John McArdle (born 16th August 1949 in Liverpool) appeared on Coronation Street in two roles: firstly in December 1982 as lorry driver Scouse Sammy, who was approached by Marion Willis to put out a CB radio message for her fiancé Eddie Yeats who went missing; and he returned to the programme in June 1985 as Det Constable Meadows, investigating the death of businessman Don Ashton.
Trained at the East 15 Acting School, he is probably better known for his five year stint as Billy Corkhill on Channel 4's Brookside, as Superintendent Jim Oulton in Merseybeat and as Ronnie Hale in Emmerdale. His other credits include roles in Charlie, Underbelly, Firm Friends, Gallowglass, The Chief, Seaforth, Finney, The Bill, Heartbeat, And the Beat Goes On, Prime Suspect 5: Errors of Judgement, Born to Run, Casualty, Out of Hours, Holby City, Metropolis, The Cazalets, Through My Eyes, Mobile, Doctors, All the Small Things, Waterloo Road, Waking the Dead, The Case and Lockdown Lifeline.
Film roles include Deer Woman Child, Janice Beard 45 WPM, There's Only One Jimmy Grimble, Revengers Tragedy, Re-inventing Eddie, Charlie Noades R.I.P, Love Tomorrow, The Rochdale Pioneers, Friends of Money and Our Kid.
On stage, he appeared in productions of One Night in Istanbul, Our Country's Good, The Demolition Man, Oh! What a Lovely War, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, The Queen of the North, Brassed Off and Canoeing for Beginners.
John was surprised by Michael Aspel on the set of Merseybeat to present him with the "red book" - as the special guest on the edition of This Is Your Life, transmitted on 30th January 2003.
He is married to actress Kathy Jamieson, who herself appeared on Coronation Street in four roles.