Martin Shaw
Encyclopedia
Martin Shaw is an English
actor
. He is best known for his roles in shows such as The Professionals
, The Chief, Judge John Deed
and Inspector George Gently.
, where musician Steve Winwood
was a classmate, Shaw excelled in English literature
and drama
lessons. At sixteen, he was offered a scholarship to a Birmingham drama school. Declining the scholarship, he left school and, on the advice of his parents, he sought employment. One job was in the office of a brass foundry. At eighteen, Shaw moved to London to attend the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
. He served his apprenticeship in repertory
as an assistant stage manager at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch
and the Bristol Old Vic
.
(Royal Court/Criterion, 1968); in the National Theatre
's Saturday, Sunday, Monday opposite Laurence Olivier
(1973); and in A Streetcar Named Desire
presented by the Piccadilly Theatre
in 1974. He later acknowledged the role of Stanley Kowalski
in 'Streetcar' as a point of breakthrough in his career.
In the 1980s, Shaw played Elvis Presley
in Alan Bleasdale
's critically acclaimed Are You Lonesome Tonight?. It told the story of Elvis' last few hours. After a long run in London
, the production visited Sydney
and Melbourne
in Australia
.
Shaw's portrayal of Lord Goring in An Ideal Husband
on Broadway earned him a Tony Award
nomination and a Drama Desk award.
After filming finished on the TV series Judge John Deed
, Shaw took the role of Thomas More
in Robert Bolt
's play A Man for All Seasons
. Shaw's daughter, Sophie, played opposite him as More's daughter, Margaret. The production toured Britain's cities before a run in London at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
led to his playing hippy student Robert Croft, Lucile Hewitt's boyfriend, in Coronation Street
. Another early role was booze and football-loving Welsh medical student Huw Evans in the television comedy series Doctor in the House
. Huw Evans later returned in the Doctor at Large episode "Mother and Father Doing Well" as a nervous expectant father.
Shaw appeared with future co-star Lewis Collins
in an episode of The New Avengers. Both played the roles of terrorists.
Shaw portrayed Ray Doyle ("Agent 4-5") in the British television series The Professionals
(1977–1981). Shaw played another law-enforcement role in the 1990s ITV production The Chief.
In 1983, Shaw played Robert Falcon Scott
in The Last Place on Earth
. The series was filmed at Frobisher Bay
on Baffin Island
, Canada
. In interview at the time, Shaw commented that he generally responded well to the testing physical conditions, particularly when they enhanced the reality of the scene.
Rhodes is an eight part serial that aired in 1996 and was filmed on location in South Africa
. Shaw's younger son, Joe
, took early leave of his drama school course to play the part of the youthful Cecil Rhodes before Shaw completed Rhodes's story from the statesman's mature years to his death.
In 2001, he took the title role in the BBC
drama Judge John Deed
. The character gave an editorial voice to the television writer and producer G.F. Newman's ideas about lifestyle choices such as vegetarianism and alternative medicine as well as issues of social justice. One episode about the safety of the MMR vaccine was banned.
Between seasons of Judge John Deed, Shaw took the role of poetic bespectacled forensic detective Adam Dalgliesh
in P.D. James's Death in Holy Orders
in 2003 and The Murder Room
in 2005.
After the sixth season of Judge John Deed had been filmed, Shaw appeared in the series Apparitions
broadcast by the BBC in 2008. This was Shaw's first project as executive director.
In the police drama Inspector George Gently, Shaw appears in the title role.
Shaw also appeared as Sir Charles Cartwright in a 2009 adaptation of Agatha Christie's Poirot tale Three Act Tragedy.
communist in Love on the Dole
(1966). Better known is his 70s role of Banquo
in Roman Polanski
's Macbeth
. Although Shaw is not classified as a film actor, he has an eclectic oeuvre of film roles, including an undercover Second World War operative in Operation Daybreak
; a singing and dancing futuristic magician "Zax" in Facelift; and a wanted villain leading a life on the run in a circus troop in Ladder of Swords.
's The Hobbit
and The Silmarillion
; Swift
's Gulliver's Travels
; and Emily Brontë
's Wuthering Heights
.
In 2006, Shaw narrated and appeared in a DVD chronicling the "Merlin
s over Malta
" project. This featured the return of a World War II Supermarine Spitfire
and Hawker Hurricane
from Britain to Malta for the first time in fifty years.
In December 2006, Shaw presented the six-part Discovery Channel
Real Time TV series Martin Shaw: Aviators
, produced by Twofour
, which followed the two-year restoration of his Boeing Stearman
biplane
after it was crashed by another pilot at Old Buckenham
airfield in Norfolk
. Shaw fulfilled a lifetime ambition to take the controls of a Spitfire (owned by Maurice Bayliss) and, though take-off was not permitted, he also powered an English Electric Lightning
(owned by Russell Carpenter) to 150 mph in three seconds along the runway at Cranfield Airport
. Shaw also compared notes with the nonagenarian builder and developer of the modern autogyro
, Wing Cdr.
Ken Wallis
.
In 2010 he presented a documentary for the BBC
titled "Dambusters Declassified" in which he investigated and debunked some of the myths of the Dambusters raid
story which had been portrayed in the books Enemy Coast Ahead and The Dambusters, and the film The Dambusters.
and in 1987, a TV advert for the Vauxhall Cavalier
.
required surgical rebuilding.
In 1971, Shaw became a follower of Charan Singh
, a master of the ancient spiritual tradition of Sant Matt. This involved a strict lacto vegetarian diet, meditation, yoga
and the avoidance of alcohol and other mind-altering drugs.
Shaw is a celebrity activist for animal rights
and animal welfare
. He is the patron of the Hillside Animal Sanctuary
in Norfolk
, a charity organisation that provides a safe home for neglected and abused animals. He also supports Viva!
In interviews and in the Martin Shaw - Aviators documentary series, Shaw readily shares his passion for vintage aeroplanes. He is the holder of a private pilot's licence. For several years, Shaw owned a 1943 Boeing Stearman
PT-17 Kaydet (G-BAVO) and now flies a Piper Cub
(G-BFBY).
Shaw has three children by his first wife, actress Jill Allen, whom he married in 1968: Luke Shaw, an actor; Joe Shaw
, an actor and director; and Sophie Shaw, an actor and singer with the band "Blue Harlem".
Shaw's second wife was former nurse turned alternative therapist
and core process psychotherapist
, Maggie Mansfield.
Shaw's third wife was TV presenter, environmental activist and fellow pilot Vicky Kimm.
Between January 2003 and July 2008, Shaw and his current partner, Karen da Silva, were stalked
by Sandra Price, a divorcee in her sixties. Price sent Shaw several letters (which he said he found "offensive and intrusive") as well as a 120-page dossier of her views on his career and a 45-minute cassette tape.
In the early hours of a morning in July 2008, Sandra Price poured petrol through the door of da Silva's home. This action precipitated Price's arrest by police. In a two-day trial at King's Lynn Magistrates' court (6–7 January 2009), Price pleaded guilty to damage to property. She was also convicted of harassment. Price was sentenced on 28 January. Although she avoided a custodial sentence
, she was ordered to perform 240 hours of unpaid community work and pay a contribution towards the Crown
's costs of £800. An electronically monitored curfew between 7 am and 7 pm was imposed and the complainants received a restraining order
against Price.
On 18 August 2010, Shaw collapsed during the first act of the matinee showing of "A Country Girl
" at Shrewsbury
's Theatre Severn. His agent, Roger Charteris, said he had been suffering from cracked ribs and was taking antibiotics for a severe chest infection. An understudy went on in his place.
and was nominated for a third:
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
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...
. He is best known for his roles in shows such as The Professionals
The Professionals (TV series)
The Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...
, The Chief, Judge John Deed
Judge John Deed
Judge John Deed is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Sir John Deed, a High Court judge who tries to seek real justice in the cases before him. It also stars Jenny Seagrove...
and Inspector George Gently.
Theatrical background
According to Shaw, his first stage appearance was at age three, during an amateur show in which his parents were performing. At Great Barr SchoolGreat Barr School
Great Barr School is a co-educational secondary school on Aldridge Road in Great Barr, Birmingham, England for pupils aged 11 to 19. The school is usually the next level for children who attended Great Barr Primary School on the same area site.-History:...
, where musician Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
was a classmate, Shaw excelled in English literature
English literature
English literature is the literature written in the English language, including literature composed in English by writers not necessarily from England; for example, Robert Burns was Scottish, James Joyce was Irish, Joseph Conrad was Polish, Dylan Thomas was Welsh, Edgar Allan Poe was American, J....
and drama
Drama
Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do","to act" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a...
lessons. At sixteen, he was offered a scholarship to a Birmingham drama school. Declining the scholarship, he left school and, on the advice of his parents, he sought employment. One job was in the office of a brass foundry. At eighteen, Shaw moved to London to attend 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...
. He served his apprenticeship in repertory
Repertory
Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
as an assistant stage manager at the Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch
Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch
The Queen's Theatre, Hornchurch is a 500-seat theatre located in Hornchurch in the London Borough of Havering, east London.The theatre opened in its current purpose-built site on Billet Lane, Hornchurch in 1975....
and 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...
.
Stage
Shaw took key roles in the first revival of Look Back in AngerLook Back in Anger
Look Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace...
(Royal Court/Criterion, 1968); in the 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...
's Saturday, Sunday, Monday opposite Laurence Olivier
Laurence 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...
(1973); and in A Streetcar Named Desire
A Streetcar Named Desire (play)
A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
presented by the Piccadilly Theatre
Piccadilly Theatre
The Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, England.-Early years:Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A...
in 1974. He later acknowledged the role of Stanley Kowalski
Stanley Kowalski
Stanley Kowalski is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire.-In the play:Stanley lives in the working class Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans with his wife, Stella , and is employed as a factory parts salesman. He was an Army engineer in WWII, having...
in 'Streetcar' as a point of breakthrough in his career.
In the 1980s, Shaw played Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
in Alan Bleasdale
Alan Bleasdale
Alan Bleasdale is an English television dramatist, best known for writing several social realist drama serials based on the lives of ordinary people.The Bleasdales live in prescot,liverpool,wales and london.-Early life:Bleasdale is an only child; his father worked in a food factory and his mother...
's critically acclaimed Are You Lonesome Tonight?. It told the story of Elvis' last few hours. After a long run in 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...
, the production visited Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
and Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
Shaw's portrayal of Lord Goring in An Ideal Husband
An Ideal Husband
An Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedic stage play by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour...
on Broadway earned him a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nomination and a Drama Desk award.
After filming finished on the TV series Judge John Deed
Judge John Deed
Judge John Deed is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Sir John Deed, a High Court judge who tries to seek real justice in the cases before him. It also stars Jenny Seagrove...
, Shaw took the role of Thomas More
Thomas More
Sir Thomas More , also known by Catholics as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, social philosopher, author, statesman and noted Renaissance humanist. He was an important councillor to Henry VIII of England and, for three years toward the end of his life, Lord Chancellor...
in Robert Bolt
Robert Bolt
Robert Oxton Bolt, CBE was an English playwright and a two-time Oscar winning screenwriter.-Career:He was born in Sale, Cheshire. At Manchester Grammar School his affinity for Sir Thomas More first developed. He attended the University of Manchester, and, after war service, the University of...
's play A Man for All Seasons
A Man for All Seasons
A Man for All Seasons is a play by Robert Bolt. An early form of the play had been written for BBC Radio in 1954, and a one-hour live television version starring Bernard Hepton was produced in 1957 by the BBC, but after Bolt's success with The Flowering Cherry, he reworked it for the stage.It was...
. Shaw's daughter, Sophie, played opposite him as More's daughter, Margaret. The production toured Britain's cities before a run in London at the Theatre Royal Haymarket.
Television
Shaw began television work in 1967. Parts in one-off plays for Granada TelevisionGranada Television
Granada Television is the ITV contractor for North West England. Based in Manchester since its inception, it is the only surviving original ITA franchisee from 1954 and is ITV's most successful....
led to his playing hippy student Robert Croft, Lucile Hewitt's boyfriend, in Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
. Another early role was booze and football-loving Welsh medical student Huw Evans in the television comedy series Doctor in the House
Doctor in the House (TV series)
Doctor in the House is the syndicated title given, by the United States, to a British television comedy series , based on a set of books and a movie of the same name by Richard Gordon about the misadventures of a group of medical students — and their later misadventures as doctors.The first...
. Huw Evans later returned in the Doctor at Large episode "Mother and Father Doing Well" as a nervous expectant father.
Shaw appeared with future co-star Lewis Collins
Lewis Collins
Lewis Collins is an English actor best known for his tough-guy role as Bodie in The Professionals. He was educated at Bidston Primary and Grange School in Birkenhead. He started out as a ladies' hairdresser before playing drums and guitar in pop groups. He had a number of other jobs before...
in an episode of The New Avengers. Both played the roles of terrorists.
Shaw portrayed Ray Doyle ("Agent 4-5") in the British television series The Professionals
The Professionals (TV series)
The Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...
(1977–1981). Shaw played another law-enforcement role in the 1990s ITV production The Chief.
In 1983, Shaw played Robert Falcon Scott
Robert Falcon Scott
Captain Robert Falcon Scott, CVO was a Royal Navy officer and explorer who led two expeditions to the Antarctic regions: the Discovery Expedition, 1901–04, and the ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition, 1910–13...
in The Last Place on Earth
The Last Place on Earth
The Last Place on Earth is a 1985 Central Television seven part serial, written by Trevor Griffiths based on the book Scott and Amundsen by Roland Huntford. The book is an exploration of the expeditions of Captain Robert F...
. The series was filmed at Frobisher Bay
Frobisher Bay
Frobisher Bay is a relatively large inlet of the Labrador Sea in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in the southeastern corner of Baffin Island...
on Baffin Island
Baffin Island
Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut is the largest island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the largest island in Canada and the fifth largest island in the world. Its area is and its population is about 11,000...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In interview at the time, Shaw commented that he generally responded well to the testing physical conditions, particularly when they enhanced the reality of the scene.
Rhodes is an eight part serial that aired in 1996 and was filmed on location in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Shaw's younger son, Joe
Joe Shaw (actor)
Joe Shaw is an English actor.He is probably most well known for his role as officer Dominic McAllister in the ITV drama series Bad Girls and his minor role in the film Junk. He is the son of actor Martin Shaw....
, took early leave of his drama school course to play the part of the youthful Cecil Rhodes before Shaw completed Rhodes's story from the statesman's mature years to his death.
In 2001, he took the title role in the 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...
drama Judge John Deed
Judge John Deed
Judge John Deed is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Sir John Deed, a High Court judge who tries to seek real justice in the cases before him. It also stars Jenny Seagrove...
. The character gave an editorial voice to the television writer and producer G.F. Newman's ideas about lifestyle choices such as vegetarianism and alternative medicine as well as issues of social justice. One episode about the safety of the MMR vaccine was banned.
Between seasons of Judge John Deed, Shaw took the role of poetic bespectacled forensic detective Adam Dalgliesh
Adam Dalgliesh
Adam Dalgliesh is a fictional character who has been the protagonist of fourteen mystery novels by P. D. James. Dalgliesh first appeared in James's 1962 novel Cover Her Face and has appeared in a number of subsequent novels.-Character:...
in P.D. James's Death in Holy Orders
Death in Holy Orders
Death in Holy Orders is a 2001 detective novel in the Adam Dalgliesh series by P. D. James.-Setting:The novel is mainly set in and around an Anglican theological college, Saint Anselm's, on the windswept coast of East Anglia...
in 2003 and The Murder Room
The Murder Room
The Murder Room is a 2003 detective novel and the 12th in the Adam Dalgliesh series by P. D. James. It takes place in London, particularly the Dupayne Museum on the edge of Hampstead Heath in the London Borough of Camden....
in 2005.
After the sixth season of Judge John Deed had been filmed, Shaw appeared in the series Apparitions
Apparitions (TV series)
Apparitions is a BBC drama about a priest, played by Martin Shaw, who examines evidence of miracles to be used in canonisation but also carries out exorcisms.The series is written by Joe Ahearne.- Episode 1 :...
broadcast by the BBC in 2008. This was Shaw's first project as executive director.
In the police drama Inspector George Gently, Shaw appears in the title role.
Shaw also appeared as Sir Charles Cartwright in a 2009 adaptation of Agatha Christie's Poirot tale Three Act Tragedy.
Film
Shaw's first film role was an IrishIrish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
communist in Love on the Dole
Love on the Dole
Love on the Dole is a novel by Walter Greenwood, about working class poverty in 1930s Northern England. It has been made into both a play and a film.-The novel:...
(1966). Better known is his 70s role of Banquo
Banquo
Banquo is a character in William Shakespeare's 1606 play Macbeth. In the play, he is at first an ally to Macbeth and they are together when they meet the Three Witches. After prophesying that Macbeth will become king, the witches tell Banquo that he will not be king himself, but that his...
in Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
's Macbeth
Macbeth (1971 film)
Macbeth is a 1971 British-American drama film directed by Roman Polanski, based on William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth, about the Highland lord who becomes King of Scotland through treachery and murder. It features Jon Finch as Macbeth and Francesca Annis as Lady Macbeth...
. Although Shaw is not classified as a film actor, he has an eclectic oeuvre of film roles, including an undercover Second World War operative in Operation Daybreak
Operation Daybreak
Operation Daybreak is a 1975 World War II film based on the true story of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague - starring Anthony Andrews, Timothy Bottoms and Martin Shaw. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and shot mostly on location in Prague. It was adapted from the book Seven Men...
; a singing and dancing futuristic magician "Zax" in Facelift; and a wanted villain leading a life on the run in a circus troop in Ladder of Swords.
Narration and documentaries
Shaw has narrated many audiobooks, including TolkienJ. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
's The Hobbit
The Hobbit
The Hobbit, or There and Back Again, better known by its abbreviated title The Hobbit, is a fantasy novel and children's book by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published on 21 September 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the New York Herald...
and The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion
The Silmarillion is a collection of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic works, edited and published posthumously by his son Christopher Tolkien in 1977, with assistance from Guy Gavriel Kay, who later became a noted fantasy writer. The Silmarillion, along with J. R. R...
; Swift
Jonathan Swift
Jonathan Swift was an Irish satirist, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St...
's Gulliver's Travels
Gulliver's Travels
Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World, in Four Parts. By Lemuel Gulliver, First a Surgeon, and then a Captain of Several Ships, better known simply as Gulliver's Travels , is a novel by Anglo-Irish writer and clergyman Jonathan Swift that is both a satire on human nature and a parody of...
; and Emily Brontë
Emily Brontë
Emily Jane Brontë 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. Emily was the third eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother...
's Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights
Wuthering Heights is a novel by Emily Brontë published in 1847. It was her only novel and written between December 1845 and July 1846. It remained unpublished until July 1847 and was not printed until December after the success of her sister Charlotte Brontë's novel Jane Eyre...
.
In 2006, Shaw narrated and appeared in a DVD chronicling the "Merlin
Rolls-Royce Merlin
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British liquid-cooled, V-12, piston aero engine, of 27-litre capacity. Rolls-Royce Limited designed and built the engine which was initially known as the PV-12: the PV-12 became known as the Merlin following the company convention of naming its piston aero engines after...
s over Malta
Malta
Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...
" project. This featured the return of a World War II Supermarine Spitfire
Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and many other Allied countries throughout the Second World War. The Spitfire continued to be used as a front line fighter and in secondary roles into the 1950s...
and Hawker Hurricane
Hawker Hurricane
The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...
from Britain to Malta for the first time in fifty years.
In December 2006, Shaw presented the six-part Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel is an American satellite and cable specialty channel , founded by John Hendricks and distributed by Discovery Communications. It is a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav...
Real Time TV series Martin Shaw: Aviators
Martin Shaw: Aviators
Martin Shaw: Aviators was a six-part British television series produced by Twofour. It was first broadcast on Discovery Real Time in 2006.Each episode of the series had a number of segments...
, produced by Twofour
Twofour
Twofour is a UK independent media group that was founded in 1988 by Charles Wace, a former TV news producer and brother of financier Ian Wace. It has grown to become one of the largest independent media groups in the UK, employing over 350 people internationally....
, which followed the two-year restoration of his Boeing Stearman
Boeing Stearman
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Avis, Jim and Bowman, Martin. Stearman: A Pictorial History. Motorbooks, 1997. ISBN 0-76030-479-3.* Bowers, Peter M. Boeing Aircraft since 1916. London:Putnam, 1989. ISBN 0-85177-804-6....
biplane
Biplane
A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two superimposed main wings. The Wright brothers' Wright Flyer used a biplane design, as did most aircraft in the early years of aviation. While a biplane wing structure has a structural advantage, it produces more drag than a similar monoplane wing...
after it was crashed by another pilot at Old Buckenham
Old Buckenham
Old Buckenham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, approximately south-west of Norwich.It covers an area of and had a population of 1,294 in 658 households as of the2001 census...
airfield in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
. Shaw fulfilled a lifetime ambition to take the controls of a Spitfire (owned by Maurice Bayliss) and, though take-off was not permitted, he also powered an English Electric Lightning
English Electric Lightning
The English Electric Lightning is a supersonic jet fighter aircraft of the Cold War era, noted for its great speed and unpainted natural metal exterior finish. It is the only all-British Mach 2 fighter aircraft. The aircraft was renowned for its capabilities as an interceptor; Royal Air Force ...
(owned by Russell Carpenter) to 150 mph in three seconds along the runway at Cranfield Airport
Cranfield Airport
Cranfield Airport is an airfield just outside the village of Cranfield, south-west of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. It was originally a World War II aerodrome, RAF Cranfield....
. Shaw also compared notes with the nonagenarian builder and developer of the modern autogyro
Autogyro
An autogyro , also known as gyroplane, gyrocopter, or rotaplane, is a type of rotorcraft which uses an unpowered rotor in autorotation to develop lift, and an engine-powered propeller, similar to that of a fixed-wing aircraft, to provide thrust...
, Wing Cdr.
Wing Commander (rank)
Wing commander is a commissioned rank in the Royal Air Force and the air forces of many other Commonwealth countries...
Ken Wallis
Ken Wallis
Wing Commander Kenneth Horatio Wallis MBE, DEng , CEng, FRAeS, FSETP, PhD , RAF , is one of the leading exponents of autogyros. He has held 34 records relating to them.-Early life:...
.
In 2010 he presented a documentary for the 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...
titled "Dambusters Declassified" in which he investigated and debunked some of the myths of the Dambusters raid
Operation Chastise
Operation Chastise was an attack on German dams carried out on 16–17 May 1943 by Royal Air Force No. 617 Squadron, subsequently known as the "Dambusters", using a specially developed "bouncing bomb" invented and developed by Barnes Wallis...
story which had been portrayed in the books Enemy Coast Ahead and The Dambusters, and the film The Dambusters.
Advertisements and endorsements
Among several voiceovers and appearances, in 1974, Shaw starred in a 3 minute advertisement for the Mk II Ford CapriFord Capri
Ford Capri was a name used by the Ford Motor Company for three different automobile models. The Ford Consul Capri coupé was produced by Ford of Britain between 1961 and 1964. The Ford Capri coupé was produced by Ford of Europe from 1969 to 1986...
and in 1987, a TV advert for the Vauxhall Cavalier
Vauxhall Cavalier
The Vauxhall Cavalier is a large family car sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall Motors, the British division of General Motors , from 1975 to 1995...
.
Personal life
Martin Shaw's childhood was spent in Erdington and then Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham. In his youth, Shaw was involved in a drunken brawl with a friend, suffering broken teeth, injuries to his face and a fractured skull. A mid-face fracture involving the right cheekboneZygomatic bone
The zygomatic bone is a paired bone of the human skull. It articulates with the maxilla, the temporal bone, the sphenoid bone and the frontal bone. The zygomatic is homologous to the jugal bone of other tetrapods...
required surgical rebuilding.
In 1971, Shaw became a follower of Charan Singh
Charan Singh (guru)
Maharaj Charan Singh Ji was a Sant Satguru from India. He became the fifth Satguru of Radha Soami Satsang Beas in 1951 following the death of Sardar Bahadur Jagat Singh, and served until his death at the age of 73....
, a master of the ancient spiritual tradition of Sant Matt. This involved a strict lacto vegetarian diet, meditation, yoga
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
and the avoidance of alcohol and other mind-altering drugs.
Shaw is a celebrity activist for animal rights
Animal rights
Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings...
and animal welfare
Animal welfare
Animal welfare is the physical and psychological well-being of animals.The term animal welfare can also mean human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics and animal rights...
. He is the patron of the Hillside Animal Sanctuary
Hillside Animal Sanctuary
Hillside Animal Sanctuary, based in Frettenham, Norwich, is the United Kingdom's largest home for animals removed from their owners by the direct action of animal rights activists. The vegan-run sanctuary is staffed by volunteers and funded entirely on public donations...
in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, a charity organisation that provides a safe home for neglected and abused animals. He also supports Viva!
In interviews and in the Martin Shaw - Aviators documentary series, Shaw readily shares his passion for vintage aeroplanes. He is the holder of a private pilot's licence. For several years, Shaw owned a 1943 Boeing Stearman
Boeing Stearman
|-See also:-Bibliography:* Avis, Jim and Bowman, Martin. Stearman: A Pictorial History. Motorbooks, 1997. ISBN 0-76030-479-3.* Bowers, Peter M. Boeing Aircraft since 1916. London:Putnam, 1989. ISBN 0-85177-804-6....
PT-17 Kaydet (G-BAVO) and now flies a Piper Cub
Piper J-3
The Piper J-3 Cub is a small, simple, light aircraft that was built between 1937 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. With tandem seating, it was intended for flight training but became one of the most popular and best-known light aircraft of all time...
(G-BFBY).
Shaw has three children by his first wife, actress Jill Allen, whom he married in 1968: Luke Shaw, an actor; Joe Shaw
Joe Shaw (actor)
Joe Shaw is an English actor.He is probably most well known for his role as officer Dominic McAllister in the ITV drama series Bad Girls and his minor role in the film Junk. He is the son of actor Martin Shaw....
, an actor and director; and Sophie Shaw, an actor and singer with the band "Blue Harlem".
Shaw's second wife was former nurse turned alternative therapist
Alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....
and core process psychotherapist
Core process psychotherapy
Core process psychotherapy practises a Buddhist awareness as the centre of a healing relationship between client and psychotherapist. It is taught at the Karuna Institute which was founded in 1984 by Maura Sills and Franklyn Sills...
, Maggie Mansfield.
Shaw's third wife was TV presenter, environmental activist and fellow pilot Vicky Kimm.
Between January 2003 and July 2008, Shaw and his current partner, Karen da Silva, were stalked
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
by Sandra Price, a divorcee in her sixties. Price sent Shaw several letters (which he said he found "offensive and intrusive") as well as a 120-page dossier of her views on his career and a 45-minute cassette tape.
In the early hours of a morning in July 2008, Sandra Price poured petrol through the door of da Silva's home. This action precipitated Price's arrest by police. In a two-day trial at King's Lynn Magistrates' court (6–7 January 2009), Price pleaded guilty to damage to property. She was also convicted of harassment. Price was sentenced on 28 January. Although she avoided a custodial sentence
Custodial sentence
A custodial sentence is a judicial sentence, imposing a punishment consisting of mandatory custody of the convict, either in prison or in some other closed therapeutic and/or educational institution, such as a reformatory, psychiatry or drug detoxification...
, she was ordered to perform 240 hours of unpaid community work and pay a contribution towards the Crown
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
's costs of £800. An electronically monitored curfew between 7 am and 7 pm was imposed and the complainants received a restraining order
Restraining order
A restraining order or order of protection is a form of legal injunction that requires a party to do, or to refrain from doing, certain acts. A party that refuses to comply with an order faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
against Price.
On 18 August 2010, Shaw collapsed during the first act of the matinee showing of "A Country Girl
A Country Girl
A Country Girl, or, Town and Country is a musical play in two acts by James T. Tanner, with lyrics by Adrian Ross, additional lyrics by Percy Greenbank, music by Lionel Monckton and additional songs by Paul Rubens....
" at Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury is the county town of Shropshire, in the West Midlands region of England. Lying on the River Severn, it is a civil parish home to some 70,000 inhabitants, and is the primary settlement and headquarters of Shropshire Council...
's Theatre Severn. His agent, Roger Charteris, said he had been suffering from cracked ribs and was taking antibiotics for a severe chest infection. An understudy went on in his place.
Awards and nominations
Shaw won two awards in 1996 for his performance as Lord Goring in the Broadway production of An Ideal HusbandAn Ideal Husband
An Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedic stage play by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour...
and was nominated for a third:
- Winner of the Drama Desk Critic's AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play; - Winner of the Theatre World Special Award for Ensemble Performance.
- Nominated for the Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Actor in a Play.
Television appearances
- Coronation StreetCoronation StreetCoronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
as "Robert Croft". - Helen: A Woman of Today (1973) as "Jack Tully".
- The Duchess of Duke StreetThe Duchess of Duke StreetThe Duchess Of Duke Street is a BBC television drama series set in London between 1900 and 1935. It was created by John Hawkesworth, the former producer of the highly successful ITV period drama Upstairs, Downstairs...
"Family Matters" (1976) as "Arthur". - The ProfessionalsThe Professionals (TV series)The Professionals was a British crime-action television drama series produced by Avengers Mk1 Productions and London Weekend Television that aired on the ITV network from 1977 to 1983. In all, 57 episodes were produced, filmed between 1977 and 1981. It starred Martin Shaw, Lewis Collins and Gordon...
(1977–1981) as "Ray Doyle". - Eleven episodes of Doctor at Large (1971) as "Huw Evans".
- Cream in My CoffeeCream in My CoffeeCream in My Coffee is a television drama by Dennis Potter, broadcast on ITV on 2 November 1980 as the last in a loosely-connected trilogy of plays exploring language and betrayal. A juxtaposition between youth and old age, the play combines a non-linear narrative with the use of popular music to...
(by Dennis PotterDennis PotterDennis Christopher George Potter was an English dramatist, best known for The Singing Detective. His widely acclaimed television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. He was particularly fond of using themes and images from popular culture.-Biography:Dennis Potter was born...
) (1980) as "Jack Butcher". - East LynneEast LynneEast Lynne is an English sensation novel of 1861 by Ellen Wood. East Lynne was a Victorian bestseller. It is remembered chiefly for its elaborate and implausible plot, centering on infidelity and double identities...
(1982) as "Archibald Carlyle". - The Last Place on EarthThe Last Place on EarthThe Last Place on Earth is a 1985 Central Television seven part serial, written by Trevor Griffiths based on the book Scott and Amundsen by Roland Huntford. The book is an exploration of the expeditions of Captain Robert F...
(1985) as "Robert Falcon Scott". - The Chief (1993–1995) as "Chief Constable Alan Cade".
- Rhodes (1996) as "Cecil Rhodes".
- The Scarlet PimpernelThe Scarlet PimpernelThe Scarlet Pimpernel is a play and adventure novel by Baroness Emmuska Orczy, set during the Reign of Terror following the start of the French Revolution. The story is a precursor to the "disguised superhero" tales such as Zorro and Batman....
as "ChauvelinCitizen ChauvelinCitizen Armand Chauvelin is the villain in Baroness Emmuska Orczy's classic novel The Scarlet Pimpernel and the various plays and movies derived from the work....
". - A&EAlways and EveryoneAlways and Everyone was a British television drama that ran from 1999 to 2002. It dramatised the hectic everyday lives of the doctors and nurses running the Accident and Emergency department of the large, busy city hospital, St. Victor's. The series has never been released commercially on VHS or...
(1997–2002) as "Robert Kingsford". - P.D. James's Death in Holy OrdersDeath in Holy OrdersDeath in Holy Orders is a 2001 detective novel in the Adam Dalgliesh series by P. D. James.-Setting:The novel is mainly set in and around an Anglican theological college, Saint Anselm's, on the windswept coast of East Anglia...
(2003) as "Adam DalglieshAdam DalglieshAdam Dalgliesh is a fictional character who has been the protagonist of fourteen mystery novels by P. D. James. Dalgliesh first appeared in James's 1962 novel Cover Her Face and has appeared in a number of subsequent novels.-Character:...
". - Judge John DeedJudge John DeedJudge John Deed is a British legal drama television series produced by the BBC in association with One-Eyed Dog for BBC One. It was created by G.F. Newman and stars Martin Shaw as Sir John Deed, a High Court judge who tries to seek real justice in the cases before him. It also stars Jenny Seagrove...
(2001–2007) as "Judge John Deed". - Martin Shaw: AviatorsMartin Shaw: AviatorsMartin Shaw: Aviators was a six-part British television series produced by Twofour. It was first broadcast on Discovery Real Time in 2006.Each episode of the series had a number of segments...
. - CranfordCranford (TV series)Cranford is a British television series directed by Simon Curtis and Steve Hudson. The teleplay by Heidi Thomas was adapted from three novellas by Elizabeth Gaskell published between 1849 and 1858: Cranford, My Lady Ludlow, and Mr Harrison's Confessions...
(2007) as "Peter Jenkyns". - Inspector George Gently (2007–2010) as "George Gently".
- Lemur StreetLemur StreetLemur Street is a British television show produced by Oxford Scientific Films for Animal Planet International that is based on the successful format of Meerkat Manor. The series premiered in the United Kingdom on 20 November 2007 on the UK Animal Planet network with Martin Shaw narrating.On 8...
(2007-) - ApparitionsApparitions (TV series)Apparitions is a BBC drama about a priest, played by Martin Shaw, who examines evidence of miracles to be used in canonisation but also carries out exorcisms.The series is written by Joe Ahearne.- Episode 1 :...
(2008) as "Father Jacob". - Agatha Christie's PoirotAgatha Christie's PoirotAgatha Christie's Poirot is a British television drama that has aired on ITV since 1989. It stars David Suchet as Agatha Christie's fictional detective Hercule Poirot. It was originally made by LWT and is now made by ITV Studios...
(2010) as "Charles Cartwright".
Theatre appearances
- Look Back in AngerLook Back in AngerLook Back in Anger is a John Osborne play—made into films in 1959, 1980, and 1989 -- about a love triangle involving an intelligent but disaffected young man , his upper-middle-class, impassive wife , and her haughty best friend . Cliff, an amiable Welsh lodger, attempts to keep the peace...
(Royal CourtRoyal Court TheatreThe Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
transferring to the Criterion TheatreCriterion TheatreThe Criterion Theatre is a West End theatre situated on Piccadilly Circus in the City of Westminster, and is a Grade II* listed building. It has an official capacity of 588.-Building the theatre:...
, 1968) as "Cliff Lewis". - The ContractorThe ContractorThe Contractor is a direct-to-DVD action film starring Wesley Snipes and Lena Headey, and directed by Josef Rusnak in 2007 in Bulgaria and the UK.-Plot:...
(Royal Court, 1969; transferring to the Fortune TheatreFortune TheatreThe Fortune Theatre is a 432 seat West End theatre in Russell Street, near Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, built in 1922-4 by Ernest Schaufelberg for impresario Laurence Cowen. The façade is principally bush hammered concrete, with brick piers supporting the roof...
, 1970) as "Paul". - The Battle of Shrivings (Lyric TheatreLyric Theatre (London)The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...
, 1970) as "David". - CancerCancerCancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
(in the United States, Moon Children; Royal Court, 1970) as "Bob". - The BacchaeThe BacchaeThe Bacchae is an ancient Greek tragedy by the Athenian playwright Euripides, during his final years in Macedon, at the court of Archelaus I of Macedon. It premiered posthumously at the Theatre of Dionysus in 405 BC as part of a tetralogy that also included Iphigeneia at Aulis, and which...
(National TheatreRoyal National TheatreThe Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
at the Old VicOld VicThe 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...
, 1973) as "Dionysus". - Saturday, Sunday, Monday (National Theatre at the Old Vic, 1973) as "Attilio" opposite Laurence OlivierLaurence OlivierLaurence 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...
. - A Streetcar Named DesireA Streetcar Named Desire (play)A Streetcar Named Desire is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams for which he received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December 3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, in the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Broadway production was...
(Piccadilly TheatrePiccadilly TheatreThe Piccadilly Theatre is a West End theatre located at 16 Denman Street, behind Piccadilly Circus and adjacent to the Regent Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, England.-Early years:Built by Bertie Crewe and Edward A...
, 1974) as "Stanley Kowalski". - Miss JulieMiss JulieMiss Julie is a naturalistic play written in 1888 by August Strindberg dealing with class, love, lust, the battle of the sexes, and the interaction among them...
(Greenwich TheatreGreenwich TheatreThe Greenwich Theatre is a local theatre located in Croom's Hill close to the centre of Greenwich in south-east London.-Building history:The building was originally a music hall created in 1855 as part of the neighbouring Rose and Crown public house, but the Rose and Crown Music Hall was...
, 1975) as "Jean". - Teeth 'n' Smiles (Wyndham's TheatreWyndham's TheatreWyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham . Located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, it was designed by W.G.R. Sprague about 1898, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916...
, 1976) as "Arthur". - They're Playing Our SongThey're Playing Our SongThey're Playing Our Song is a musical with a book by Neil Simon, lyrics by Carole Bayer Sager, and music by Marvin Hamlisch.In a story based on the real-life relationship of Hamlisch and Sager, a wisecracking composer finds a new, offbeat lyricist, but initially the match is not one made in heaven...
(Shaftesbury TheatreShaftesbury TheatreThe Shaftesbury Theatre is a West End Theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, in the London Borough of Camden.-History:The theatre was designed for the brothers Walter and Frederick Melville by Bertie Crewe and opened on 26 December 1911 with a production of The Three Musketeers, as the New...
, 1981) as "Vernon Gersch". - The Country GirlThe Country GirlThe Country Girl may refer to:* The Country Girl , a 1915 silent film, based on an 18th-century play by David Garrick* The Country Girl , a 1954 film based on a play by Clifford Odets, starring Bing Crosby and Grace Kelly...
(Apollo TheatreApollo TheatreThe Apollo Theatre is a Grade II listed West End theatre, on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster. Designed by architect Lewin Sharp for owner Henry Lowenfield, and the fourth legitimate theatre to be constructed on the street, its doors opened on 21 February 1901 with the American...
, 1983). - Are You Lonesome Tonight? (Phoenix TheatrePhoenix TheatrePhoenix Theatre may refer to:*Phoenix Arts Centre, former name was Phoenix Theatre in Leicester, UK*Phoenix Theatre , a West End theatre*Phoenix Theatre , a professional alternative theatre*Phoenix Theatre , a regional theatre...
, 1985) as 'The Older Elvis Presley' (also Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) - The Big KnifeThe Big KnifeThe Big Knife is a film noir directed and produced by Robert Aldrich from a screenplay by James Poe based on the play by Clifford Odets. The film stars Jack Palance, Ida Lupino, Wendell Corey, Jean Hagen, Rod Steiger, Shelley Winters, Ilka Chase, and Everett Sloane.-Plot:Charlie Castle, a very...
(Albery Theatre, 1987) as Charles Castle - Other People's MoneyOther People's MoneyOther People's Money is a 1991 drama/romantic comedy film starring Danny DeVito, Penelope Ann Miller and Gregory Peck. It is based on the play of the same name by Jerry Sterner. The director was Norman Jewison and the screenplay was credited to Alvin Sargent.-Plot:Corporate raider Lawrence...
(Lyric TheatreLyric Theatre (London)The Lyric Theatre is a West End theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster.Designed by architect C. J. Phipps, it was built by producer Henry Leslie with profits from the Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson hit, Dorothy, which he transferred from the Prince of Wales Theatre to open...
, 1990) as "Garfinkel". - BetrayalBetrayal (play)Betrayal is a play written by Harold Pinter in 1978. Critically regarded as one of the English playwright's major dramatic works, it features his characteristically economical dialogue, characters' hidden emotions and veiled motivations, and their self-absorbed competitive one-upmanship,...
(Almeida TheatreAlmeida TheatreThe Almeida Theatre, opened in 1980, is a 325 seat studio theatre with an international reputation which takes its name from the street in which it is located, off Upper Street, in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre produces a diverse range of drama and holds an annual summer festival of...
, 1991) as "Robert". - Sienna Red, by Stephen PoliakoffStephen PoliakoffStephen Poliakoff, CBE, FRSL is an acclaimed British playwright, director and scriptwriter, widely judged amongst Britain's foremost television dramatists.-Early life and career:...
and co-starring Francesca AnnisFrancesca AnnisFrancesca Annis is an English actress, known for her film and television appearances, most recently in the BBC series Wives and Daughters, Cranford, and Deceit.-Early life and education:...
(Richmond TheatreRichmond TheatreThe present Richmond Theatre, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is a British Victorian theatre located on Little Green, adjacent to Richmond Green. It opened on 18 September 1899 with a performance of As You Like It, and is one of the finest surviving examples of the work of theatre...
, May 1992). - An Ideal HusbandAn Ideal HusbandAn Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedic stage play by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour...
(Globe TheatreGlobe TheatreThe Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, and was destroyed by fire on 29 June 1613...
, 1992) as "Lord Goring". - Rough JusticeRough Justice"Rough Justice" is a song written and recorded by English girl group Bananarama. It was the third single released from their self-titled second album in 1984....
by Terence FrisbyTerence FrisbyTerence Frisby is a London-based playwright and novelist, best known as the author of the play There's A Girl In My Soup.-Personal life:...
(Apollo Theatre, 1994) as "James Highwood". - An Ideal HusbandAn Ideal HusbandAn Ideal Husband is an 1895 comedic stage play by Oscar Wilde which revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour...
(Haymarket TheatreHaymarket TheatreThe Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
transferring to the Old VicOld VicThe 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...
, 1996; revived at the Haymarket in 1997 then transferred to the Gielgud TheatreGielgud TheatreThe Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue in the City of Westminster, London, at the corner of Rupert Street. The house currently has 889 seats on three levels.-History:...
). - Vertigo (Theatre Royal Windsor, October 1998) as "Roger Flaviares" alongside his subsequent co-star Jenny SeagroveJenny SeagroveJennifer Ann Seagrove is an English actress. She trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and rose to fame playing the lead in a TV dramatisation of Barbara Taylor Bradford's A Woman of Substance and the 1983 film Local Hero...
in Judge John Deed. - A Man For All SeasonsA Man for All SeasonsA Man for All Seasons is a play by Robert Bolt. An early form of the play had been written for BBC Radio in 1954, and a one-hour live television version starring Bernard Hepton was produced in 1957 by the BBC, but after Bolt's success with The Flowering Cherry, he reworked it for the stage.It was...
(Haymarket, 2005/6) as Sir Thomas More. - The Country Girl (ApolloApolloApollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, October 2010) co-starring Jenny Seagrove, following a tour.
Film appearances
- MacbethMacbeth (1971 film)Macbeth is a 1971 British-American drama film directed by Roman Polanski, based on William Shakespeare's The Tragedy of Macbeth, about the Highland lord who becomes King of Scotland through treachery and murder. It features Jon Finch as Macbeth and Francesca Annis as Lady Macbeth...
(1971) as "Banquo". - The Golden Voyage of SinbadThe Golden Voyage of SinbadThe Golden Voyage of Sinbad is a fantasy film released in 1974 and starring John Phillip Law as Sinbad. It includes a score by composer Miklós Rózsa and is known mostly for the stop-motion effects by Ray Harryhausen...
(1974) as "Rachid". - Operation DaybreakOperation DaybreakOperation Daybreak is a 1975 World War II film based on the true story of the assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Prague - starring Anthony Andrews, Timothy Bottoms and Martin Shaw. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and shot mostly on location in Prague. It was adapted from the book Seven Men...
(1975). - Facelift (1984) as "Zax".
- Ladder of Swords (1989).
- Oilman (short film).