, he played the recurring role of PC Ian Coban in the Channel 4 soap Brookside. In 1996 he appeared as an unnamed South Yorkshire Ambulance Service officer in the TV drama Hillsborough. His Emmerdale debut was in 2000 and he has been a cast member ever since. In December 2006 he appeared as himself alongside other members of the Emmerdale cast on a celebrity version of the TV show Family Fortunes. In 2009 he appeared in and won an episode of Celebrity Mastermind. His specialist subject was 'British Birds'.

Audenshaw has completed ten London Marathons. In 2010, he broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest time set by a runner dressed as a baby, when he completed the London Marathon in 3 hours and 13 minutes. He ran the Robin Hood Marathon in Nottingham on Sunday 12 September 2010 in 3 hours 54 minutes and 29 seconds. Audenshaw often runs in fancy dress for the charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research. On 17 April 2011, Audenshaw ran the 2011 London Marathon in 3 hours and 18 minutes dressed as a fairy. He has presented a feature called Tony's Trials in the weekly running podcast Marathon Talk, in which he recounts a humorous anecdote from his week of training. He now features as a regular presenter on the Marathon Talk podcast.

Audenshaw is the lead singer of a band called White Van Man, who collaborated with an acclaimed opera singer to release "Viva Englandia" in support of England's 2010 World Cup campaign.

National Television Award Best Newcomer 2001 (Nomination).