Adrian Philip Scarborough (born 1968) is an English character actor and won an Olivier award for best actor in a supporting role in 2011.

Scarborough was born in Melton Mowbray, and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School

The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, opened by Laurence Olivier in 1946, is an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance and Drama, an organisation securing the highest standards of training in the performing arts, and is an associate school of the Faculty of Creative Arts of the University of the...

, winning the Chesterton Award for Best Actor.

In 1993, he was nominated for the Ian Charleson Award and won the Manchester Evening News Award for his performance in The Comedy of Errors

The Comedy of Errors

The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeare's earliest plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farcical comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addition to puns and word play. The Comedy of Errors is one of only two of Shakespeare's...

at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester; making his big screen debut the following year in The Madness of King George

The Madness of King George

The Madness of King George is a 1994 film directed by Nicholas Hytner and adapted by Alan Bennett from his own play, The Madness of George III. It tells the true story of George III's deteriorating mental health, and his equally declining relationship with his son, the Prince of Wales, particularly...

. He makes frequent stage appearances at the Donmar, the Almeida, and in the West End. He has appeared in twenty productions for the Royal National Theatre

Royal National Theatre

The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...

. In March 2011 he won a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a revival of the play After the Dance by Terence Rattigan

Terence Rattigan

Sir Terence Mervyn Rattigan CBE was one of England's most popular 20th-century dramatists. His plays are generally set in an upper-middle-class background...

.

On screen, films include, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Vera Drake

Vera Drake

Vera Drake is a 2004 British drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh, telling the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal abortions...

, Notes on a Scandal

Notes on a Scandal

Notes on a Scandal is a 2003 drama novel by Zoë Heller. It is about a female teacher at a London comprehensive school who begins an affair with an underage pupil...

, The History Boys

The History Boys (film)

The History Boys is a 2006 British comedy-drama film adapted by Alan Bennett from his play of the same name, which won the 2005 Olivier Award for Best New Play and the 2006 Tony Award for Best Play...

, Gosford Park

Gosford Park

Gosford Park is a 2001 British-American mystery comedy-drama film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes. The film stars an ensemble cast, which includes Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Alan Bates, and Michael Gambon...

, and The King's Speech

The King's Speech (film)

The King's Speech is a 2010 British historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech therapist played by Geoffrey Rush...

.

An early role on television was J G Quiggin in the 1997 adaptation of A Dance to the Music of Time

A Dance to the Music of Time

A Dance to the Music of Time is a twelve-volume cycle of novels by Anthony Powell, inspired by the painting of the same name by Nicolas Poussin. One of the longest works of fiction in literature, it was published between 1951 and 1975 to critical acclaim...

. His other appearances on television have included productions such as the French and Saunders series Let Them Eat Cake

Let Them Eat Cake

"Let them eat cake" is the traditional translation to English of the French phrase "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche", supposedly spoken by "a great princess" upon learning that the peasants had no bread...

, the BBC's The Cranford Chronicles, Into the Storm and Psychoville

Psychoville

Psychoville is an award-winning British dark comedy television serial written by and starring The League of Gentlemen members Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton. It debuted on BBC Two on 18 June 2009. Pemberton and Shearsmith each play numerous characters, with Dawn French and Jason Tompkins in...

. Scarborough is best known for his cameo appearances with Julia Davis

Julia Davis

Julia Davis is an English comedy writer and performer, best known for writing and starring in the BBC Three comedy Nighty Night.-Background:...

 in Gavin & Stacey

Gavin & Stacey

Gavin & Stacey is a British comedy television series. A romantic comedy-drama, the show follows the long-distance relationship of Gavin from Billericay in Essex, England, and Stacey from Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. The writers of the show, actors James Corden and Ruth Jones, also...

. He also appears as Charlie in the BBC comedy series Miranda

Miranda (TV series)

Miranda is a BBC television series co-written by and starring comedienne Miranda Hart, which first aired on BBC Two on 9 November 2009. The situation comedy also features Sarah Hadland, Tom Ellis, Patricia Hodge, James Holmes and Sally Phillips...

. He plays Mr. Pritchard the butler in the new series of Upstairs, Downstairs

Upstairs, Downstairs

Upstairs, Downstairs is a British drama television series originally produced by London Weekend Television and revived by the BBC. It ran on ITV in 68 episodes divided into five series from 1971 to 1975, and a sixth series shown on the BBC on three consecutive nights, 26–28 December 2010.Set in a...

. He has also appeared in two episodes of Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders is a British television detective drama that has aired on ITV since 1997. The show is based on the books by Caroline Graham, as originally adapted by Anthony Horowitz. The lead character is DCI Tom Barnaby who works for Causton CID. When Nettles left the show in 2011 he was...

, playing separate characters in series 5 and series 10. Scarborough lives in Hertfordshire and is married with a son and daughter.

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