George Innes
Encyclopedia
George Innes is an English
actor
.
. Before that, he trained at Toynbee Hall and evening classes at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
(LAMDA), where he was awarded the Shakespeare Cup for excellence. He appeared in the Bernard Kops play The Dream of Peter Mann at the Edinburgh Festival
and on a tour of Great Britain, directed by Frank Dunlop
, under whom he had trained at Toynbee Hall and LAMDA. His final year of study and training was at the Bristol Old Vic
School. He worked with Dunlop again in The Pantomime at the Bristol Old Vic, before a season at Nottingham Playhouse with Dunlop and John Neville.
Other theatre credits include working for The Royal Court
production company in Chips with Everything, which played in the West End
and on Broadway
. He appeared in Othello (understudying Frank Finlay
's Iago) with Olivier at the National Theatre at Chichester
and the Old Vic
. Other performances in this period include roles in Dutch Courtesan, Mother Courage, Hobson's Choice, and The Master Builder. At the National Theatre at South Bank, he appeared in Tom Stoppard
's Jumpers (Pieter Rogers directing), Bedroom Farce (directed by Peter Hall, transferring to the West End), and The Vortex at the Ahmanson Theatre
in Los Angeles
, (with Bob Ackerman directing). In 1993–94 he appeared in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company
, with Simon Curtis directing in Chicago, a production which appeared on Broadway. Returning to London, he performed at the Southwark Playhouse
in Rosmersholm (1997) and Riders to the Sea (2005).
In 2009 he appeared off-Broadway in The Lodger at the Workshop Theatre (Harris Yulin
directing). There he developed his one-man show called Tribute, based on the Ages of Man
by Sir John Gielgud. It was also performed at The Players
, a theatrical club in New York City. The show played during the August 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival to excellent reviews. In March 2010, he performed Tribute at the Barron's Court Pub Theatre in London, receiving these reviews: " ... the whole show centres around a superb talent: not Gielgud's but that of George Innes. The veteran performer has a marvellously warming presence with a deep velvet voice that could make a line from Avenue Q sound profound ... Tribute really is a display of extraordinary talent." He performed the show at the Workshop Theatre in New York, touring westward to California.
(directed by John Schlesinger
), The Italian Job
(directed by Peter Collinson
), Charlie Bubbles
(directed by Albert Finney
), The Engagement (directed by Paul Joyce), Gumshoe
(directed by Stephen Frears
), Before Winter Comes
(directed by Lee Thompson), The Last Valley
(directed by James Clavell
), A Bridge too Far (directed by Richard Attenborough
), A Tale of Two Cities
(directed by James Goddard), and Ivanhoe
(directed by Douglas Camfield). His recent films include Shiner (directed by John Irvin
), Nicholas Nickleby (directed by Stephen Whittaker
), Last Orders
(directed by Fred Schepisi), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
(directed by Peter Weir
), Nine Lives (directed by David Carson
), Stardust (directed by Mathew Vaughn), The Golden Age (directed by Shaki Kapur), and Things To Do Before You're 30 (directed by Simon Shore).
for his work in television. Credits include classic British and American programmes: Alfred in Upstairs, Downstairs
(Season 1 and 3), Wilkins in Danger U.X.B. (13 episodes), I, Claudius
, Shogun (TV miniseries)
(produced by Jerry London, Eric Bercovici, and James Clavell
), " The Good Life (1975 TV series)" (1 episode), Rumpole of the Bailey
, Q.E.D., Masada, Hill Street Blues
, "Magnum P.I., Cagney and Lacey, M.A.S.H., Ruth Rendell Mysteries ("Mouse in the Corner"), Adam Bede, Seekers, Agatha Christie
("A Caribbean Mystery"), Noble House, Midsomer Murders ("Who Killed Cock Robin"), Menace, The Brief, Get Some In, and Newhart.
He is a member of the Screen Actors Guild
, a Freemason, a member of Claremont Lodge No. 436 F&AM, Claremont, California
, and a member of The Players
in New York City
.
His interests include painting, photography, horseback riding, golf, and driving his Z sports cars.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
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...
.
Stage career
He began his career on the stage with the National Theatre of Great Britain under Laurence OlivierLaurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
. Before that, he trained at Toynbee Hall and evening classes at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art is a leading British drama school in west London. LAMDA's president is Timothy West and its new principal is Joanna Read, who recently succeeded Peter James...
(LAMDA), where he was awarded the Shakespeare Cup for excellence. He appeared in the Bernard Kops play The Dream of Peter Mann at the Edinburgh Festival
Edinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
and on a tour of Great Britain, directed by Frank Dunlop
Frank Dunlop
Frank Dunlop is an Irish lobbyist and former broadcast journalist with Raidió Teilifís Éireann . Originally from County Kilkenny, he is a key witness to the Mahon Tribunal which is investigating improper payments by property developers to Irish politicians and will be a key witness in pending...
, under whom he had trained at Toynbee Hall and LAMDA. His final year of study and training was at the Bristol Old Vic
Bristol Old Vic
The Bristol Old Vic is a theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, King Street, in Bristol, England. The theatre complex includes the 1766 Theatre Royal, which claims to be the oldest continually-operating theatre in England, along with a 1970s studio theatre , offices and backstage facilities...
School. He worked with Dunlop again in The Pantomime at the Bristol Old Vic, before a season at Nottingham Playhouse with Dunlop and John Neville.
Other theatre credits include working for The Royal Court
The Royal Court
The Royal Court is a music production crew created by producer King Logan King arrived on the scene in 2007 with the hit single "Ice Box" by Omarion , co-produced with Timbaland, which generated over 100,000 radio spins and fostered more than 15 remixes.-Omarion - 21:*"Ice Box" *"Beg For It" The...
production company in Chips with Everything, which played in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
and on Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
. He appeared in Othello (understudying Frank Finlay
Frank Finlay
Francis Finlay, CBE is an English stage, film and television actor.-Personal life:Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild. He was educated at St...
's Iago) with Olivier at the National Theatre at Chichester
Chichester
Chichester is a cathedral city in West Sussex, within the historic County of Sussex, South-East England. It has a long history as a settlement; its Roman past and its subsequent importance in Anglo-Saxon times are only its beginnings...
and the Old Vic
Old Vic
The Old Vic is a theatre located just south-east of Waterloo Station in London on the corner of The Cut and Waterloo Road. Established in 1818 as the Royal Coburg Theatre, it was taken over by Emma Cons in 1880 when it was known formally as the Royal Victoria Hall. In 1898, a niece of Cons, Lilian...
. Other performances in this period include roles in Dutch Courtesan, Mother Courage, Hobson's Choice, and The Master Builder. At the National Theatre at South Bank, he appeared in Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard
Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE, FRSL is a British playwright, knighted in 1997. He has written prolifically for TV, radio, film and stage, finding prominence with plays such as Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, Professional Foul, The Real Thing, and Rosencrantz and...
's Jumpers (Pieter Rogers directing), Bedroom Farce (directed by Peter Hall, transferring to the West End), and The Vortex at the Ahmanson Theatre
Ahmanson Theatre
The Ahmanson Theatre is one of the four main venues that comprise the Los Angeles Music Center.Through the generosity of philanthropist Robert H. Ahmanson, construction began on March 9, 1962. The theatre opened on April 12, 1967 with a production of More Stately Mansions starring Ingrid Bergman,...
in 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...
, (with Bob Ackerman directing). In 1993–94 he appeared in The Rise and Fall of Little Voice with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is a Tony Award-winning Chicago theatre company founded in 1974 by Gary Sinise, Terry Kinney and Jeff Perry in the basement of a church in Highland Park, Illinois. It has since relocated to Chicago's Halsted Street, in the Lincoln Park neighborhood. Its name comes from...
, with Simon Curtis directing in Chicago, a production which appeared on Broadway. Returning to London, he performed at the Southwark Playhouse
Southwark Playhouse
-History:Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice, Tom Wilson & Mehmet Ergen. They identified the need for a high quality accessible theatre which would also act as a major resource for the community...
in Rosmersholm (1997) and Riders to the Sea (2005).
In 2009 he appeared off-Broadway in The Lodger at the Workshop Theatre (Harris Yulin
Harris Yulin
Harris Yulin is an American actor who has appeared in dozens of Hollywood and television films.-Life and career:Yulin was born in...
directing). There he developed his one-man show called Tribute, based on the Ages of Man
Ages of Man (play)
Ages of Man is a one-man show performed by John Gielgud featuring a collection of speeches in Shakespeare's plays. Based on an anthology edited by Oxford professor George Rylands in 1939 that organized the speeches to show the journey of life from birth to death, the show takes its title from...
by Sir John Gielgud. It was also performed at The Players
The Players (club)
The Players, frequently referred to as the Players Club, is a social club founded in New York City by the noted 19th-century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth, who purchased an 1847 mansion located at 16 Gramercy Park. During his lifetime, he reserved an upper floor for his home, turning the rest of...
, a theatrical club in New York City. The show played during the August 2009 Edinburgh Fringe Festival to excellent reviews. In March 2010, he performed Tribute at the Barron's Court Pub Theatre in London, receiving these reviews: " ... the whole show centres around a superb talent: not Gielgud's but that of George Innes. The veteran performer has a marvellously warming presence with a deep velvet voice that could make a line from Avenue Q sound profound ... Tribute really is a display of extraordinary talent." He performed the show at the Workshop Theatre in New York, touring westward to California.
Film career
His film career includes Billy LiarBilly Liar
Billy Liar is a 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse, which was later adapted into a play, a film, a musical and a TV series. The work has inspired and featured in a number of popular songs....
(directed by John Schlesinger
John Schlesinger
John Richard Schlesinger, CBE was an English film and stage director and actor.-Early life:Schlesinger was born in London into a middle-class Jewish family, the son of Winifred Henrietta and Bernard Edward Schlesinger, a physician...
), The Italian Job
The Italian Job
The Italian Job is a 1969 British caper film, written by Troy Kennedy Martin, produced by Michael Deeley and directed by Peter Collinson. Subsequent television showings and releases on video have established it as an institution in the United Kingdom....
(directed by Peter Collinson
Peter Collinson (film director)
Peter Collinson was a British film director probably best known for directing the 1969 movie The Italian Job.- Early life :...
), Charlie Bubbles
Charlie Bubbles
Charlie Bubbles is a British film of 1967 starring Billie Whitelaw and Albert Finney, and also featuring a young Liza Minnelli. It was listed to compete at the 1968 Cannes Film Festival, but the festival was cancelled due to the events of May 1968 in France.The film made great play of its...
(directed by Albert Finney
Albert Finney
Albert Finney is an English actor. He achieved prominence in films in the early 1960s, and has maintained a successful career in theatre, film and television....
), The Engagement (directed by Paul Joyce), Gumshoe
Gumshoe (film)
Gumshoe is a 1971 film, and was the directorial debut of British director Stephen Frears.Written by local author Neville Smith, the film is set in Liverpool with Albert Finney playing the role of Eddie Ginley. Ginley is a bingo-caller and occasional club comedian who dreams of being a private eye...
(directed by Stephen Frears
Stephen Frears
Stephen Arthur Frears is an English film director.-Early life:Frears was born in Leicester, England to Ruth M., a social worker, and Dr Russell E. Frears, a general practitioner and accountant. He did not find out that his mother was Jewish until he was in his late 20s...
), Before Winter Comes
Before Winter Comes
Before Winter Comes is a 1969 British film directed by J. Lee Thompson from a screenplay by Andrew Sinclair.-Plot:Before Winter Comes takes place in the immediate aftermath of World War II. British Major Giles Burnside is assigned to an Austrian refugee camp, his mission is to send the groups of...
(directed by Lee Thompson), The Last Valley
The Last Valley
The Last Valley is a 1970 historical drama film directed by James Clavell. Set during the Thirty Years War, it stars Michael Caine as the leader of a band of mercenaries, and Omar Sharif as a teacher fleeing from the violence endemic to Germany during this period...
(directed by James Clavell
James Clavell
James Clavell, born Charles Edmund DuMaresq Clavell was an Australian-born, British novelist, screenwriter, director and World War II veteran and prisoner of war...
), A Bridge too Far (directed by Richard Attenborough
Richard Attenborough
Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough , CBE is a British actor, director, producer and entrepreneur. As director and producer he won two Academy Awards for the 1982 film Gandhi...
), A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature....
(directed by James Goddard), and Ivanhoe
Ivanhoe
Ivanhoe is a historical fiction novel by Sir Walter Scott in 1819, and set in 12th-century England. Ivanhoe is sometimes credited for increasing interest in Romanticism and Medievalism; John Henry Newman claimed Scott "had first turned men's minds in the direction of the middle ages," while...
(directed by Douglas Camfield). His recent films include Shiner (directed by John Irvin
John Irvin
John Irvin is an English film director. Born in Newcastle upon Tyne, he began his career by directing a number of documentaries and television works, including the BBC adaptation of John le Carré's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy...
), Nicholas Nickleby (directed by Stephen Whittaker
Stephen Whittaker
Stephen Whittaker was a British actor and director. He worked largely in British film and television.In 2001 he filmed his final project The Rocket Post, a romantic drama set on a remote Scottish island...
), Last Orders
Last Orders
Last Orders is a 1996 Booker Prize-winning novel by British author Graham Swift. In 2001 it was adapted for the film Last Orders by Australian writer and director Fred Schepisi.-Plot summary:...
(directed by Fred Schepisi), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World is a 2003 film directed by Peter Weir, starring Russell Crowe as Jack Aubrey, with Paul Bettany as Stephen Maturin and released by 20th Century Fox, Miramax Films and Universal Studios...
(directed by Peter Weir
Peter Weir
Peter Lindsay Weir, AM is an Australian film director. After playing a leading role in the Australian New Wave cinema with his films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock, The Last Wave and Gallipoli, Weir directed a diverse group of American and international films—many of them major box office...
), Nine Lives (directed by David Carson
David Carson (director)
David Carson is a British television director. He has directed episodes of many TV series, including The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Smallville, Doogie Howser, M.D., and L.A. Law...
), Stardust (directed by Mathew Vaughn), The Golden Age (directed by Shaki Kapur), and Things To Do Before You're 30 (directed by Simon Shore).
Television career
He has been twice nominated for an Emmy AwardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for his work in television. Credits include classic British and American programmes: Alfred in 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...
(Season 1 and 3), Wilkins in Danger U.X.B. (13 episodes), I, Claudius
I, Claudius
I, Claudius is a novel by English writer Robert Graves, written in the form of an autobiography of the Roman Emperor Claudius. As such, it includes history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula's assassination in AD 41...
, Shogun (TV miniseries)
Shogun (TV miniseries)
Shōgun is an American television miniseries based on the namesake novel by James Clavell. As with the novel, the title is often shown as Shōgun in order to conform to Hepburn romanization. The miniseries was broadcast over five nights, between September 15 and September 19, 1980 on NBC in the...
(produced by Jerry London, Eric Bercovici, and James Clavell
James Clavell
James Clavell, born Charles Edmund DuMaresq Clavell was an Australian-born, British novelist, screenwriter, director and World War II veteran and prisoner of war...
), " The Good Life (1975 TV series)" (1 episode), Rumpole of the Bailey
Rumpole of the Bailey
Rumpole of the Bailey is a British television series created and written by the British writer and barrister John Mortimer which starred Leo McKern as Horace Rumpole, an ageing London barrister who defends any and all clients...
, Q.E.D., Masada, Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues
Hill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
, "Magnum P.I., Cagney and Lacey, M.A.S.H., Ruth Rendell Mysteries ("Mouse in the Corner"), Adam Bede, Seekers, Agatha Christie
Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Christie DBE was a British crime writer of novels, short stories, and plays. She also wrote romances under the name Mary Westmacott, but she is best remembered for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections , and her successful West End plays.According to...
("A Caribbean Mystery"), Noble House, Midsomer Murders ("Who Killed Cock Robin"), Menace, The Brief, Get Some In, and Newhart.
He is a member of the Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
, a Freemason, a member of Claremont Lodge No. 436 F&AM, Claremont, California
Claremont, California
Claremont is a small affluent college town in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States, about east of downtown Los Angeles at the base of the San Gabriel Mountains. The population as of the 2010 census is 34,926. Claremont is known for its seven higher-education institutions, its...
, and a member of The Players
The Players (club)
The Players, frequently referred to as the Players Club, is a social club founded in New York City by the noted 19th-century Shakespearean actor Edwin Booth, who purchased an 1847 mansion located at 16 Gramercy Park. During his lifetime, he reserved an upper floor for his home, turning the rest of...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
.
His interests include painting, photography, horseback riding, golf, and driving his Z sports cars.