Biography
Born on December 15th 1970 at The Mothers' Hospital, Hackney, East London, Stanley is the second child of four and grew up in the care system as a young boy from the age of five.
After a troubled childhood alongside his struggles growing up in care, Stanley missed out on mainstream education and discovered his passion for acting at the Anna Scher Theatre in Islington at the age of twenty-three, a drama school set up for working-class students which he attended for three years before landing an acting agent. Facing despondency from playing type casting roles, Stanley took a break from acting for almost eleven years, during that time he trained as a counsellor, working with prisoners and primary school children with behavioural issues. Stanley went on to travel the world for four years backpacking across five continents and gaining unprecedented life experiences. When he returned to London, he retrained as an actor at the age of thirty-seven. He was awarded the sole scholarship for men at the Mountview Acting Academy and graduated in 2009 having studied classical theatre.
Stanley would go on to perform Shakespeare's "Othello" (2011), touring Ireland for three months. For his portrayal of one of the theatre's most challenging roles, he won rave reviews from critics and audiences alike. As the Irish Theatre Magazine put it: "This absorbing revival soundly delivers a new Othello for our times, raising the play's profile to long overdue recognition".
His other notable works on the stage include "Titus Andronicus" at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2013), "Bethlehem Lights" at the Henley Drama Festival (2017), where he won the Best Actor Award for his performance in the lead role of Andrew, "Chigger Foot Boys" at the National Theatre Studios (2017), "Romeo and Juliet" at the Globe Theatre (2019) and a UK tour of Winsome Pinnock's "One Under" (2019). Stanley also won second place at the UK National Monologue Slam Finals (Theatre Royal Stratford East, 2017) for his performance of "Knock, Knock" by Daniel Beaty.
Some of his TV appearances include the 2016 Sky Vision production of "Killers: Behind the Myth" in which Stanley played the role of Tracy Burleson. In the same year, he played Taxi Driver Joe in the comedy series "Twisted Tales" a Chanel 4 production. In 2018, Stanley played William Walker in the Sky series called "Someone You Thought You Knew".
In 2014, Stanley appeared alongside an all-star British cast in the comedy feature film "Meet Pursuit Delange: The Movie" playing Jerome Parks. He also appeared in "Get Luke Low" as Uncle Tom (2019). He continued working through the pandemic on rehearsed readings, most notably on "Bricks" with the director Sarah Meadows (2020).
In addition to his accomplishments as an actor, Stanley has a passion for music and art. He is a painter and charcoal artist and has a portfolio of work. Having been a singer-songwriter for over twenty years, performing at various acoustic venues across the UK, he also has a studio recorded album on Spotify and iTunes called "Simply Stanley" (2015).
In 2021, Stanley was signed to Jacaranda Books for his memoir "Little Big Man", due to be published on October 14th 2022. Set against a backdrop of 1970s poverty and racism, the memoir charts Stanley's experiences growing up in a Jamaican family in East London. In the book, he reflects on his life being raised in the care system and coping with his mother's mental illness from such an early age. His powerful story of generational trauma and determination to heal the wounds of the past trace a universal desire for belonging and the search to find an authentic voice through the redemptive power of creativity and recovery.
