British Actors Archives - Page 55 of 131

David Caves

David Caves is from Ballymena in the North of Ireland and has made an excellent foil to Emilia Fox in his role as Jack Hodgson in the BBC drama series “Silent Witness”

Caves originally planned to become a teacher before training at LAMDA and, prior to his addition to the Silent Witness cast, was known only as a stage actor, having made an impact as Petruchio in the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2012 touring production of “The Taming of the Shrew”.

“The Stage” interview from 2013:

It’s the morning after the first episode of Silent Witness’ 16th series, and the morning after David Caves’ small screen debut. The actor has just begun appearing in the popular crime series as forensic scientist Jack Hodgson, having already built up a reputation as a stage actor, notably in productions such as theRoyal Shakespeare Company’s The Taming of the Shrew. And while other performers might, by this time, have flicked through the papers looking for a review, or jumped on Twitter to see what people have been saying about their turn, Caves has been avoiding reading anything.

“Sometimes the curiosity gets the better of me,” he admits. “But usually I try not to read anything, as I think, good or bad, it should not change anything. With a show like this, where such a loved character [Harry Cunningham, played by Tom Ward] has gone, people are going to be disappointed, of course, and always wary of a new guy coming in, and could be quite critical. But there is nothing you can do. Some people will like it, others won’t. All you can do is the best job you can do.”

Caves graduated from LAMDA in 2005 and has since then appeared in a variety of stage productions, including The Beggar’s Opera at Regent’s Park Open Air Theatre and The Changeling at the Southwark Playhouse, a performance which Janie Dee called the best she’s ever seen.

The Beggar’s Opera performed at the Open Air Theatre, Regent’s Park Centre David Caves as Captain Macheath ©Alastair Muir

Following his stint in this production, he went on to appear in the aforementioned The Taming of the Shrew playing Petruchio, which again earned him rave reviews. However, it was while appearing in this production that Caves decided he wanted to branch out from theatre work, and try his hand at something new.

“I really wanted to do some television but my theatre schedule up to then had been pretty hectic,” he explains. “I was extremely fortunate to be working as I did, and with some incredible people along the way. I absolutely love theatre and my heart will always be there, as that is where I started. But I did feel, coming to the end of that job [The Taming of the Shrew] that I would like to try something else, some TV or film work. And as luck would have it, along came Silent Witness. It was great timing.”

Caves’ character, Jack Hodgson, is described as “straight-talking and quick witted” and as someone who is “confident in his own ability”. Playing Petruchio helped, Caves says, in preparing him for his audition.

The actor describes Jack as “confident, brash and a little cheeky” and explains: “I thought some of those are similar to Petruchio. Auditions are pretty nerve-wracking, particularly for something like Silent Witness. I was nervous, so I thought, if I can take in the energy of the part I am playing now, that will be helpful and hopefully it will get me through.”

He adds that being in work at the time of his audition helped with his own self-belief.

I made it daunting in my own head but in real life everyone was so generous [on Silent Witness]

“I was in good shape, I suppose, as it always helps when you are working,” he says. “You are riding high on that, and are confident, so carry yourself better in auditions.”

Caves says he was given an “in-depth character analysis” of Jack, and admits he was “intimidated” when he first started digesting the information he had been given.

“There was a lot of information about who he was,” he recalls. “Too much information can kill things a bit, take the life away, because you just try to play exactly what the author has written, which does not leave you any room to bring something yourself. Having said that, once we were up and running, it was up to me what I wanted to try and do, and the more touches of lightness I could bring to the role the better.”

Alongside his work as a forensic scientist, Caves’ character also has a penchant for cage fighting, or mixed martial arts. Caves says he was unable to do much research for the forensic scientist part of his role, but he wanted to train as much as he could for the martial arts part.

“I was really looking forward to that bit,” he says. “I was impatient to start doing it. I asked if there was any way to have some weights brought in on set, so I could pop out between scenes and have a quick session. To my utter surprise they agreed. It was so great, as I would not have been able to train as much as I had wanted without that.”

Caves isn’t expecting all future jobs to be like that, but he clearly relished his time working on Silent Witness. His appearance makes for a pretty impressive television debut, too, especially given how he did not originally set out to be an actor.

Caves, who is from Northern Ireland, studied modern languages at St Andrews in Scotland, and initially thought he was going to be a teacher. He worked as a teacher in France as part of his university course, but when he returned to the UK, he found he had “lost the drive for the academic side of things” and found himself getting heavily involved in plays and musicals at the university.

“I found I loved this medium and wanted to look into it more, to see what was out there and what drama school was about,” he says. “So I did some research and decided to have a go, not really expecting anything to happen. I was naive and did not know how tough it was. I thought I was probably not good enough but something inside me told me I should have a go, so I did.”

Caves ended up being offered places at both LAMDA and Bristol Old Vic, opting for the former because of the lure of London. His training focused on theatre, and although this is where he has spent most of his career to date, he is now enjoying being on television, which he says has been a learning curve for him. He calls it “Alice in Wonderland stuff”.

“I made it daunting in my own head but in real life everyone was so generous [on Silent Witness],” he says. “I was very quickly put at ease. It was like a little family, like joining a theatre company. It was a really pleasurable experience.”

He goes on to explain that the differences between theatre and television are “mainly technical”, but says he tries not to get too bogged down with that side of things.

“You can go overboard and get so vain about how you look in a shot and then it becomes a vanity project,” he says. He misses the rehearsals that come with working in theatre, and adds that, while they do rehearse in television, “it’s quick and minimal”.

“They expect you to come having done the work and made some choices,” he continues. “If those choices don’t work, they tell you and you have to make quick decisions. But that is a really good thing.”

He adds: “Sometimes you can over think things and over rehearse. But sometimes great things come out of very quick decisions in the moment – just by listening and reacting.”

For “The Stage” interview with David Caves, please click here

April Olrich was born in 1933 in Zanzibar. She was featured in “Room At The Top”, “The Intelligence Men” and “The Skull”. She died in 2014.

“The Stage” obituary:

Although she trained as a classical ballerina, one of the favourite shows that April Olrich appeared in was the revue Wait a Minim!, which was staged at the Fortune in London from 1964 to 1966. Just before that, she appeared in a revival of the Rodgers and Hart musical The Boys from Syracuse, at Drury Lane alongside Denis Quilley and Bob Monkhouse.

The daughter of a communications expert, Olrich was born in Zanzibar, part of the east African state of Tanzania. She trained first in Argentina and later under George Balanchine in New York. In Paris, Margot Fonteyn joined private classes that Olrich attended.

When the Ballet Russes arrived in Covent Garden, Olrich was talent-spotted by the Royal Ballet founder Ninette de Valois, and joined its corps de ballet in 1949. She quickly became a soloist, dancing principal roles with the company for four years.

Wait a Minim! was a collection of original songs and international folk music. Olrich joined the American production in New York and won a Whitbread Anglo-American Theatre award. In San Francisco, she married her co-star from the show, Nigel Pegram.

Her cinema career embraced the adaptation of John Braine’s novel Room at the Top (1959), and the Morecambe and Wise flop The Intelligence Men (1965). On television, she was seen in Whodunnit? (1976), a game show in which panellists had to guess who had carried out dramatised murders, and Fresh Fields (1985), starring Julia McKenzie and Anton Rodgers.

April Olrich, who was born Edith April Oelrichs on July 17, 1933, died in London on April 15, at the age of 80.

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

Chesney Hawkes

Chesney Hawkes was born in 1971 in Windsor. His father Leonard was in the 60’s pop group The Tremeloes. In 1991 he had a huge hit with the song “My One and Only”. He starred in “Buddy’s Song” and “Prince Valiant”.

IMDB entry:

Chesney Hawkes born September 22, 1971 in Windsor, Berkshire, England Is the son of Len (Chip) Hawkes, the singer of The Tremeloes (known for their hit “Silence Is Golden”) and Carol Hawkes, who was a TV hostess and actress in the UK.

It was in early 1991 when Chesney, then 19, won the lead role in the film Buddy’s Song(1991) (also starring Roger Daltrey of The Who), and signed to sing the sound track but suddenly found himself one of the first teenagers in pop history ever to bag the Number One spot with a debut release. “The One And Only” stayed at the top for five weeks, going on to become one of the undisputed global teen anthems of 1991 as it crashed Top 10s world-wide, including the notoriously difficult markets of Japan and America. The song was also featured over the titles of the Michael J. Fox movie Doc Hollywood (1991).

Chesney and his band (featuring his brother Jodie on drums) rounded off 1991 with a sell-out tour, playing everything from small clubs to 10,000 seaters the length and breadth of Europe. Both fans and critics alike voted Chesney’s live show a spectacular success, with special honours going to the much remembered last night show at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. This triumphant concert was to signify the symbolic end of that particular stage of Chesney’s career. Chesney had out-grown the confines of teen idol-dom and was eagerly looking forward to the challenge of establishing himself as a song writer in his own right.

So after gaining more valuable live experience supporting Huey Lewis and Bryan Adams in Europe, Chesney removed himself from the glare of the public eye and spent time in his studio writing and rehearsing for his next album. The hard work paid off and the album “Get The Picture” was as spirited, diverse and uncompromising as anything delivered by self-styled street credible types in recent years.

For the next few years and no longer signed to his original record label, Chesney decided that, rather than respond to numerous offerings of pantomime, store openings and West End roles which, although lucrative, would have taken him away from the music, it was time for him to pay his musical dues, albeit in reverse given that he had a No. 1 record behind him. He formed a new band, “ebb”, and spent 1997 living and working in New York from which base he played a series of East and West coast gigs to great critical acclaim, always continuing to write and demo new material.

Since this time Chesney has worked with numerous talented writers and producers, amongst them Mark Goldenberg who co-wrote The Eel’s “Novocain For The Soul”, Adam Schlesinger of Fountains Of Wayne, Jesse Vellenswealla of The Gin Blossoms, and Counting Crows producer Marvin Etzioni. Other collaborators include Howard Jones, the Police’s Stuart Copland, Nik Kershaw & Bijou Phillips.

English band “Hepburn”, covered “Next Life”, which Chesney co-wrote with Phil Thornally. (Phil co-wrote “Torn”, a hit for Natalie Imbruglia). Caprice charted in March 2001 with “Once Around The Sun” which Chesney co-wrote with Eric Pressley and he has also collaborated with Tricky on his “Mission Accomplished” EP. Another of Chesney’s songs, “Almost You”, was in the film Jawbreaker (1999) starring Rose McGowen and Marilyn Mansun and “Missing You Already” was in the film The Night We Never Met (1993), starring Matthew Broderick.

During the latter half of 2000, and the beginning of 2001, Chesney has been recording a batch of new songs in London and in Los Angeles with producer Charlton Pettus. A number of tracks have been mixed by Neil Dorfsman who has worked with Sting, Dire Straits and Paul McCartney. A single, “Stay Away Baby Jane”, from these sessions was scheduled for release in summer 2001. The video has been filmed in LA with director Rory Rooney.

During April, Chesney has been performing at student venues (Nottingham, Leeds, Lincoln, Hull, Middlesbrough). Such has been the overwhelming response that the, initially mini, tour has now been extended to take in dates throughout May and early June. The teen audience that discovered him in 1991 has now grown up and are, now in their early twenties, thrilled to see Chesney back and performing at the height of his ability.

Chesney has combined touring with appearing on ‘Top Ten Teen Idols’ (Channel 4), Banzai (Channel 4) and ‘Question of Pop’ (BBC1). Interviews in The Sunday Express and The Telegraph have centred on his writing and the tour, and his current media profile (the above plus Heat, Loaded, ILR interviews and sharing a Sunday Express {not the above} centre spread with The Beatles and The Spice Girls) is being watched by the media itself with Ally Ross recently (July) congratulating Chesney on his ubiquity in his News of The World column.

At present, Chesney is working on his new album. He now lives in West London with wife Kristina and his son, Casey George Hawkes who was born on August 29, 2001.

– IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

The above IMDB entry can also be accessed online here.

Damien Thomas was born in Egypt in 1942. He has featured in such movies as “Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger”, “The Message” and “Twins of Evil”. On television he gained great personal notices for his performance in “Shogun”.

Guardian obituary in 2025

Damien Thomas, who has died aged 83 after suffering from progressive supranuclear palsy, was an actor best remembered for taking the leading role of a wicked count turned into a vampire in Twins of Evil, a 1971 film combining gothic horror, black magic rituals and two Playboy playmates in the title parts.

The movie’s trailer billed him as “Hammer’s new master of the macabre”, alongside Peter Cushing as the witch-hunting Puritan religious sect leader Gustav Weil, whose orphaned nieces, Maria and Frieda, played by the identical twins Mary and Madeleine Collinson, live with him in an Austrian village. “It was quite difficult to tell the twins apart, but I used to pretend I knew which one was which,” Thomas said.

The witchfinder theme was added to the original stories featured in Sheridan Le Fanu’s 1872 novella Carmilla for this final film in Hammer’s Karnstein trilogy of vampire sagas, following The Vampire Lovers and Lust for a Vampire.

In Twins of Evil, the rebellious Frieda finds an escape from her controlling uncle with his neighbour, the blasphemous Count Karnstein (Thomas). By then, he has already turned a mock sacrificial rite into reality at Karnstein castle.

Having previously worked mostly in theatre, Thomas said he tried to give a Shakespearean performance, bellowing out his lines with an air of arrogance and self-confidence.

But the film did not bring him further starring roles. “After Twins of Evil, I was about to face a couple of the worst years of my career,” he said. Instead,he became a prolific character actor on television over the next 50 years. His parts included the Portuguese Jesuit priest and translator Father Martin Alvito in Shogun, the 1980 US miniseries starring Richard Chamberlain as a 17th-century English ship’s navigator captured by samurai warriors in Japan.

Among Thomas’s occasional film parts was Don Alfonso de la Torré, the ruthless first mate who makes life difficult for the ship’s captain, played by Walter Matthau, in Pirates (1986), a swashbuckling comedy adventure directed by Roman Polanski.

Although it fulfilled Polanski’s dream of making a pirate movie, the film bombed at the box office. Initially, Thomas blamed himself, recalling in 2013 that he left the premiere thinking: “That’s the end of my career. The film is a disaster because it’s me, my fault – all that English overacting.”

But he added: “I went to see it recently at the BFI on the Southbank and, to my amazement, I realised that it wasn’t me at all. Actually, I’m not so awful in it. The weakness of the film is Walter Matthau.” He said the cockney voice adopted by the Hollywood star was “so laboured and so slow” that it affected the pace of the film.

Damien was born in Ismailia, on the west bank of the Suez canal, to Huguette (nee Bertrand), herself born in Egypt of French parents, and Peter Court-Thomas, an RAF squadron leader posted there during the second world war.

Seven months later, his father died after being shot down in action and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Following her move to Britain, his mother married Charles Lofthouse; Damien was educated at Wellington school, Somerset, and studied art at Dartington College, Devon, before training at Rada. On graduating in 1966, he gained experience in repertory theatre and made his screen debut in Love with a Few Hairs (1967), an episode in the BBC television series Boy Meets Girl. He played a Moroccan bartender seeking a love potion from a witch when the young woman he falls for (Felicity Kendal) shows no interest in him. A year later, he was cast by Hammer in a small part for a story in its anthology TV series Journey to the Unknown.

His first film role was as Cassius’s loyal servant Pindarus in Julius Caesar (1970), starring John Gielgud. Supporting roles followed on the big screen as Anne Boleyn’s court musician Smeaton in Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972), the prophet Mohammed’s son Zaid in The Message (1976) and Kassim in human form, before the character is turned into a baboon, in Ray Harryhausen’s fantasy Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger (1977), directed by Sam Wanamaker.

On television, his dozens of parts included a Greek Cypriot suspected of looking for revenge on British soldiers who hanged his terrorist father in Special Branch (1969); Atlan, leader of the Space Rats, in Blakes 7 (1981); the pivotal character of Richard Mason, bringing trouble to Thornfield Hall, in Jane Eyre (1983); and Jake Haulter, a Swiss-born wheeler-dealer looking to make money in postwar Singapore, in Tenko (1984) and Tenko Reunion (1985).

Later, he was seen as Herod Agrippa, the last king of Judea, in A.D. (1985); villains such as Mortimer Tregennis in The Return of Sherlock Holmes (1988); Michael Samuels, the liberal environment secretary smeared by Francis Urquhart (Ian Richardson) in the race to become Conservative party leader and prime minister, in House of Cards (1990); and Mr Harris, the apothecary, in Sense and Sensibility (2008).

A highlight of Thomas’s stage career came as Worthy in The Relapse, John Vanbrugh’s Restoration comedy, at the Old Vic (1981), “a part spoken with a rich, resonant fluency”, wrote one critic. Later, he understudied Frank Langella as the American president in the original production of Peter Morgan’s play Frost/Nixon at the Donmar Warehouse (2006).

Thomas’s first two marriages, to Jocelyne Sbath in 1968 and Françoise Alaoui-Drai in 1980, ended in divorce.

He is survived by his third wife, Julia (nee Sargent), whom he married in 2012, Maud and Phoebe, their daughters, Dominic, the son of his second marriage, and his stepchildren, Kirsty, Hannah and Gabe.

Phyllis Logan was born in Paisley, Scotland in 1956. In 1983 she won plaudits for her performance in “Another Time, Another Place”. She has also starred in “Lovejoy” and is currently kindly ‘Mrs Hughes’ in “Downton Hall”. Her movies include “The Kitchen Toto” and “The Chain”.

TCM overview:

Whether playing a young woman who enters a disastrous wartime love affair or a strict disciplinarian in-charge of an entire household, Phyllis Logan always imbued her characters with authenticity and verve. After launching her career on stage, the Scottish actress made the jump to British television with feature roles in made-for-TV movies and on drama series like “Play for Today” (BBC, 1970-1984) and “Shoestring” (BBC, 1979-1980). Logan finally broke out in the war drama “Another Time, Another Place” (1983), as a young housewife who falls in love with a prisoner of war; a role that earned her accolades, a string of guest roles, and provided her with the perceived gravitas to land parts on popular series like “Holby City” (BBC, 1999- ), “Hope & Glory” (BBC, 1999-2000), and “Lovejoy” (BBC, 1986-1994), as an aristocrat who helps out a rogue but loveable antiques dealer. But it was the actress’ compelling portrayal of the resolute but compassionate housekeeper Mrs. Hughes on the critically-acclaimed “Downton Abbey” (ITV; PBS, 2011- ), a period drama series that highlighted the class divide between the upper-class and their servants, that made Logan a household name and gained her a slew of fans around the world.

Phyllis Logan was born on Jan. 11, 1956 in Paisley, Scotland. A graduate of the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, she started gaining acting experience as a member of the Dundee Repertory Theatre. After touring around Scotland and performing at various theaters, Logan relocated to London, where she launched her onscreen acting career with featured roles in made-for-TV movies such as “The White Bird Passes” (1980), and on BBC dramas like “Play for Today” and “Shoestring.” Logan’s first big break was landing a lead role in the 1983 film ” Another Time, Another Place,” a drama set in 1943 Scotland during World War II, in which she played a young housewife who falls in love with an Italian P.O.W. who works on their farm. Her role in the hit feature gained Logan acting accolades, including the BAFTA Award for the Most Outstanding Newcomer to Film in 1984. She continued to make inroads with appearances in a variety of genre projects, including the horror films “The Doctor and the Devils” (1985) and “The Inquiry” (1986), and “The Kitchen Toto” (1987), a drama set in 1950 Kenya about a British policeman who takes in a murdered black priest’s son to live with him and employ him as a houseboy.

In 1989, Logan starred in the made-for-TV biopic “Goldeneye” (ITV), which chronicled the life of British author Ian Fleming; Logan portrayed his wife, Ann. Her career continued to flourish with appearances on popular shows like the comedy “Screen One” (BBC, 1985-2002) and “The Play on One” (BBC, 1988-1991), as well as providing the voice of a friendly sea monster in the animated fantasy film “Freddie as F.R.O.7.” (1992). While she kept busy with film roles, Logan continued her role on the hit series “Lovejoy,” a dramedy based on the novels of British crime writer John Grant, which chronicled the adventures of a rogue yet charming antiques dealer named Lovejoy (Ian McShane), who had an uncanny ability to spot rare treasures as well as clever fakes. On the series, Logan played Lady Jane Felsham, an aristocrat who enjoys helping Lovejoy out on his deals.

Television provided the versatile actress with a string of guest roles on BBC shows like”MI-5″ (Spooks, 2002-2011) and “Heartbeat” (1992-2009), as well as recurring parts on dramas such as “Holby City,” “Hope & Glory”, and “Silent Witness” (1996- ), about a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations. In 2010, Logan appeared in the final storyline of the mystery program “A Touch of Frost” (ITV, 1992-2010), as Inspector Frost’s (David Jason) love interest who marries him at series’ end. That same year, Logan joined the cast of Julian Fellowes’ award-winning period drama “Downton Abbey,” which followed the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants. On the international smash series, Logan played Mrs. Hughes, the head housekeeper who ran her female staff with a no-nonsense attitude. While she was a strict disciplinarian, Logan’s character was not without compassion, and she often found herself helping out fellow servants when they were in distress.

By Candy Cuenco

The above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.

Niamh McGrady hails from the North of Ireland. She currently is playing ‘Nurse Mary-Claire Carter’ in the British TV series “Holby City”. Other work includes “Best: His Mother’s Son”. In 2008 she was on Broadway with Patrick Stewart in “Macbeth”.

Interview in “Belfast Telegraph” here.

Brenda Blethyn was born in 1946 in Ramsgate, Kent. She did not come into professional acting until her early thirties. However she soon gained a high profile reputation for her stage workj. She went on to star in the many films directed by Mike Leigh including “Secrets and Lies”. She made “A River Runs Through It” in the U.S. where she played Brad Pitt’s mother. She is currently starring in the very popular detective series “Vera” on British television, set in the North East of the UK.

TCM overview:

After decades of acclaimed performances on stage and British television, Brenda Blethyn expanded her audience to include international theatergoers during the 1990s. With her spry and feisty manner, she showed a flair for comedy with her acclaimed starring roles in “Little Voice” (1998), “Saving Grace” (2000) and several British sitcoms. But ultimately the stage veteran revealed herself to be one of her country’s most versatile character actors, bringing a down-to-earth accessibility to ubiquitous costume dramas like “Pride & Prejudice” (2005) as well as offering many portraits of contemporary women struggling to define themselves in “Secrets and Lies” (1996) and “Lovely and Amazing” (2001). Much in-demand in her native country and by filmmakers from the U.S. to Australia, Blethyn could always be counted to add her humorous touch to characters undergoing the most difficult of personal situations.

Born Brenda Anne Bottle on February 20, 1946, Blethyn was raised the youngest of nine in a working class home in Ramsgate, a seaside resort town in Kent, England. She attended Thanet Technical College in Kent and spent the following 10 years in an administrative career, while continuing to nurture her interest in acting by appearing in regional theatrical productions. The dissolution of her early marriage led her to reassess her life and enroll in the Guildford School of Acting. In a remarkably short period of time, she was performing with the Royal National Theater. Her many credits there included “Troilus and Cressida” in 1976 and “Mysteries” in 1979; in 1980, the newcomer hit movie screens in Mike Leigh’s “Grown-Ups” (1980). She earned her first critical acclaim in 1981 for “Steaming” at the Comedy Theater, for which she took home London Critics Circle and Society of West End Theatre Awards for Best Supporting Actress. The following year, she played in “The Double Dealer” at the Royal National Theatre and the modest number of guest TV spots she had already accrued led to a leading role as the long-suffering girlfriend of an unlucky man (Simon Callow) in the sitcom, “Chance in a Million” (Channel 4, 1984-86).

During the 1980s, Blethyn made countless British television appearances, ranging from BBC productions including “King Lear,” to the mystery miniseries “Death of an Expert Witness” (1985) to the NBC two-part TV movie “Poor Little Rich Girl: The Barbara Hutton Story” (1987). Her ongoing stage work included “A Doll’s House” and “Born Yesterday” at the Royal Exchange Theatre, and “The Benefactors,” which earned the actress an Olivier Award nomination. In 1989 Blethyn was well-cast as a single mum who vows to achieve a list of goals she made for herself as a teen – before her 40th birthday – in the sitcom, “The Labours of Erica.” Her first film role came the following year in Nicolas Roeg’s childhood fantasy, “The Witches” (1990). Blethyn continued to break new ground with her first American stage performance in the off-Broadway production of Alan Ayckbourn’s “Absent Friends” in 1991.

Blethyn earned a Theater World Award for Outstanding New Talent for “Absent Friends” and went on to make her first dent in Hollywood playing a minister’s wife and the mother of two very different sons (Brad Pitt and Craig Sheffer) in the Depression era film, “A River Runs Through It” (1992). While appearing in the leading role in the British miniseries “The Buddha of Suburbia” (1993) and scoring a British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actress for “Outside Edge” (1994-95), Blethyn stayed close to the stage in productions with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Theater Exchange in Manchester. Her career reached new heights in 1996 when she re-teamed with Mike Leigh for “Secrets & Lies” (1996), starring as a working class woman rediscovered by the black daughter she gave up for adoption at birth. Blethyn was both amusing and pitiable in a role that earned numerous accolades. For her tender mix of emotions and the talent she showed for improvisation in the film, she earned an Oscar nomination and Golden Globe and BAFTA wins, as well as the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival.

Her international victory raised Blethyn’s profile significantly, and she landed back-to-back features for the next several years, first joining Julie Walters to play sisters-in-law and best pals who make a trip to Las Vegas in “Girls Night” (1997). Next she gave a tremendously moving portrait of a woman who has never fully recovered from the death of her child in the Australian produced “In the Winter Dark” (1998). And another Academy Award nomination was forthcoming for Blethyn’s turn as a blowzy, boozy, talkative widow raising a troubled daughter (Jane Horrocks) with a remarkable gift for vocal mimicry in “Little Voice” (1998). Blethyn gave an excellent portrayal of Louella Parsons in “RKO 281” (1999), the acclaimed HBO original about the making of Orson Welles’ masterpiece, “Citizen Kane” (1941). Back to proving she could carry a film lead with charm, humor and pluck, Blethyn offered a deft comic turn as a refined widow forced by financial straits into growing a bumper crop of marijuana in the surprise art house hit “Saving Grace” (2000), for which she earned another round of Golden Globe and BAFTA nominations.

The following year, Blethyn garnered her first Emmy nomination for her affecting portrayal of Auguste Van Pels in the acclaimed ABC miniseries, “Anne Frank.” Her next string of films were little-seen, with the possible exception of Nicole Holofcener’s modest indie hit “Lovely and Amazing” (2001), a smart female ensemble in which Blethyn anchored as the matriarch of a family of women (Catherine Keener, Emily Mortimer, Raven Goodwin). After lending her voice to the Nickelodeon animated feature “The Wild Thornberry’s Movie” (2002), she appeared in the dark psychological drama, “Sonny” (2002), directed by first-timer Nicholas Cage. Often criticized for overplaying a working-class British accent, Blethyn affected an American tone in playing the mother of Pumpkin Romanoff (Hank Harris) in the satirical look at fraternity life in Southern California, “Pumpkin” (2002).

In a third box office flop, Blethyn was cast as the showtune-singing mother of Bobby Darin in Kevin Spacey’s labor-of-love, “Beyond the Sea” (2004). She fared better when she hit Broadway that year in Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “‘Night Mother,” starring opposite Edie Falco as the mother of a woman who has decided to commit suicide. In 2005, Blethyn starred in the Scottish film production “On a Clear Day” (2005), playing the wife of a laid-off Glasgow shipbuilder who takes the family’s finances into her own hands and secretly trains to start her own career. From this modest art house film, Blethyn hit mainstream movie theaters in a lively adaptation of Jane Austen’s “Pride & Prejudice” (2005), where her performance as Mrs. Bennett, the forever-nattering matriarch constantly trying to marry off her daughters to save the family’s future, was a comedic gem. The timeless classic went on to earn over $120 million at the box office, securing Blethyn’s place as one of the most versatile British actresses around, equally appealing in costume dramas or as cheeky working class mums.

Further stretching her range, Blethyn starred as a raucous Australian comedienne in “Clubland” (2007), and was nominated for an American Film Institute Award while the film was popular at the Australian Film Institute Awards that year. Blethyn followed up with a small supporting role in the blockbuster drama “Atonement” (2007). Blethyn took a break from her non-stop film shooting schedule over the next couple of years, guesting on American TV as the neurotic mother of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’ character on “The New Adventures of Old Christine” (CBS, 2006- ) and earning another Emmy nomination for a guest spot on “Law & Order: SVU” (NBC, 1999- ) as a woman who helps seek justice for an abused neighbor.

Rhe above TCM overview can also be accessed online here.

Clive Wood was born in 1957 in Herfordshire. He played ‘Little John’ in the early 1980’s British TV series “Robin of Sherwood”. He has also acted in “Casualty” and “Holby City”. His film work includes “Alien 3” and “The Darkest Light”.

IMDB entry:

Clive Mantle was born in Barnet, London. He was a chorister in St. John’s choir, Cambridge for four years, and a member of the National Youth Theatre for five years, appearing in a total of eleven productions. He trained at R.A.D.A. and has worked steadily in films, plays and television. He is best known for playing Little John in Robin Of Sherwood and Mike Barratt in Casualty and Holby City.

– IMDb Mini Biography By: Christine Haire <ChrisRHood@aol.com>

Ian Richardson was born in Edinburgh in 1934. Long a stage actor, he is best remembered for his performance as’ Francis Urquant’, the cunning, devious Prime Minister in the British television series “House of Cards”, “To Play the King” and “The Final Cut”. These series ran between 1990 and 1995 and were both critical and popular successes. His film work includes “Man of La Mancha”, “Brazil” and “M Butterfly”. He died suddenly of a heart attack in 2007.

Gary Brumburgh’s entry:

A classical actor (and founding member in 1960 of the Royal Shakespeare Company), Richardson earned international fame as the villainous Francis Urquart in the BBC television trilogy, “House of Cards.” Uttered in a cut-glass accent, the Machiavellian Prime Minister’s sly “You might well think that … I couldn’t possibly comment” became a catchphrase when the series was broadcast in the 1990s. Richardson’s contributions to his art were honored in 1989 when he was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE.) Fittingly, his family had his ashes buried beneath the auditorium of the new Royal Shakespeare theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Born the son of John and Margaret (Drummond) Richardson on April 7, 1934, he was educated at Tynecastle School in Edinburgh, and studied for the stage at the College of Dramatic Art in Glasgow, where he was awarded the James Bridie Gold Medal in 1957. He joined the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company a year later where he played Hamlet as well as John Worthing in “The Importance of being Earnest.” In 1960 he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (then called the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre) and drew excellent notices for his work in “The Merchant of Venice,” “Twelfth Night,” “The Winter’s Tale,” “Much Ado About Nothing,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Taming of the Shrew,” “The Comedy of Errors” and “King Lear”, among others. In 1964 Richardson played the role of the Herald before advancing to the title role of Jean-Paul Marat in the stunning, avant-garde RSC production of “Marat-Sade”. In addition, he made his Broadway debut in said role at the very end of 1965, and recreated it to critical acclaim in Peter Brooks‘ film adaptation with Glenda Jackson as murderess Charlotte Corday. Richardson also went on to replay Oberon in a lukewarm film version of RSC’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1968) that nevertheless bore an elite company of Britain’s finest pre-Dames — Judi Dench, Helen Mirren and Diana Rigg. One of his lower film points during that time period, however, was appearing in the huge musical movie misfire Man of La Mancha (1972) in the role of the Padre opposite Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren.

Richardson was never far from the Shakespearean stage after his induction into films with majestic portraits of Coriolanus, Pericles, Richard II, Richard III, Cassius (“Julius Caesar”), Malcolm (“Macbeth”), Angelo (“Measure for Measure”), Prospero (“The Tempest”) and Mercutio (“Romeo and “Juliet”) paving the way. Elsewhere on Broadway he received a Drama Desk Award and Tony nomination for his splendid Henry Higgins in a revival of “My Fair Lady” in 1976, and was part of the cast of the short-lived (12 performances) production of “Lolita” (1981), written by Edward Albee and starring Donald Sutherland as Humbert Humbert.

Customary of many talented Scots, Richardson would find his best on-camera roles in plush, intelligent TV mini-series. On the Shakespearean front he appeared in TV adaptations of As You Like It (1963), All’s Well That Ends Well (1968) and Much Ado About Nothing (1978). After delivering highly capable performances as Field-Marshal Montgomery in both Churchill and the Generals (1981) and Ike: The War Years (1979), Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1983), and Indian Prime Minister Nehru in Masterpiece Theatre: Lord Mountbatten – The Last Viceroy (1986), he capped his small-screen career in the role of the immoral politician Francis Urquhart in a trio of dramatic satires: House of Cards (1990), To Play the King (1993) and The Final Cut(1996). His impeccably finely-tuned villain became one his best remembered roles.

Filmwise, Richardson’s stature did not grow despite polished work in Brazil (1985), Cry Freedom (1987), Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead (1990), M. Butterfly (1993), Dark City (1998), and the lightweight mainstream fare B*A*P*S (1997) and 102 Dalmatians(2000). He appeared less and less on stage in his later years. He took his final stage bows in 2006 with West End productions of “The Creeper” and “The Alchemist”.

The urbane 72-year-old actor died unexpectedly in his sleep at his London abode on February 9, 2007, survived by his widow Maroussia Frank (his wife from 1961 and an RSC actress who played an asylum inmate alongside him in “Marat-Sade”) and two sons, one of whom, Miles Richardson, has been a resident performer with the RSC.

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

Collection of Classic Brittish Actors

David Caves

David Caves

April Olrich

Chesney Hawkes

Damien Thomas

Guardian obituary in 2025

Phyllis Logan

Niamh McGrady

Brenda Blethyn

Clive Mantle

Ian Richardson

ABOUT ME

CATEGORIES

RECENT POSTS