# James Hooton

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English actor (b. 1973)

James Hooton Hooton in 2023 Born (1973-07-13) 13 July 1973 (age 52) Carlton, Nottinghamshire, England Occupation Actor Years active 1985–present Television Emmerdale Partner Nancy Lucas (2010–present) Children 2

**James Hooton** (born 13 July 1973) is an English actor, best known for his role as [Sam Dingle](/source/Sam_Dingle) on the [ITV](/source/ITV_(TV_channel)) soap opera *[Emmerdale](/source/Emmerdale)*, a role he has played since 1995.

## Early and personal life

Hooton was born and raised in [Carlton, Nottinghamshire](/source/Carlton%2C_Nottinghamshire), where he attended Frank Wheldon Comprehensive School.[1] He has been engaged to dance company owner Nancy Lucas since 2010, after they became engaged on St Valentine's Day. The couple have two children together.[2]

## Career

In 1985, at the age of 12, he made his television debut in the children's TV series *[Your Mother Wouldn't Like It](/source/Your_Mother_Wouldn't_Like_It)*. He has also appeared in several other programmes, including *[Peak Practice](/source/Peak_Practice)*, *[The Bill](/source/The_Bill)*, *[Heartbeat](/source/Heartbeat_(British_TV_series))* and *[Touching Evil](/source/Touching_Evil)*.[2] In 1995, he was cast in the [ITV](/source/ITV_(TV_channel)) soap opera *[Emmerdale](/source/Emmerdale)* as [Sam Dingle](/source/Sam_Dingle).[3] He filmed his first scene on 10 January 1995.[4] In 1997, he appeared in director [Shane Meadows](/source/Shane_Meadows)' first feature film, *[Twenty Four Seven](/source/Twenty_Four_Seven_(film))*, where he played the character 'Wolfman' Knighty.[1] Then a year later, he announced his decision to leave *Emmerdale*. He subsequently starred in *[The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner](/source/The_Loneliness_of_the_Long-Distance_Runner)* after [Chris Gascoyne](/source/Chris_Gascoyne) dropped out of the show, with Hooton having ten days to prepare for the role.[1] In 2009, he attended the Eurogamer Expo alongside co-star [Alex Carter](/source/Alex_Carter_(British_actor)) where he revealed that he was trying to get sponsorship for a video game show he was planning to pitch to television studios.[5] Hooton returned to *Emmerdale* in 2000.[1] In 2012, Hooton returned to the stage after 15 years to star in a stage production titled *Our Style is Legendary*.[1]

## References

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Lion_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Lion_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-Lion_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-Lion_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-Lion_1-4) ["Interview: James Hooton"](https://www.leftlion.co.uk/read/2012/april/james-hooton-interview-sam-dingle-emmerdale-twentyfourseven-our-style-is-legendary/). *Left Lion*. 29 April 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2021.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-OK_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-OK_2-1) Hulme, Charlotte (16 June 2021). ["Everything you need to know about Emmerdale's James Hooton from body transformation to real accent"](https://www.ok.co.uk/lifestyle/sam-dingle-actor-family-life-22921636). *[OK!](/source/OK!)*. [Reach plc](/source/Reach_plc). Retrieved 3 August 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Daniels, Colin (31 October 2010). ["Hooton 'likes to hide behind character'"](https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/emmerdale/a285165/hooton-likes-to-hide-behind-character/). *[Digital Spy](/source/Digital_Spy)*. [Hearst Magazines UK](/source/Hearst_Magazines_UK). Retrieved 28 February 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Fear, Helen (10 January 2020). ["Emmerdale's James Hooton – aka Sam Dingle – marks 25 years on soap with special snap"](https://www.entertainmentdaily.co.uk/soaps/emmerdales-james-hooten-aka-sam-dingle-marks-25-years-on-soap-with-special-snap/). *Entertainment Daily*. Digitalbox. Retrieved 3 August 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Reynolds, Matthew (28 October 2009). ["'Emmerdale' star to pitch video game show"](https://www.digitalspy.com/videogames/a184136/emmerdale-star-to-pitch-video-game-show/). *[Digital Spy](/source/Digital_Spy)*. [Hearst Magazines UK](/source/Hearst_Magazines_UK). Retrieved 3 August 2021.

## External links

- [James Hooton](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0393854/) at [IMDb](/source/IMDb_(identifier))

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [James Hooton](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hooton) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hooton?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.