Ben Cross
Encyclopedia
Ben Cross is a British
actor
of the stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams
in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire
.
to a working class Irish Catholic
family. His mother was a cleaning woman and his father a doorman and nurse. He began acting at a very young age and participated in grammar school plays – most notably playing Jesus in a school pageant at age 12. Cross was educated at Devonport High School for Boys
, a grammar school in the city of Plymouth
in Devon
, but was bullied by a teacher and left home at 15.
and property master at the Alexandra Theatre
in Birmingham
.
In 1970 at the age of 22, he was accepted into London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) - the alma mater of actors such as John Gielgud
, Glenda Jackson
and Anthony Hopkins
, but later expressed little interest in pursuing the classical route.
After graduation from RADA, Cross performed in several stage plays at Duke's Playhouse where he was seen in Macbeth
, The Importance of Being Earnest
and Arthur Miller
's Death of a Salesman
. He then joined the Prospect Theatre Company and played roles in Pericles
, Twelfth Night, and Royal Hunt of the Sun. Cross also joined the cast in the immensely popular musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
and played leading roles in Sir Peter Shaffer's Equus
, Mind Your Head and the musical Irma La Douce
– all at Leicester's Haymarket Theatre.
Cross's first big screen film appearance came in 1976 when he went on location to Deventer
, Netherlands
, to play Trooper Binns in Joseph E. Levine
's World War II
epic A Bridge Too Far which starred an international cast, including Dirk Bogarde
, Sean Connery
, Michael Caine
and James Caan.
In 1977, Cross became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company
and performed in the premier of Privates on Parade as “Kevin Cartwright” and played Rover in a revival of a Restoration play titled Wild Oats.
Cross's path to international stardom began in 1978 with his performance in the play Chicago
in which he played Billy Flynn, the slick lawyer of murderess Roxie Hart.
.
Cross's starring role in Chariots of Fire has been credited with continuing a transatlantic trend in elegant young English actors that had been set by Jeremy Irons
in Brideshead Revisited
, and was followed by Rupert Everett
in Dance with a Stranger
, Rupert Graves
in A Room With a View
, and Hugh Grant
in Maurice
.
Cross followed up Chariots of Fire with performances as a Scottish physician, Dr Andrew Mason, struggling with the politics of the British medical system during the 1920s, in The Citadel
, a 10-part BBC
dramatisation of A. J. Cronin
's novel, and as Ashton (Ash) Pelham-Martyn, a British cavalry officer torn between two cultures in the ITV
miniseries The Far Pavilions.
In 1982, the U.S. union Actors' Equity, in a landmark reversal of a previous ruling, allowed Cross to appear in John Guare
's off-Broadway
play Lydie Breeze. The decision was tied to a joint effort by Actors' Equity, the League of New York Theaters and the British union Equity to allow British and U.S. actors unrestricted opportunities to work in both countries. The agreement eventually led to regular equal exchange agreements for equivalent acting jobs between London
and New York
.
During the 1984 Summer Olympic Games
, Cross appeared in a commercial for American Express
('Don't leave home without it') with the 87-year-old Jackson Scholz
, a sprinter for the 1924 American Olympic team whose character was featured in the film Chariots of Fire. When Cross says something about beating Scholz, the latter remarks, "You didn't beat me!" with mock indignation. Proving he is 'still pretty fast', Scholz beats Cross to the draw in picking up the tab with his credit card.
He subsequently replaced James Garner
as the featured actor endorsing the Polaroid
Spectra camera in 1986. Cross was also featured in GQ Magazine as one of the annual “Manstyle” winners in January, 1985 followed by a featured photo shoot in March, 1985.
In 1985, he played Barney Greenwald in a hit revival of Herman Wouk
's courtroom drama The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
at the Queen's Theatre
, London.
In a 1985 interview the actor admitted he preferred American roles because of their emotionalism, saying of English acting: 'Over here, people hide behind mannerism and technique and don't come up with any soul. American actors are much freer with the emotions. It's pretty hard in Europe not to have experience of Americans because we're exposed to a lot of American product.' Cross also said that he was sympathetic to the American dream of success: 'I am ambitious. There's no point of being ashamed of the fact that one has ambitions. Despite what a lot of people think in our profession, you can have ambitions and still turn in good work and still earn a living. There's no clash there.' Cross expressed the hope that his reputation would 'span the Atlantic,' and that those in the industry would not ignore him because he did not live in New York
or Los Angeles
. 'A prospective director would have to convince me that I could bring something new, fresh and exciting to a classical part that hundreds of other people have played,' he said.
Over the years, Cross has played Solomon
in the 1997 Trimark Pictures production Solomon; Captain Nemo
in the 1997 CBS
movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; vampire
Barnabas Collins
in the 1991 MGM
miniseries remake of the cult classic soap opera Dark Shadows
; another vampire in the 1989 USA Network
movie Nightlife; Sir Harold Pearson in the 1994 Italian
production Caro Dolce Amore (Honey Sweet Love); Iraq
i pilot Munir Redfa blackmailed into flying a MiG from Iraq to Israel
in the 1988 HBO spy movie Steal the Sky
; and Nazi SS colonel and certified war criminal Helmut von Schraeder, who has his face and voice surgically changed, poses as a Jew, becomes a Zionist and ends up an Israeli major general in the 1989 NBC
movie Twist of Fate.
in 2000. In 2005, Cross, an anti-death penalty campaigner, starred as a death-row prisoner in Bruce Graham's play, Coyote on a Fence
, at the Duchess Theatre
. He played Rudolf Hess
in the 2006 BBC
production Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial
.
In November 2007, Cross was cast in the role of Sarek
, in the new Star Trek film directed and produced by J. J. Abrams
. Cross spoke to Star Trek magazine following the film's release, saying, 'My agent put me forward for Star Trek, and he sent a couple of movies to J.J. I'm sure he was too busy to watch the whole of Species, but when we were on the set, he mentioned to me that there was one particular shot in it where I turned to the camera, and in that moment, it came to him how perfect it would be for me to play Sarek.' In order to prepare for the role, Cross drew on his experience as a parent as well as Sarek's previous on-screen appearances. Having been present when his daughter was born, he was able to 'call on all sorts of things' in the scene where Amanda has baby Spock, a scene which did not make it into the theatrical cut of the film. While he found the emotionless trait of a Vulcan a challenge to play, he found the father/son relationship between Sarek and Spock easier to play. 'As Sarek, I had to be true to the Vulcan cultural ethic, which in the beginning, I found very difficult. I got a lot of help with that from J.J. Dealing with the adult Spock (played by Zachary Quinto
) was a much more mature relationship, and I found the father/son aspect one of the easier things to play.'
publications and has also written the lyrics for an album with "Bulgaria
's Frank Sinatra
", singer Vasil Petrov, which will be released in late 2007. He also sang two Sinatra songs with Petrov in the Apollonia Festival at the Black Sea
in September 2007. Among many of his original works is the musical Rage about Ruth Ellis
, which was performed in various regional towns in the London area. He also starred in it and played the part of the hangman. Cross's first single as a lyricist was released by Polydor Records
in the late 1970s and was titled Mickey Moonshine. The nom de guerre for the performance had occurred to Ben when he recalled an earlier involvement with the music industry as a session singer for Decca between 1972 and 1974. At this time, he had recorded at a moment's notice an uptempo number called 'Name it, You Got it', when the scheduled performer had failed to arrive at the studio on time. Interestingly, this recording achieved some play on the British Northern Soul scene and Ben intends to reprise his performance as Micky Moonshine at a forthcoming Northern event. Other works include The Best We’ve Ever Had and Nearly Midnight, both written by Cross and directed by his son Theo. In addition, the original soundtrack for Nearly Midnight was written, produced and performed by his daughter Lauren. These works were performed in Edinburgh
, Scotland
, in 2002 and 2003 respectively. Square One, directed by Cross, was performed at the Etcetera Theatre
in London in 2004.
, New York
, Southern Spain
, Vienna
, and, most recently, Sofia. He is familiar with the Spanish
, Italian
and German
languages and enrolled in a course studying Bulgarian
.
He has been married twice: first to Penny, from 1977 to 1992, with whom he has two children named Lauren and Theodore; and then to Michelle until 2005.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
of the stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of the British Olympic athlete Harold Abrahams
Harold Abrahams
Harold Maurice Abrahams, CBE, was a British athlete of Jewish origin. He was Olympic champion in 1924 in the 100 metres sprint, a feat depicted in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire.-Early life:...
in the 1981 movie Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
.
Early life
Cross was born Harry Bernard Cross in LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
to a working class Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic
Irish Catholic is a term used to describe people who are both Roman Catholic and Irish .Note: the term is not used to describe a variant of Catholicism. More particularly, it is not a separate creed or sect in the sense that "Anglo-Catholic", "Old Catholic", "Eastern Orthodox Catholic" might be...
family. His mother was a cleaning woman and his father a doorman and nurse. He began acting at a very young age and participated in grammar school plays – most notably playing Jesus in a school pageant at age 12. Cross was educated at Devonport High School for Boys
Devonport High School for Boys
Devonport High School for Boys is a Grammar School and Type 2 Academy, for boys aged 11 to 18, in Plymouth, Devon, England. It has around 1100 pupils. Its catchment area includes southwest Devon and southeast Cornwall as well as Plymouth...
, a grammar school in the city of Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
, but was bullied by a teacher and left home at 15.
Early work
Cross initially worked in various jobs including work as a window cleaner, waiter and carpenter. He was master carpenter for the Welsh National OperaWelsh National Opera
Welsh National Opera is an opera company founded in Cardiff, Wales in 1943. The WNO tours Wales, the United Kingdom and the rest of the world extensively. Annually, it gives more than 120 performances of eight main stage operas to a combined audience of around 150,000 people...
and property master at the Alexandra Theatre
Alexandra Theatre
The New Alexandra Theatre, commonly known as The Alex, is a theatre on Station Street in Birmingham, England.Construction of the theatre commenced in 1900 and was completed in 1901. The architects were Owen & Ward. The theatre was opened on 27 May 1901 as the Lyceum Theatre on John Bright Street;...
in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
.
In 1970 at the age of 22, he was accepted into London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) - the alma mater of actors such as John Gielgud
John Gielgud
Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH was an English actor, director, and producer. A descendant of the renowned Terry acting family, he achieved early international acclaim for his youthful, emotionally expressive Hamlet which broke box office records on Broadway in 1937...
, Glenda Jackson
Glenda Jackson
Glenda May Jackson, CBE is a British Labour Party politician and former actress. She has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, and currently represents Hampstead and Kilburn. She previously served as MP for Hampstead and Highgate...
and Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
, but later expressed little interest in pursuing the classical route.
After graduation from RADA, Cross performed in several stage plays at Duke's Playhouse where he was seen in Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
, The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest
The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at St. James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious personae in order to escape burdensome social obligations...
and Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
's Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman
Death of a Salesman is a 1949 play written by American playwright Arthur Miller. It was the recipient of the 1949 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and Tony Award for Best Play. Premiered at the Morosco Theatre in February 1949, the original production ran for a total of 742 performances.-Plot :Willy Loman...
. He then joined the Prospect Theatre Company and played roles in Pericles
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
Pericles, Prince of Tyre is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio...
, Twelfth Night, and Royal Hunt of the Sun. Cross also joined the cast in the immensely popular musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat is an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical with lyrics by Tim Rice. The story is based on the "coat of many colors" story of Joseph from the Hebrew Bible's Book of Genesis. This was the first Lloyd Webber and Rice musical to be performed publicly...
and played leading roles in Sir Peter Shaffer's Equus
Equus (play)
Equus is a play by Peter Shaffer written in 1973, telling the story of a psychiatrist who attempts to treat a young man who has a pathological religious fascination with horses....
, Mind Your Head and the musical Irma La Douce
Irma la Douce
Irma la Douce/Irma la Dolce is a 1963 romantic comedy starring Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine, directed by Billy Wilder.It is based on the 1956 French musical Irma La Douce by Marguerite Monnot and Alexandre Breffort.-Plot:...
– all at Leicester's Haymarket Theatre.
Cross's first big screen film appearance came in 1976 when he went on location to Deventer
Deventer
Deventer is a municipality and city in the Salland region of the Dutch province of Overijssel. Deventer is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, but also has a small part of its territory on the west bank. In 2005 the municipality of Bathmen Deventer is a municipality and city in...
, Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, to play Trooper Binns in Joseph E. Levine
Joseph E. Levine
Joseph E. Levine was an American film producer.He was born in Boston, Massachusetts. His Embassy Pictures Corporation was an independent studio and distributor responsible for such films as Hercules , The Carpetbaggers, Harlow, The Graduate, A Bridge Too Far and The Lion in Winter.Levine is famous...
's World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
epic A Bridge Too Far which starred an international cast, including Dirk Bogarde
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death in Venice...
, Sean Connery
Sean Connery
Sir Thomas Sean Connery , better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards and three Golden Globes Sir Thomas Sean Connery (born 25 August 1930), better known as Sean Connery, is a Scottish actor and producer who has won an Academy...
, Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
and James Caan.
In 1977, Cross became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
and performed in the premier of Privates on Parade as “Kevin Cartwright” and played Rover in a revival of a Restoration play titled Wild Oats.
Cross's path to international stardom began in 1978 with his performance in the play Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
in which he played Billy Flynn, the slick lawyer of murderess Roxie Hart.
Chariots of Fire
During Cross's performance in Chicago, he was recognized and recommended for a leading role in the multiple Oscar-winning Chariots of FireChariots of Fire
Chariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
.
Cross's starring role in Chariots of Fire has been credited with continuing a transatlantic trend in elegant young English actors that had been set by Jeremy Irons
Jeremy Irons
Jeremy John Irons is an English actor. After receiving classical training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, Irons began his acting career on stage in 1969, and has since appeared in many London theatre productions including The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the...
in Brideshead Revisited
Brideshead Revisited (TV serial)
Brideshead Revisited is a 1981 British television serial produced by Granada Television for broadcast by the ITV network. The teleplay is based on Evelyn Waugh's novel Brideshead Revisited...
, and was followed by Rupert Everett
Rupert Everett
Rupert James Hector Everett is an English actor. He first came to public attention in 1981, when he was cast in Julian Mitchell's play and subsequent film Another Country as an openly gay student at an English public school, set in the 1930s...
in Dance with a Stranger
Dance with a Stranger
Dance with a Stranger is a 1985 British drama film, directed by Mike Newell. Telling the story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain in the fifties, this moving biographical British film won critical acclaim, and brought particular notice to the careers of both Miranda Richardson...
, Rupert Graves
Rupert Graves
Rupert Graves is an English film, television and theatre actor. He is best known for his role as DI Lestrade in the critically acclaimed television series Sherlock.-Early life:...
in A Room With a View
A Room with a View (film)
A Room with a View is a 1985 British drama film directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant. The film is a close adaptation of E. M...
, and Hugh Grant
Hugh Grant
Hugh John Mungo Grant is an English actor and film producer. He has received a Golden Globe Award, a BAFTA, and an Honorary César. His films have earned more than $2.4 billion from 25 theatrical releases worldwide. Grant achieved international stardom after appearing in Richard Curtis's...
in Maurice
Maurice (film)
Maurice is a 1987 British film based on the novel of the same title by E. M. Forster. It is a tale of homosexual love in early 20th century England, following its main character Maurice Hall from his school days through university until he is united with his life partner.It was produced by Ismail...
.
Cross followed up Chariots of Fire with performances as a Scottish physician, Dr Andrew Mason, struggling with the politics of the British medical system during the 1920s, in The Citadel
The Citadel (TV series)
The Citadel is a 1983 BBC television adaptation written by Don Shaw from A. J. Cronin's novel The Citadel, which was originally published in 1937. It was produced by Ken Riddington. Other television versions include a British and two Italian adaptations.The BBC dramatisation stars Ben Cross as...
, a 10-part BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
dramatisation of A. J. Cronin
A. J. Cronin
Archibald Joseph Cronin was a Scottish physician and novelist. His best-known works are Hatter's Castle, The Stars Look Down, The Citadel, The Keys of the Kingdom and The Green Years, all of which were adapted to film. He also created the Dr...
's novel, and as Ashton (Ash) Pelham-Martyn, a British cavalry officer torn between two cultures in the ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
miniseries The Far Pavilions.
In 1982, the U.S. union Actors' Equity, in a landmark reversal of a previous ruling, allowed Cross to appear in John Guare
John Guare
John Guare is an American playwright. He is best known as the author of The House of Blue Leaves, Six Degrees of Separation, and Landscape of the Body...
's off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
play Lydie Breeze. The decision was tied to a joint effort by Actors' Equity, the League of New York Theaters and the British union Equity to allow British and U.S. actors unrestricted opportunities to work in both countries. The agreement eventually led to regular equal exchange agreements for equivalent acting jobs between London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
During the 1984 Summer Olympic Games
Summer Olympic Games
The Summer Olympic Games or the Games of the Olympiad are an international multi-sport event, occurring every four years, organized by the International Olympic Committee. Medals are awarded in each event, with gold medals for first place, silver for second and bronze for third, a tradition that...
, Cross appeared in a commercial for American Express
American Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
('Don't leave home without it') with the 87-year-old Jackson Scholz
Jackson Scholz
Jackson Volney Scholz was an American track and field athlete who specialized in the sprint. In the 1920s, he became the first person to appear in an Olympic sprint final in three different Olympic Games...
, a sprinter for the 1924 American Olympic team whose character was featured in the film Chariots of Fire. When Cross says something about beating Scholz, the latter remarks, "You didn't beat me!" with mock indignation. Proving he is 'still pretty fast', Scholz beats Cross to the draw in picking up the tab with his credit card.
He subsequently replaced James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
as the featured actor endorsing the Polaroid
Polaroid Corporation
Polaroid Corporation is an American-based international consumer electronics and eyewear company, originally founded in 1937 by Edwin H. Land. It is most famous for its instant film cameras, which reached the market in 1948, and continued to be the company's flagship product line until the February...
Spectra camera in 1986. Cross was also featured in GQ Magazine as one of the annual “Manstyle” winners in January, 1985 followed by a featured photo shoot in March, 1985.
In 1985, he played Barney Greenwald in a hit revival of Herman Wouk
Herman Wouk
Herman Wouk is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author of novels including The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War, and War and Remembrance.-Biography:...
's courtroom drama The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial is a two-act play by Herman Wouk, which he adapted from his own novel, The Caine Mutiny.Wouk's novel covered a long stretch of time aboard the USS Caine, a Navy minesweeper in the Pacific...
at the Queen's Theatre
Queen's Theatre
The Queen's Theatre is a West End theatre located in Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. It opened on 8 October 1907 as a twin to the neighbouring Gielgud Theatre which opened ten months earlier. Both theatres were designed by W.G.R...
, London.
In a 1985 interview the actor admitted he preferred American roles because of their emotionalism, saying of English acting: 'Over here, people hide behind mannerism and technique and don't come up with any soul. American actors are much freer with the emotions. It's pretty hard in Europe not to have experience of Americans because we're exposed to a lot of American product.' Cross also said that he was sympathetic to the American dream of success: 'I am ambitious. There's no point of being ashamed of the fact that one has ambitions. Despite what a lot of people think in our profession, you can have ambitions and still turn in good work and still earn a living. There's no clash there.' Cross expressed the hope that his reputation would 'span the Atlantic,' and that those in the industry would not ignore him because he did not live in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
or Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. 'A prospective director would have to convince me that I could bring something new, fresh and exciting to a classical part that hundreds of other people have played,' he said.
Over the years, Cross has played Solomon
Solomon
Solomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
in the 1997 Trimark Pictures production Solomon; Captain Nemo
Captain Nemo
Captain Nemo, also known as Prince Dakkar, is a fictional character featured in Jules Verne's novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and The Mysterious Island ....
in the 1997 CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
movie 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea; vampire
Vampire
Vampires are mythological or folkloric beings who subsist by feeding on the life essence of living creatures, regardless of whether they are undead or a living person...
Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, one of the feature characters in the ABC daytime serial Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971. Originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, Barnabas Collins is a 200-year-old vampire who is in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette...
in the 1991 MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
miniseries remake of the cult classic soap opera Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
; another vampire in the 1989 USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
movie Nightlife; Sir Harold Pearson in the 1994 Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
production Caro Dolce Amore (Honey Sweet Love); Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
i pilot Munir Redfa blackmailed into flying a MiG from Iraq to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in the 1988 HBO spy movie Steal the Sky
Steal the Sky
Steal the Sky is a 1988 HBO movie starring Mariel Hemingway and Ben Cross. The movie is based on the true story of Iraqi pilot Munir Redfa flying a MiG-21 fighter jet from Iraq to Israel in 1966.-External links:**...
; and Nazi SS colonel and certified war criminal Helmut von Schraeder, who has his face and voice surgically changed, poses as a Jew, becomes a Zionist and ends up an Israeli major general in the 1989 NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
movie Twist of Fate.
2000 to present
Cross played Ikey Solomon in the Australian production The Potato FactoryThe Potato Factory
The Potato Factory is a 1995 historical-novel by Bryce Courtenay, which was made into an Australian miniseries in 2000. The book is the first in a three-part series, followed by Tommo & Hawk and Solomon's Song...
in 2000. In 2005, Cross, an anti-death penalty campaigner, starred as a death-row prisoner in Bruce Graham's play, Coyote on a Fence
Coyote on a Fence
Coyote on a Fence is a play written by Bruce Graham.The play stars John Brennan, a death row convict who kicked in the face of a drug dealer named Dwayne Rigby prior to the start of the play...
, at the Duchess Theatre
Duchess Theatre
The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street, near Aldwych.The theatre opened on 25 November 1929 and is one of the smallest 'proscenium arched' West End theatres. It has 479 seats on two levels....
. He played Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Walter Richard Hess was a prominent Nazi politician who was Adolf Hitler's deputy in the Nazi Party during the 1930s and early 1940s...
in the 2006 BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
production Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial
Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial
Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial, is a BBC documentary film series consisting of three one-hour films that re-enact the Nuremberg War Trials of Albert Speer, Hermann Göring and Rudolf Hess...
.
In November 2007, Cross was cast in the role of Sarek
Sarek
Sarek is a fictional character in the Star Trek media franchise. He is a Vulcan astrophysicist, the Vulcan ambassador to the United Federation of Planets, and father of Spock...
, in the new Star Trek film directed and produced by J. J. Abrams
J. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, and composer. He wrote and produced feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity...
. Cross spoke to Star Trek magazine following the film's release, saying, 'My agent put me forward for Star Trek, and he sent a couple of movies to J.J. I'm sure he was too busy to watch the whole of Species, but when we were on the set, he mentioned to me that there was one particular shot in it where I turned to the camera, and in that moment, it came to him how perfect it would be for me to play Sarek.' In order to prepare for the role, Cross drew on his experience as a parent as well as Sarek's previous on-screen appearances. Having been present when his daughter was born, he was able to 'call on all sorts of things' in the scene where Amanda has baby Spock, a scene which did not make it into the theatrical cut of the film. While he found the emotionless trait of a Vulcan a challenge to play, he found the father/son relationship between Sarek and Spock easier to play. 'As Sarek, I had to be true to the Vulcan cultural ethic, which in the beginning, I found very difficult. I got a lot of help with that from J.J. Dealing with the adult Spock (played by Zachary Quinto
Zachary Quinto
Zachary John Quinto is an American actor and producer. Quinto grew up in Pennsylvania and was active in high school musical theater. In the early 2000s he guest starred in television series and appeared in a recurring role in the serial drama 24 from 2003 to 2004...
) was a much more mature relationship, and I found the father/son aspect one of the easier things to play.'
Other professions
Cross is a director, writer and musician as well. He has written music, screenplays and articles for English languageEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
publications and has also written the lyrics for an album with "Bulgaria
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
's Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
", singer Vasil Petrov, which will be released in late 2007. He also sang two Sinatra songs with Petrov in the Apollonia Festival at the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
in September 2007. Among many of his original works is the musical Rage about Ruth Ellis
Ruth Ellis
Ruth Ellis , née Neilson, was the last woman to be executed in the United Kingdom. She was convicted of the murder of her lover, David Blakely, and hanged at Holloway Prison, London, by Albert Pierrepoint.-Biography:...
, which was performed in various regional towns in the London area. He also starred in it and played the part of the hangman. Cross's first single as a lyricist was released by Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...
in the late 1970s and was titled Mickey Moonshine. The nom de guerre for the performance had occurred to Ben when he recalled an earlier involvement with the music industry as a session singer for Decca between 1972 and 1974. At this time, he had recorded at a moment's notice an uptempo number called 'Name it, You Got it', when the scheduled performer had failed to arrive at the studio on time. Interestingly, this recording achieved some play on the British Northern Soul scene and Ben intends to reprise his performance as Micky Moonshine at a forthcoming Northern event. Other works include The Best We’ve Ever Had and Nearly Midnight, both written by Cross and directed by his son Theo. In addition, the original soundtrack for Nearly Midnight was written, produced and performed by his daughter Lauren. These works were performed in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, in 2002 and 2003 respectively. Square One, directed by Cross, was performed at the Etcetera Theatre
Etcetera Theatre
The Etcetera Theatre is a fringe venue for theatre and comedy. It was founded in 1986 and is situated above The Oxford Arms pub in Camden Town, in the London Borough of Camden....
in London in 2004.
Personal life
Cross has lived all over the world, including London, Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Southern Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, and, most recently, Sofia. He is familiar with the Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
, Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
and German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
languages and enrolled in a course studying Bulgarian
Bulgarian language
Bulgarian is an Indo-European language, a member of the Slavic linguistic group.Bulgarian, along with the closely related Macedonian language, demonstrates several linguistic characteristics that set it apart from all other Slavic languages such as the elimination of case declension, the...
.
He has been married twice: first to Penny, from 1977 to 1992, with whom he has two children named Lauren and Theodore; and then to Michelle until 2005.
Filmography
- A Bridge Too Far (1977)
- The Flame Trees of ThikaThe Flame Trees of ThikaThe Flame Trees of Thikais a British television mini-series of seven 50-minute episodes made by Euston Films for Thames Television in 1981. It was adapted by John Hawkesworth from the 1959 book of the same title by Elspeth Huxley, and is set in and around the town of Thika in Kenya's Central Province...
(TV Series) (1981) - Chariots of FireChariots of FireChariots of Fire is a 1981 British film. It tells the fact-based story of two athletes in the 1924 Olympics: Eric Liddell, a devout Scottish Christian who runs for the glory of God, and Harold Abrahams, an English Jew who runs to overcome prejudice....
(1981) - The CitadelThe Citadel (TV series)The Citadel is a 1983 BBC television adaptation written by Don Shaw from A. J. Cronin's novel The Citadel, which was originally published in 1937. It was produced by Ken Riddington. Other television versions include a British and two Italian adaptations.The BBC dramatisation stars Ben Cross as...
(1983) - The Far Pavilions (1984)
- L'Attenzione (1984)
- The Assisi UndergroundThe Assisi UndergroundThe Assisi Underground: The Priests Who Rescued Jews is a 1978 novel written by Alexander Ramati based on a true-life account, told by Father Rufino Niccacci, of events surrounding the effort to hide 300 Jews in the town of Assisi, Italy during World War II.-Plot:In the Italian town of Assisi...
(1985) - PaperhousePaperhouse (film)Paperhouse is a 1988 British dark fantasy film directed by Bernard Rose. It was based on the novel Marianne Dreams by Catherine Storr. The film also stars Ben Cross as the heroine's father. Other actors of note in the film include Jane Bertish, Samantha Cahill, Glenne Headly and Gemma Jones....
(1988) - Steal the SkySteal the SkySteal the Sky is a 1988 HBO movie starring Mariel Hemingway and Ben Cross. The movie is based on the true story of Iraqi pilot Munir Redfa flying a MiG-21 fighter jet from Iraq to Israel in 1966.-External links:**...
(1988) - The UnholyThe UnholyThe Unholy is a 1988 horror film directed by Camilo Vila and starring Ben Cross, Nicole Fortier, and Ned Beatty. It also features Trevor Howard in his final role.-Plot:...
(1988) - The Jeweller's ShopThe Jeweler's ShopThe Jeweler's Shop is a three-act play, written by the late Pope John Paul II in 1960, that looks at three couples as their lives become intertwined and mingled with one another.The play looks at humanity's ideas and expectations of romantic love and marriage...
(1988) - La Bottega dell'oreficeLa Bottega dell'orefice----La bottega dell'orefice is a 1989 film based on "The Jeweler's Shop" a play written by Karol Wojtyla and scripted by Jeff Andrus, starring Burt Lancaster and directed by Michael Anderson- Plot :...
(1989) - NightlifeNightlifeNightlife is the collective term for any entertainment that is available and more popular from the late evening into the early hours of the morning...
(1989) - Twist of Fate (1989)
- Eye of the WidowEye of the WidowEye of the Widow is an 1988 French-American action film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen.It was written by Joshua Sauli and William Blake Herron as an adaptation of two Gérard de Villiers' novels of his SAS series about the Austrian secret agent Malko Linge. It stars Richard Young as Malko Linge...
(1989) - Dark Shadows (Revivals) (1991)
- Live WireLive Wire (film)Live Wire is a 1992 action movie, written by Bart Baker, directed by Christian Duguay and starring Pierce Brosnan, Ron Silver, Ben Cross and Lisa Eilbacher....
(1992) - The Criminal Mind (1993)
- Cold SweatCold Sweat"Cold Sweat" is a song performed by James Brown and written by his bandleader Alfred "Pee Wee" Ellis. Brown recorded it in May 1967. An edited version of "Cold Sweat" released as a two-part single on King Records was a #1 R&B hit, and reached number seven on the Pop Singles chart...
(1993) - The AscentThe AscentThe Ascent , is a 1977 black-and-white Soviet war film directed by Larisa Shepitko and made at Mosfilm. It was Shepitko's last film before her death in a car accident in 1979...
(1994) - Temptress (1994)
- Caro dolce amore (1994)
- First KnightFirst KnightFirst Knight is a 1995 American medieval film based on Arthurian legend, directed by Jerry Zucker. It stars Richard Gere as Lancelot, Julia Ormond as Guinevere, Sean Connery as King Arthur and Ben Cross as Malagant....
(1995) - El Último viaje de Robert Rylands (1996)
- The InvaderThe InvaderThe Invader is a comedy film, starring Buster Keaton, released in the United Kingdom. The film, also known as An Old Spanish Custom, co-stars Lupita Tovar. The film follows the same plot as its remake Pest from the West , with a millionaire setting out to win a local girl in Mexico...
(1997) - 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1997 Hallmark film)20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a 1997 television movie produced by Hallmark Entertainment, based on the novel of the same name by Jules Verne and starring Ben Cross as Captain Nemo. It premiered on March 23, 1997...
(1997) - The Corporate Ladder (1997)
- TurbulenceTurbulenceIn fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...
(1997) - SolomonSolomonSolomon , according to the Book of Kings and the Book of Chronicles, a King of Israel and according to the Talmud one of the 48 prophets, is identified as the son of David, also called Jedidiah in 2 Samuel 12:25, and is described as the third king of the United Monarchy, and the final king before...
(1997) - The Venice ProjectThe Venice ProjectThe Venice Project is a 1999 drama film directed by Robert Dornhelm. It stars Lauren Bacall and Dennis Hopper, and included a cameo appearance from Steve Martin.-Cast:*Lauren Bacall ... Countess Camilla Volta*Dennis Hopper ... Roland / Salvatore...
(1999) - The OrderThe Order (2001 film)The Order is a 2001 20M action thriller film about a religious order, written by Jean-Claude Van Damme and Les Weldon and directed by Sheldon Lettich and starring Jean-Claude Van Damme. The cast also includes Sofia Milos, Brian Thompson, Ben Cross, Vernon Dobtcheff and Charlton Heston...
(2001) - Young BladesYoung BladesYoung Blades is an historical fantasy television series that aired on PAX from January to June 2005, lasting only thirteen episodes before cancellation...
(2001) - She Me and Her (2002)
- Trial and Retribution 7 (2003)
- Exorcist: The BeginningExorcist: The BeginningExorcist: The Beginning is a 2004 prequel to the 1973 film The Exorcist. This is the second version of the third Exorcist sequel. It was adapted by William Wisher Jr., Caleb Carr and Alexi Hawley, and directed by Renny Harlin...
(2004) - IconIcon (film)Icon is a Hallmark Channel original television film directed by Charles Martin Smith and based on the novel by Frederick Forsyth. The film premiered on the network May 30, 2005...
(2005) - The MechanikThe MechanikThe Mechanik is a 2005 action film starring and directed by Dolph Lundgren, written by Bryan Edward Hill and co-starring Ben Cross.- Plot :...
(2005) - Wicked Little Things (2006)
- Undisputed II: Last Man StandingUndisputed II: Last Man StandingUndisputed II: Last Man Standing is a 2006 direct-to-video sequel to the 2002 action film Undisputed. The film stars Michael Jai White, Scott Adkins, Eli Danker and Ben Cross, and was directed by Isaac Florentine...
(2006) - Finding Rin Tin TinFinding Rin Tin TinFinding Rin Tin Tin is a Bulgarian–American 2007 film by Israeli filmmaker Danny Lerner, shot on location in Bulgaria.-Synopsis:The film tells the story of the original Rin Tin Tin, the legendary German Shepherd, found shortly before the end of World War I by American serviceman Lee Duncan as a...
(2007) - When Nietzsche WeptWhen Nietzsche WeptWhen Nietzsche Wept is an independent film released in 2007, starring Armand Assante, Ben Cross and Katheryn Winnick. The movie is based on a book of the same name by Irvin D. Yalom and was directed by Pinchas Perry....
(2007) - War, Inc.War, Inc.War, Inc. is a 2008 American political satire film starring John Cusack and directed by Joshua Seftel. Cusack also co-wrote and produced the film.- Plot :...
(2008) - Hero WantedHero WantedHero Wanted is a 2008 action film and crime drama, directed by Brian Smrz and starring Cuba Gooding, Jr., Ray Liotta, and Norman Reedus. The film was released direct-to-video on April 29, 2008, and included a downloadable Digital Copy version of the disc with studio-imposed restrictions...
(2008) - Star Trek (2009)
- William and Kate (2011) - TV Movie
- A Common ManA Common ManA Common Man is an upcoming psychological thriller film starring Oscar Award winner Ben Kingsley and Ben Cross and directed by veteran film maker Chandran Rutnam...
(2011)