In the 2000 film Billy Elliot, Billy’s widowed father is named Jackie.
Jackie Elliot is a coal miner and widower living with his sons in County Durham during the 1984–85 miners’ strike. At first, Jackie expects Billy to pursue boxing, a traditionally masculine activity in the family’s working-class community. Billy secretly attends ballet lessons instead, and Jackie initially reacts with anger and disbelief.
As Jackie recognizes Billy’s exceptional talent, his attitude changes. He supports Billy’s audition for the Royal Ballet School, even making a difficult personal sacrifice to help pay for the journey. The father-son relationship is one of the film’s main emotional threads.
Gary Lewis played Jackie Elliot, while Jamie Bell played Billy. Stephen Daldry directed the film, which was written by Lee Hall and released in 2000. Tony is Billy’s older brother, not his father; Michael is Billy’s friend, another commonly remembered name from the family’s storyline.