British Actors Archives - Page 77 of 138

Derek Jacobi

Derek Jacobi was born in 1938 in London. Came to international prominence in 1976 for his powerful performance on television in the series “I, Claudius”. Although primarily a major actor on stage, he has starred in such films as “The Day of the Jackel” in 1973, “The Odessa File”, “Little Dorrit” and “Gosford Park”. Currently starring in the hit BBC series “Last Train To Halifax”.

Gary Brumburgh’s entry:

Preeminent British classical actor of the first post-Olivier generation, Derek Jacobi was knighted in 1994 for his services to the theatre, and, in fact, is only the second to enjoy the honor of holding TWO knighthoods, Danish and English (Olivier was the other). Modest and unassuming in nature, Jacobi’s firm place in theatre history centers around his fearless display of his characters’ more unappealingly aspects, their great flaws, eccentricities and, more often than not, their primal torment.

Jacobi was born in Leytonstone, London, England, the only child of Alfred George Jacobi, a department store manager, and Daisy Gertrude (Masters) Jacobi, a secretary. His paternal great-grandfather was German (from Hoxter, Germany). His interest in drama began while quite young. He made his debut at age six in the local library drama group production of “The Prince and the Swineherd” in which he appeared as both the title characters. In his teens he attended Leyton County High School and eventually joined the school’s drama club (“The Players of Leyton”).

Derek portrayed Hamlet at the English National Youth Theatre prior to receiving his high school diploma, and earned a scholarship to the University of Cambridge, where he initially studied history before focusing completely on the stage. A standout role as Edward II at Cambridge led to an invite by the Birmingham Repertory in 1960 following college graduation. He made an immediate impression wherein his Henry VIII (both in 1960) just happened to catch the interest of Olivier himself, who took him the talented actor under his wing. Derek became one of the eight founding members of Olivier’s National Theatre Company and gradually rose in stature with performances in “The Royal Hunt of the Sun,” “Othello” (as Cassio) and in “Hay Fever”, among others. He also made appearances at the Chichester Festival and the Old Vic.

It was Olivier who provided Derek his film debut, recreating his stage role of Cassio in Olivier’s acclaimed cinematic version of Othello (1965). Olivier subsequently cast Derek in his own filmed presentation of Chekhov’s Three Sisters (1970). On TV Derek was in celebrated company playing Don John in Much Ado About Nothing (1967) alongsideMaggie Smith and then-husband Robert Stephens; Derek had played the role earlier at the Chichester Festival in 1965. After eight eventful years at the National Theatre, which included such sterling roles as Touchstone in “As You Like It”, Jacobi left the company in 1971 in order to attract other mediums. He continued his dominance on stage as Ivanov, Richard III, Pericles and Orestes (in “Electra”), but his huge breakthrough would occur on TV. Coming into his own with quality support work in Man of Straw (1972), The Strauss Family (1972) and especially the series The Pallisers (1974) in which he played the ineffectual Lord Fawn, Derek’s magnificence was presented front and center in the epic BBC series I, Claudius (1976). His stammering, weak-minded Emperor Claudius was considered a work of genius and won, among other honors, the BAFTA award.

Although he was accomplished in The Day of the Jackal (1973) and The Odessa File(1974), films would place a distant third throughout his career. Stage and TV, however, would continue to illustrate his classical icon status. Derek took his Hamlet on a successful world tour throughout England, Egypt, Sweden, Australia, Japan and China; in some of the afore-mentioned countries he was the first actor to perform the role in English. TV audiences relished his performances as Richard II (1978) and, of courseHamlet, Prince of Denmark (1980).

After making his Broadway bow in “The Suicide” in 1980, Derek suffered from an alarming two-year spell of stage fright. He returned, however, and toured as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company (1982-1985) with award-winning results. During this period he collected Broadway’s Tony Award for his Benedick in “Much Ado about Nothing”; earned the coveted Olivier, Drama League and Helen Hayes awards for his Cyrano de Bergerac; and earned equal acclaim for his Prospero in “The Tempest” and Peer Gynt. In 1986, he finally made his West End debut in “Breaking the Code” for which he won another Helen Hayes trophy; the play was then brought to Broadway.

For the rest of the 80s and 90s, he laid stage claim to such historical figures as Lord Byron, Edmund Kean and Thomas Becket. On TV he found resounding success (and an Emmy nomination) as Adolf Hitler in Inside the Third Reich (1982), and finally took home the coveted Emmy opposite Anthony Hopkins in the WWII drama The Tenth Man (1988). He won a second Emmy in an unlikely fashion by spoofing his classical prowess on an episode of “Frasier” (his first guest performance on American TV), in which he played the unsubtle and resoundingly bad Shakespearean actor Jackson Hedley.

Kenneth Branagh was greatly influenced by mentor Jacobi and their own association would include Branagh’s films Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), and Hamlet (1996), the latter playing Claudius to Branagh’s Great Dane. Derek also directed Branagh in the actor’s Renaissance Theatre Company’s production of “Hamlet”. In the 1990s Derek returned to the Chichester Festival, this time as artistic director, and made a fine showing in the title role of Uncle Vanya (1996).

More heralded work of late includes a profound portrayal of the anguished titular painter in Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998), and superb theatre performances as Friedrich Schiller‘s “Don Carlos” and in “A Voyage Round My Father” (2006).

He and his life-time companion of 27 years, actor Richard Clifford, filed as domestic partners in England in 2006. Clifford, a fine classical actor in his own right, has shared movie time with Jacobi in Little Dorrit (1988), Henry V (1989), and the TV version ofCyrano de Bergerac (1985).

– IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Dennis Price was a very popular British actor of the 1940’s and 50’s whose career deserves reappraisal. He was born in 1915 in Twyford, Berkshire to a military family. He made his stage debut in Croydon in 1937. His movies include “A Canterbury Tale” in 1944, “Hungary Hill” opposite Margaret Lockwood, “Kind Heart and Coronets”, “Tunes of Glory” and “Victim”. On television he starred with Ian Carmichael in the very popular “The World of Wooster” as the valet Jeeves. He died in 1973.

Gary Brumburgh’s entry:
This urbane, sourly handsome British actor was born to privilege and most of his roles would follow suit. Born Dennistoun John Franklyn Rose-Price in Berkshire in 1915, Dennis Price, the son of a brigadier-general, was expected to abide by his family wishes and make a career for himself in the army or the church. Instead he became an actor. First on stage (Oxford University Dramatic Society) where he debuted with John Gielgud in “Richard II” in 1937, he was further promoted in the theatre by Noel Coward.

After brief extra work, Price nabbed early star-making film roles in several overbaked Gainsborough mysteries/melodramas, including A Place of One’s Own (1945), The Magic Bow (1946) and Caravan (1946), but the one showcase role that could have led him to Hollywood, that of the title poet in The Bad Lord Byron (1949), proved a critical and commercial failure. He took this particularly hard and fell into severe depression. His fatally charming serial murderer in Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949), in which he does in nearly all of Alec Guinness‘ eight characters (Guiness plays eight different roles), is arguably his crowning achievement on celluloid.

By the 50s Price was suffering from severe alcoholism, which adversely affected his personal and professional career. A marriage to bit actress Joan Schofield in 1939 ended eleven years later, due to his substance abuse problem and homosexuality, the latter being a source of great internal anguish for him. They had two daughters.

Price became less reliable and fell steeply in his ranking, moving into less quality “B” pictures. Eccentric comedy renewed his fading star a bit in such delightful farces asPrivate’s Progress (1956), I’m All Right Jack (1959) and School for Scoundrels (1960). TV also saved him for a time in the 60s with the successful series The World of Wooster(1965), in which he played the disdainful butler, Jeeves.

Bad times, however, resurfaced. He filed bankruptcy in 1967 and moved to the remote Channel Island of Sark for refuge. Many of his roles were reduced to glorified cameos and the necessity for cash relegated him to appearing in campy “Z” grade cheapfests, many helmed by the infamous writer/director Jesús Franco, a sort of Spanish version of Roger Corman. Vampyros Lesbos (1971) was just one of his dreadful entries. Price also played Dr. Frankenstein for Franco in Drácula contra Frankenstein (1972) [Dracula vs. Frankenstein] and the The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein (1972) [The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein]. Fully bloated and in delicate health, he died in 1973 at age 58 in a public ward from liver cirrhosis. A sad ending for one who of Britain’s more promising actors and film stars.

– IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Ronnie Stevens was born in London in 1925. His film debut was in 1952 in “Top Secret”. Film Career highlights include “Doctor At Large in 1957, “On the Beat” in 1962 and his final movie “The Parent Trap” in 1998. He died in 2006.

“Guardian” obituary:

Gifted and versatile character actor at home in theatre, films and television

The following correction was printed in the Guardian’s Corrections and clarifications column, Friday November 17, 2006

The article below said in error that the actor Ronnie Stevens is survived by his two sons. His eldest son, Paul, died in 1990. He is survived by his youngest son, Guy, and grandson Jake. In addition, he died on November 11, not 12. Apologies to family and friends.

With his small build, dark features, nimble gait, bright eyes and saucy manner, Ronnie Stevens, who has died aged 81, was one of the busiest and most versatile character actors of his postwar generation. Whether in the last throes of West End revue, the heyday of subsidised touring classical companies, contemporary comedy, period musicals or traditional pantomime, he always looked in his element.Born in Peckham, south London, and educated at Peckham central school, he showed theatrical promise from the age of 12 in his personality and singing voice, notably as a crooner at Dulwich baths. Not that he was intended for the stage; when he won a scholarship to Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, his parents expected him to become a commercial artist. But after four years’ service in the second world war, both in the RAF and the Royal Engineers, Stevens turned to his first love, the stage, and used his gratuity to train at Rada.

At 23, he landed a job in Peter Myers’ intimate revue, Ad Lib, at the tiny Chepstow Theatre Club, in Notting Hill, in 1948. Satirical revue was then in fashion, and for five years, in one London fringe show or another, he mocked well-known people, their manners and institutions. By today’s standards, it was insipid stuff, but the techniques of intimate revue – with its quick-change routines, variety of mood, timing and atmosphere – provided first-rate training.

Stevens reached the West End in 1953 joining such stalwarts as Cyril Ritchard, Diana Churchill and Ian Carmichael in Myers’ High Spirits (Hippodrome). A year later, virtually the same writing team came up with Intimacy at 8.30, at the Criterion, starring Joan Sims – with Stevens proving himself a good team member.

When the team came up with its third West End success, For Amusement Only (Apollo, 1956), Stevens showed himself a minor master of the genre, with its dependence on complicity between actors and audience. In such diverse 1960s shows as the Brechtian-type musical satire on modern youth, The Lily White Boys (with songs by Christopher Logue) at the Royal Court, or The Billy Barnes Review (Lyric, Hammersmith), he had numerous parts; and in that American musical, Rose Marie (Victoria Palace), he made a feature of the comedy role, Hard-Boiled Herman.

But although no one could put a finger on the reason – the song-and-dance ingredients of revue had reached television in That Was the Week That Was; and the four-man university show, Beyond the Fringe, was thriving without tunes or feminine charm – the writing was on the wall for traditional revue. Stevens’ last one reached the Savile in 1961 and felt old-fashioned. In a barn of a theatre, The Lord Chamberlain Regrets left most critics with regrets. The censor still had seven years of rule over the theatre, but the material lacked spite or wit.

Stevens had to turn legitimate. After Alan Ayckbourn’s early, frail experiment in mime humour, Mr Whatnot (Arts, 1964), in which he darted about in blazer and boater amid silent, stately home fun, he turned to Toby Robertson’s Prospect Theatre Company, set up to tour the classics – and prospered.

Whether it was an arch Sir Fopling Flutter in Etherege’s The Man of Mode (1965), a ruminant Feste in Twelfth Night (1968) or a nervous type in Feydeau’s The Birdwatcher, he was a valuable acquisition. In 1969 he moved for two seasons to the open-air theatre, Regent’s Park. Back with Prospect in 1971, he proved an affecting Fool to Timothy West’s King Lear (1971), which toured to the Edinburgh festival and Australia, before going to the West End (Aldwych, 1972). Later that year, he co-founded the Actors’ Company, a troupe designed to roam with the classics, headed (though wages and billing were impeccably egalitarian) by Ian McKellen.

Stevens’ credits included another Feydeau farce, Ruling the Roost, Ford’s tragedy ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore, and the premiere of an Iris Murdoch play, Three Arrows, set in Japan. With Prospect, in 1973, he came into his own as Sparkish in The Country Wife, ending a global tour in the West End the following year as Gower in Pericles (Her Majesty’s).

At that time the regions showed more scope for a serious-minded actor than London. Hence Stevens’ move to Leeds Playhouse. After a stint at the Bristol Old Vic, he was back in north London, at St George’s Elizabethan Theatre – a converted church – in five or six Shakespeares in 1976 and 1977, and in 1978 back with Prospect at the Old Vic, the National Theatre having moved to the South Bank. This was the heyday of Stevens’ career as a classical actor.

Meanwhile, television beckoned increasingly. Apart from early appearances as the narrator in Oliver Postgate’s cartoon series, The Saga of Noggin the Nog, or as a teacher in AJ Wentworth, BA, and such programmes as Bresslaw and Friends, Stevens’ credits in the 1990s included guest appearances in Goodnight Sweetheart and As Time Goes By. He was also in many films from 1952. His wife, Ann Bristow, predeceased him; he is survived by their two sons.

· Ronnie Stevens, actor, born September 2 1925; died November 12 2006

The above “Guardian” obituary can also be accessed online here.

Ruth Wilson was born in 1982 in Ashford, Surrey. Her screen debut was in “SurburbanShootout”. She gave a stunning performance on television in the title role “Jane Eyre” opposite Toby Stephen’s ‘Mr Rochester’. In 2011 she was on the London stage in the title role “Anna Christie” opposite Jude Law.

TCM Overview:

British actress Ruth Wilson rose from obscurity to overnight stardom when she was selected to star in a 2006 U.K. television adaptation of “Jane Eyre,” which led to a lengthy run of award-winning successes on stage, as well as her leap to Hollywood filmmaking with “The Lone Ranger” (2012). Wilson’s performances delivered a confidence beyond her relatively young years that also masked a palpable vulnerability, a quality that drew rave reviews for her turn as Jane Eyre, as well as theatrical productions of “A Streetcar Named Desire” and “Anna Christie,” both of which netted her the esteemed Olivier Award in 2010 and 2012, respectively. Wilson won over international audiences with her riveting turn as a psychopathic researcher on “Luther” (BBC One, 2010- ) before making the leap to features in the 2012 film version of “Anna Karenina.” She subsequently made headlines when she was announced as the female lead in Gore Verbinski’s take on “The Lone Ranger” (2012), co-starring Johnny Depp. Wilson’s swift ascent to the top of her country’s theatrical scene, as well as her burgeoning film career, clearly indicated that movie stardom was in her future.

Born Jan. 13, 1982 in the Greater London town of Ashford, Surrey, Ruth Wilson was the youngest child and only girl among four siblings. After attending Notre Dame School and Esher College, she modeled for a brief period before studying history at the University of Nottingham. While there, she also performed in student dramas as part of the New Theatre, the university’s playhouse, and accompanied one production to the Edinburgh Festival Theatre. Acting soon became her primary focus, and after graduating from Nottingham in 2003, she studied her craft at London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art before graduating in 2005. Wilson earned her first screen credit that same year, playing the sexually voracious daughter of a female mob boss on the U.K. sitcom “Suburban Shootout” (Five, 2006-07).

Her breakthrough role came less than a year later when she was cast as Charlotte Brontë’s long-suffering heroine in a television adaptation of “Jane Eyre” (BBC One, 2006). Wilson received the lion’s share of critical applause for the well-regarded adaptation, as well as Golden Globe, BAFTA and Satellite Award nominations for Best Actress. With her career now firmly established, Wilson worked steadily in television, playing a young socialite whose life is upended by a sinister figure in director Stephen Poliakoff’s “Capturing Mary” (BBC Two, 2007) and a junior medical practitioner suffering from schizophrenia in “The Doctor Who Hears Voices” (Channel 4, 2008). She also received strong reviews for her theatrical work during this period, most notably for a 2007 production of Maxim Gorky’s “Philistines.”

More television work followed, including a supporting role as Jim Caveziel’s love interest in the 2009 miniseries remake of “The Prisoner” (ITV/AMC), but it was largely overshadowed by the accolades showered upon her for a 2010 production of “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Wilson received the 2010 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her sensitive turn as Stella DuBois, sister to playwright Tennessee Williams’ tragic heroine, Blanche (Rachel Weisz). Her stage success was quickly followed by an acclaimed turn as Ruth Morgan in “Luther.” A brilliant but amoral scientist who murdered her own parents, Morgan became an object of fascination for series star Idris Elba’s troubled detective, John Luther. For her performance, Wilson netted her second Satellite Award nomination.

Wilson concentrated largely on stage work for the remainder of 2010 and early 2011, starring in the Almeida Theatre’s adaptation of Ingmar Bergman’s film “Through a Glass Darkly” (1961), then moving back to the Donmar Warehouse, where she had performed “Streetcar” to play the title role in “Anna Christie.” She again captured top honors with her performance, winning the 2012 Olivier for Best Actress, as well as the esteem of the notoriously tough British theatrical critics’ community. That same year, she made her feature film debut with a supporting role in Joe Wright’s adaptation of “Anna Karenina” (2012), with Keira Knightley as Tolstoy’s iconic character. But that news was quickly overshadowed by the announcement that Wilson would play the romantic interest to Arnie Hammer’s Masked Man in “The Lone Ranger” (2012), the big screen revision of the venerable radio and television series, directed by Gore Verbinski and starring Johnny Depp as faithful Indian companion Tonto.

By Paul Gaita

The above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.

Brendan Coyle is currently earning rave reviews for his performance as the valet John Bates in the hughly successful television series “Downton Abbey”. He was born in Corby in 1963 to an Irish father and a Scottish mother. He trained in drama in Dublin. He won early parise for his performance in “The Weir” on the London stage. He has had an extensive television career including “Lark Rise to Candleford” and “North and South”. His films include “Conspiracy” in 2001 and “Tomorrow Never Dies”. He holds both Irish and British citizenships.

IMDB entry:

Brendan Coyle was born in Corby, Northamptonshire to an Irish father and Scottish mother; his parents moved to Corby from County Tyrone, Ireland. Brendan holds Irish citizenship and has previously lived in Dublin and London. However, according to a video clip from the site for “Rockface” he resides in Norfolk.

Brendan is also the great nephew of footballing (i.e. soccer) legend Sir Matt Busby of Manchester United fame.

Brendan trained at drama school in Dublin, founded in the late 1960s as the Focus Theatre, was co-founded by his aunt Mary Elizabeth Burke-Kennedy. Brendan started there in 1981 and then received a scholarship to Mountview Theatre School in England in 1983. He has directed at least two plays at Mountview since graduating from there.

Brendan has done a number of stage, television, and movie productions, including the play “The Weir” for which he won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance award for his part as the bartender, Brendan. He continues to work on stage, in film and on television.

– IMDb Mini Biography By: Stacy L.A. Stronach <slashgirl@yahoo.com>

TCM overview:

An English-born actor with Irish and Scottish roots, Brendan Coyle got his start in a slew of theatrical productions. He quietly rose through the ranks of U.K. screen actors with small roles in everything from “The Glass Virgin” (ITV, 1995) to the James Bond adventure “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997), but earned acclaim for his stage work, winning a Laurence Olivier Award for his work in “The Weir.” Continuing to work steadily in British-made productions like “North & South” (BBC One, 2004) and “Lark Rise to Candleford” (BBC One, 2008-11), Coyle appeared in such international fare as “The Jacket” (2005) with Adrien Brody and “The Raven” (2012) with John Cusack. His international breakthrough came as the physically impaired but passionate John Bates, valet to Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville) on the global smash “Downton Abbey” (ITV, 2010- ). Grounding his ill-fated character in humanity and compassion, Coyle stood out in the enormously talented ensemble, earning widespread praise. As his fame increased around the world, Coyle left many fans and critics alike hoping to see much more of him on stage and screen.

Born Dec. 2, 1963 in Corby, Northamptonshire, England, Coyle was the son of an Irish father and a Scottish mother, as well as the great-nephew of soccer legend Sir Matt Busby of Manchester United. Determined not to become a butcher like his father, Coyle found his calling when he saw his first play as a teenager, Shakespeare’s Richard III, and was overcome by a desire to make a living himself as an actor. Luckily, his cousin was a theater director in Dublin, Ireland, and when he finished his schooling – following a year of apprenticing to his father – Coyle moved to the Emerald Isle to train with her. After cutting his professional teeth with her company as an actor and stage manager, he earned a scholarship to the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London, and soon launched his stage career with roles in “Over the Bridge,” “All Souls Night” and “Playboy of the Western World.”

Coyle made his screen debut with small roles in the made-for-TV movie “Fool’s Gold: The Story of the Brink’s-MAT Robbery” (1992) and on the TV series “The Bill” (ITV, 1984-2010). Building on his momentum, he began to earn a reputation as a versatile actor with memorable performances in the miniseries “The Glass Virgin” (ITV, 1995) and on the shows “Dangerfield” (BBC, 1995-99), “Silent Witness” (BBC One, 1996- ) and “Thief Takers” (ITV, 1995-97), before earning a small turn in a major international blockbuster as a seaman in the James Bond thriller “Tomorrow Never Dies” (1997). As he was rising through the screen ranks, Coyle was also working steadily in theater, earning raves for his performance in “The Weir,” which he played in London as well as on Broadway, winning a 1999 Laurence Olivier Award as well as a New York Critics Theater World Award.

Coyle’s professional ascent continued as he picked up larger roles in “McCready and Daughter” (BBC, 2001) and on “Paths to Freedom” (RTÉ, 2000) and “Rebel Heart” (BBC, 2001). International audiences, however, began to take note of him with his role as the Gestapo chief Heinrich Müller in the Kenneth Branagh-Stanley Tucci based-on-real-life Nazi historical drama “Conspiracy” (BBC/HBO, 2000). He continued to notch acclaimed work in European productions, including high-profile roles on “Rockface” (BBC, 2002-03) and “North & South” (BBC One, 2004), as well as starring as the famous Irish politician Michael Collins in “Allegiance” (2005) while finding time to take a supporting turn in the time travel thriller “The Jacket” (2005), starring Keira Knightley and Adrien Brody.

Coyle went on to notch roles on “True Dare Kiss” (BBC One, 2007) and “Lark Rise to Candleford” (BBC One, 2008-2011), which earned him ever more acclaim. Although he appeared in the John Cusack Edgar Allen Poe-thriller “The Raven” (2012) and on the series “Starlings” (Sky1, 2012- ), Coyle’s true international breakthrough came with his work on the global smash “Downton Abbey” (ITV, 2010- ). Playing John Bates, the valet and former Boer War batman to Lord Grantham (Hugh Bonneville), Coyle gave vivid life to a character whose physical disability masked a powerful spirit. Viewers were glued to the set when the seemingly friendless Bates fell in love with the kindhearted maid Anna (Joanne Froggatt), only to be shocked when it was revealed that he still had a wife who was very much alive – until she was poisoned and Bates was convicted of her murder. His powerful, but understated work earned Coyle a devoted fanbase as well as an Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.

By Jonathan Riggs

The above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.

Philip Friend was born in 1915 in Horsham, Sussex. His film debut was in “Inquest” in 1939. His other films include “Dangerous Moonlight”, “Pimpernal Smith” and “Thunder on the Hill” which he made in Hollywood in 1951 with fellow Briton Anne Crawford and Claudette Colbert. He died in 1987.

IMDB entry:

On stage from 1935. Starred in ‘French Without Tears’ on Broadway, 1937-38. Suave leading man who never quite hit the big time on screen. At his best in light adventure film, such as Buccaneer’s Girl (1950), as a pirate opposite Yvonne De Carlo.

Dan Stevens was born in Croydon, Surrey in 1982. He gave an acclaimed performance in 2006 in “The Line of Beauty”. His other films include “Hide” and “The Turn of the Screw”. He starred as Matthew Crawley on television in the award winning period drama “Downton Abbey”.

TCM Overview:

Classically trained actor Dan Stevens had all the makings of a romantic lead, yet it was not until he appeared on the critically acclaimed period drama “Downton Abbey” (ITV, 2010- ), that audiences truly took notice. Starting off his career on stage, he first made his mark onscreen with a starring role in the miniseries “The Line of Beauty” (BBC, 2006), as a young gay man living in the materialistic and careless “Thatcherite” Britain of the 1980s. Stevens continued to impress on television, with featured roles in made-for-TV films, including BBC’s “Dracula” (2006) and the real life-inspired drama “Maxwell” (2007). As his career thrived, he gravitated towards characters with refined manners and moral intentions, similar to the role he played on the television adaptation of the classic novel “Sense & Sensibility” (BBC, 2008). Yet, it was his role on the beloved series “Downton Abbey,” as an upright young aristocrat who treated everyone equally despite their class strata, which made Stevens brought the actor international stardom.

Daniel Jonathan Stevens was born on Oct. 10, 1982 in Surrey, England to parents who were both teachers. He started acting at an early age, first at Tonbridge School and then at the National Youth Theatre in England. An English literature major at Emmanuel College in Cambridge, Stevens performed in several student productions, including the title role in a 2002 performance of William Shakespeare’s play “Macbeth.” While he was still a student, he had a featured role on the American miniseries “Frankenstein” (Hallmark, 2004). After his college graduation, Steven went on to perform in a string of stage productions, including Peter Hall’s “As You Like It” (2004), which also held performances in California and New York City in 2005. By the mid-2000s, Stevens started to make inroads on British television, beginning with a lead role in the 2006 miniseries “The Line of Beauty,” based on Alan Hollinghurst’s 2004 bestseller, in which Stevens played a gay post-graduate student who moves in with his best friend’s wealthy family. The story explored his character’s experiences with the British upper class, and his love affairs at a time when the AIDs crisis was beginning.

Stevens continued with his television projects, appearing in a string of made-for-TV movies including “Dracula,” the crime drama “Miss Marple: Nemesis” (ITV, 2007), and the true-life story “Maxwell,” as a financial director who had a first-hand account of the monetary and marital downfall of Robert Maxwell (David Suchet). Stevens starred in the 2008 television adaptation of Jane Austen’s classic 1811 novel “Sense & Sensibility,” as the shy and dependable admirer of the novel’s protagonist Elinor Dashwood (Hattie Morahan). In 2010, Stevens finally nabbed the role that would make him an international celebrity on Julian Fellowes’ award-winning, period drama “Downton Abbey,” about the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants. He portrayed Matthew Crawley, a lawyer who was also the family’s heir presumptive and husband of Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery). In spite of his boyish appeal and seeming distaste for his family’s lavish lifestyle, Crowley still managed to endear himself to his wealthy relatives and their servants. He also enjoyed one of the series’ most exciting plot lines, ranging from his time as a wounded war hero and as a determined suitor to the standoffish Lady Mary. A series favorite, Stevens’ evolving characterization of Crawley nabbed most of the episodes’ buzz during the third season, and elicited mostly strong reactions from its international audience.

By Candy Cuenco

The above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.

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Jeremy Irons. Overview.

Jeremy Irons was born in Cowes on the Isle of Wight in 1948. His breakthrough roles occured with “Brideshead Revisited” in 1981 and on film “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” with Meryl Streep. He has several notable films to his credit including “Moonlighting”, “Dead Ringers”, “Damage”, “M Butterfly” and is Oscar winning movie “Reversal of Fortune” with Glenn Close in 1990. He is married to Irish actress Sinead Cusack and has a home in West Cork. His son is the actor Max Irons.

TCM Overview:

Classically trained stage actor Jeremy Irons enjoyed one of the most varied international film careers of his peers, going beyond the expected costume dramas to offer award-winning performances as men of all eras and motives. Leveraging his rich, haunting voice for both good and evil, Irons elicited deep-seated discomfort in films like “Dead Ringers” (1988) and “Reversal of Fortune” (1990), but romanced with charming nobility in “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” (1981) and “Being Julia” (2004). Irons earned two of his handful of Golden Globe nods while exploring British culture in the television miniseries “Brideshead Revisited” (ITV/PBS, 1981) and “Elizabeth I” (HBO, 2006), but was cast as everything from artists to executives by some of the most renowned directors in the international film community, including Louis Malle, Bernardo Bertolucci, Franco Zeffirelli and Wayne Wang. Irons made his mark in everything from period films to studio blockbusters to everything in between, playing one of the original Musketeers in “The Man in the Iron Mask” (1998), an over-the-top villain in “Dungeons & Dragons” (2000), Antonio in “The Merchant of Venice” (2004), and a cold-blooded investment banking CEO in “Margin Call” (2011). Meanwhile, he made a rare turn to the small screen to give an acclaimed performance as Pope Alexander VI on the widely hailed cable series, “The Borgias” (Showtime, 2011- ). Regardless of the role or medium, Irons could always be counted on to deliver still waters that ran deep – often deep into the realms of great emotional anguish.

Irons was born on England’s Isle of Wight on Sept. 19, 1948. While a boarding school student in Dorset, Irons could often be found performing, sometimes with his four-piece band (as the drummer) and sometimes in comedy skits for school events. He decided to pursue a future on stage and studied drama at the Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol, where he got his professional start as a member of the company beginning in the late 1960s. After several years of acting in modern dramas and Shakespeare alike, Irons made his London stage debut in 1971 playing John the Baptist in “Godspell,” a role that employed the actor for two years. On screen, Irons first gained notice for his portrayal of classical composer Franz Liszt in the British miniseries, “Notorious Woman” (PBS, 1975). Following a starring role in the 1977 British television miniseries “Love for Lydia,” Irons made a less-than-stellar big screen debut as Mikhail Fokine in Herbert Ross’ biopic, “Nijinsky” (1980), but became internationally renowned when he was cast opposite Meryl Streep in the romantic drama, “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” (1981), based on John Fowles’ novel.

Hot on the heels of Irons’ BAFTA-nominated performance in that film, he took the lead as observant narrator Charles Ryder in the TV adaptation of Evelyn Waugh’s “Brideshead Revisited” (ITV/PBS, 1981). The international television event was one of the most lauded of the year, earning Irons his first Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. He went on to more eclectic roles, playing the caddish lover in David Jones’ critically acclaimed adaptation of Harold Pinter’s “Betrayal” (1983), but was miscast as Proust’s hero in “Swann in Love” (1984). In 1984, Irons made his Broadway debut and took home a Tony Award for Best Actor for the Mike Nichols-directed “The Real Thing,” written by Tom Stoppard and co-starring Glenn Close. Two years later, Irons appeared in a Royal Shakespeare Theater production of “The Winter’s Tale” and was back in the film spotlight for his Golden Globe-nominated portrayal of an 18th century Jesuit priest touring South America in Roland Joffe’s “The Mission” (1986).

After starring as Richard II on the London stage, Irons gave a bravura dual performance as deranged twin brother doctors in David Cronenberg’s classic creeper “Dead Ringers” (1988). In another career highlight, Irons won Academy and Golden Globe Awards for his portrayal of real-life international playboy and suspected murderer Claus von Bulow in Barbet Schroeder’s “Reversal of Fortune” (1990), which reunited him with Glenn Close. Irons’ haughty, conniving performance made a strong impact, but Irons avoided villainous typecasting by displaying versatility with his leading role as a paranoid insurance clerk in Steven Soderbergh’s psychological thriller, “Kafka” (1991), a history teacher haunted by memories of his childhood in “Waterland” (1992), and a conservative English politician undone by an obsessive affair with his son’s girlfriend in Louis Malle’s “Damage” (1992). Although he tried gamely, his reunion with Cronenberg for “M. Butterfly” (1993) failed to impress critics or audiences, and his second film with Streep and Close, “The House of the Spirits” (1993), unfortunately miscast the team of great thespians as South American aristocrats.

Irons rebounded with a box office and critical hit by providing the sinuous voice of the subtly villainous Scar in Disney’s monster animated hit, “The Lion King” (1994). In an effective follow-up bad guy role, he was next cast as the action film cliché “evil foreigner” opposite Bruce Willis in the popular sequel “Die Hard With a Vengeance” (1995). The actor’s next two roles were thematically linked. In Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Stealing Beauty” (1996), Irons starred as an ailing writer reinvigorated when confronted with the voluptuous teenaged Liv Tyler, while in Adrian Lyne’s remake of “Lolita” (1997), he was well-chosen to play classic literary character Humbert Humbert, also enamored of the pubescent title character (Dominique Swain). Irons’ run of lovelorn leading roles also included director Wayne Wang’s “Chinese Box” (1997), in which Irons was a leukemia-ridden, Hong Kong-based financial reporter who has long held a torch for a bar owner and former “hostess” (Gong Li) from mainland China.

Iconic in the role of Father Aramis in the adaptation of Alexander Dumas’ adventure “The Man In the Iron Mask” (1998), starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Irons’ talents were thereafter squandered in the legendary flop “Dungeons and Dragons” (2000). He balanced the scales with accomplished turns in higher-brow fare including the A&E miniseries, “Longitude” (2000), as a 20th century naval officer who discovers 18th Century clockmaker John Harrison’s abandoned clocks and restores them. A widely praised portrayal of F. Scott Fitzgerald in the Showtime telepic “Last Call” (2002), about the tortured author’s final months, was followed by a turn in director Franco Zeffirelli’s biopic “Callas Forever” (2002), as opera legend Maria Callas’ friend and former manager. The actor became entangled with another musician in “And Now…Ladies and Gentlemen” (2003), in which he starred as a dissatisfied criminal mastermind who sets out on a one-man sailing trip around the world to find meaning in his life and becomes caught up with a burned-out jazz singer (Patricia Kaas).

In 2004, Irons turned in a pair of particularly fine performances, first tapping into his considerable Shakespearean track record to play a disdainful Antonio arguing over the pound of flesh with Al Pacino’s Shylock in “William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice” (2004). He then co-starred as the agreeably cuckolded husband-manager of an aging, diva-like 1930s stage actress (Annette Bening) who takes up a dalliance of his own in director Istvan Szabo’s brilliant, “Being Julia” (2004). In director Ridley Scott’s disappointing “Kingdom of Heaven” (2005), however, only Irons, in the role of the Jerusalem king’s closest adviser, had a role juicy enough to withstand the film’s otherwise furious scenery-chewing. “Casanova” (2005), director Lasse Hallstrom’s fictionalized account of the legendary lothario (Heath Ledger) falling in love at last, was easily one of the most ill-conceived and disappointing films of the year, despite lavish production values and a game performance by Irons, who lustily attacked his role as the villainous Catholic Church inquisitor Pucci, who is out to execute the renowned libertine for heresy.

However there was plenty of positive attention on Irons the following year when he joined the cast of the lavish miniseries “Elizabeth I” (Channel 4 UK/ HBO, 2006). While Helen Mirren earned soaring reviews for her incomparable portrayal of the Virgin Queen, Irons matched her talent with his performance as Earl of Leicester, Elizabeth’s lover and most trusted, if conflicted, confidant. The British production swept the Emmy and Golden Globe Awards that year, garnering two supporting actor trophies for Irons. Meanwhile, Irons appeared on movie screens as a film director in David Lynch’s enigmatic “Inland Empire” (2006) and in the far more accessible but considerably less original family fantasy blockbuster, “Eragon” (2006). Returning to the London stage, Irons had a starring run playing conservative post-war British Prime Minister Harold MacMillan in “Never So Good” and went on to co-star on Broadway opposite Joan Allen in “Impressionism,” which paired the two as world-weary artist and gallery owner who fall in love.

Allen and Irons coupled again on the small screen that year in the biopic “Georgia O’Keeffe” (Lifetime, 2009), which chronicled the early career of the famous painter (Allen) and her professional-turned-romantic relationship with influential New York photographer and art gallery owner, Alfred Stieglitz (Irons). Irons’ absorbing performance led to Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nominations for Best Actor in a TV Movie. Also at the time, Irons returned to the stage opposite Allen in the Broadway production of Michael Jacobs’ play “Impressionism” (2009). Back on screen, he starred in the well-received historical drama, “The Borgias” (Showtime, 2011), a series created by Irish filmmaker Neil Jordan that focused on the corrupt and murderous Italian Renaissance family headed by Roderic Borgia (Irons), who went on to become the debased Pope Alexander VI. The role earned Irons a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in a drama series. Also that year, he returned to features with “Margin Call” (2011), playing the CEO of a Lehman Brothers-like investment bank caught in the throes of the 2008 financial meltdown.

The above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.

Dorothy Tutin obituary in “The Guardian” in 2001.

In many ways it was the misfortune of Dorothy Tutin, who has died aged 70 from leukaemia, to have been born into that generation of actors who bridged the gap between the classical grandes dames of the 1940s and the more modern performers of the 1960s. There remained something almost pre-war about her looks, demeanour and that distinctive and precise voice, speaking in what was once dubbed “Tutinese”.

Her name was a benchmark for quality, but she was initially a reluctant actor. She became, however, a dedicated one, and although she was disgracefully underused in latter years, even in her last major stage performance, a revival of DL Coburn’s The Gin Game at the Savoy Theatre in 1999, she soared way above that rickety old play.

Original Cinema Quad Poster – Movie Film Posters

A solitary, pent-up child, she was much affected by the sudden death of her beloved 10-year-old elder brother Eric when she was six. Born in London and educated at St Catherine’s school in Bramley, Surrey, Tutin was determined to make a career as a musician, but abandoned that ambition at the age of 15, accepting, with a maturity beyond her years, that she did not have the talent.

It was her theatre-loving father who, impressed by her performance as a last-minute replacement in a school production of JM Barrie’s Quality Street, pushed his self-conscious daughter – who professed a horror at performing in public – towards the stage. Tutin often recounted how she tried to prevent her father from telephoning Rada to inquire about vacancies.

But it was there that she went, graduating in 1949 when only 19. Within the year she was playing Katherine in Henry V at the Old Vic. During the next 10 years she became one of the most celebrated but self-effacing stars of the British stage, notching up Juliet, Ophelia, Portia and Viola to great acclaim. Her film debut came in 1952 as Cecily in Anthony Asquith’s film version of The Importance Of Being Earnest. In later years she was to regret not making more films, but the 1950s was the age of the Rank starlet and Tutin did not fit the mould – and probably wouldn’t have wanted to.

None the less, in 1984 she did star with James Mason, Edward Fox and Sir John Gielgud in the eve-of-first-world-war allegory, the critically acclaimed The Shooting Party.

The stage was her métier, and she turned in memorable performances as Sally Bowles in I Am a Camera, Hedwig in The Wild Duck and, most notably, as the young Catholic girl Rose in the 1953 production of Graham Greene’s The Living Room. The critic Kenneth Tynan was entranced, describing her as being “ablaze like a diamond in a mine”.

There were signs, however, that she might burn out. Lacking self-confidence and plagued by ill-health, she was hospitalised several times during the 1950s, and took failure hard, blaming herself in particular for the lack of success of Jean Anouilh’s The Lark, in which she starred as St Joan in 1955. One of the regrets of her career is that she never played in Shaw’s St Joan .

Championed by Peter Hall, Tutin was a key figure in the early days of the RSC at Stratford and London’s Aldwych theatre in the early 1960s. She played Desdemona, Varya in The Cherry Orchard, Polly Peachum in The Beggar’s Opera and, later in the decade, Rosalind.

By the early 1970s, partly preoccupied by marriage and motherhood, Tutin was seen far less in the theatre. While she had been doing the classics, the British theatre had changed, having been dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th century. She had little or no reputation for doing the new plays then in vogue.

But, as ever with Tutin, still waters ran deep. When producers and directors had the courage to cast her against type, she always surprised. The pretty, Squirrel Nutkinish features disguised something much rawer and disturbing, as was evidenced as early as 1961 by the violence of her performance as Sister Jeanne in John Whiting’s The Devils.

As Bernard Levin noted in 1977 when she was playing Lady Macbeth and Lady Plyant in Congreve’s The Double Dealer at the National: “She is tiny. She looks too sweet for anything but sweet parts; and although her voice is musical, it doesn’t naturally express hard emotion. Yet she has an astonishing edge as Lady Macbeth. As Cressida, she was a wisp of rippling carnality. Her Sophie Brzeska in Ken Russell’s Savage Messiah was violently earthy, sexual: all the things a Meissen porcelain figure shouldn’t be able to be.”

Regrettably, in later years she seldom got to show her talents to their best. Television and the boulevard drama of the West End and Chichester were her haunts in the 1980s and 90s.

She did, however, have an affinity with Pinter. She was in the original cast of Old Times in 1971, and in 1985 gave a desperately moving performance, both on TV and in the West End, in A Kind Of Alaska. She played Deborah, a teenager struck down by encephalitis lethargia who awakens 29 years later when given the drug L-DOPA. Tutin was mesmerising as this uncomprehending, terrified middle-aged Sleeping Beauty who still perceived herself as a tomboy teenager, and this should have given a boost to her career. Alas, it didn’t. She was pained by her lack of job opportunities, telling the Guardian in 1991: “You may as well ask, why aren’t you employed more, Miss Tutin? One can get depressed.”

It seemed such a waste. It was Caryl Brahms, writing in Plays And Players in 1960 when she was in her prime, who captured her essence: “Miss Tutin is a small-scale hurricane. And once she is unleashed upon a part, there is bound to be, one feels, a short, sharp tussle. But Miss Tutin comes out on top, and having subdued it to her temperamental and technical measure, parades in it, all smiles and sequinned tears. She can be gay, pathetic, lively, stunned – part minx, part poet, part sex-kitten. A comedienne of skill and a pint-sized tragedienne.”

She loved music and solitude, enjoying lonely walks on the Isle of Arran. She is survived by her husband, the actor Derek Waring, and a son and a daughter.

The above “Guardian” obituary can also be accessed online here.

Collection of Classic Brittish Actors

Derek Jacobi

Dennis Price

Ronnie Stevens

Ruth Wilson

Brendan Coyle

Philip Friend

Dan Stevens

Jeremy Irons

Jeremy Irons. Overview.

Dorothy Tutin

Dorothy Tutin obituary in “The Guardian” in 2001.

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