John Alford, born John James Shannon on October 30, 1971, in Glasgow, Scotland, is a British actor and singer. At age 11, he attended Anna Scher's stage school in London, where he trained alongside future EastEnders actors Sid Owen and Patsy Palmer. Alford began his acting career as a child actor, appearing in the ITV sitcom Now and Then before landing the role of Robbie Wright in the BBC series Grange Hill from 1985 to 1990. In 1996, John Alford embarked on a brief singing career, releasing his self-titled debut album. His first single "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" reached number 13 on the UK singles chart and stayed for five weeks. This was followed by "Blue Moon"/"Only You", which peaked at number 9 and remained in the charts for four weeks. Another single, "If"/"Keep On Running", reached number 24 and stayed in the charts for three weeks. His final single, "Let It Be Me", was scheduled for release in March 1997 but was withdrawn at the last minute. Despite his chart success, John Alford's album did not chart, and he was subsequently dropped by his record label.
