Simon McBurney
Encyclopedia
Simon Montagu McBurney, OBE
(born 25 August 1957) is an English actor, writer and director. He is the founder and artistic director of Théâtre de Complicité in England, now called Complicite.
, UK. His father, Charles McBurney, was an American archaeologist and academic. Charles McBurney was the grandson of the American surgeon Charles McBurney
(who was credited with describing McBurney's point
). His mother, Anne Francis Edmondstone (née Charles), was a British secretary of English, Scots, and Irish ancestry; his parents were distant cousins who met during World War II
. McBurney studied English literature at Cambridge University. After his father died, he went to France and trained for the theatre at the Jacques Lecoq
Institute in Paris.
, which performs throughout the world. He directed their productions of Street of Crocodiles
(1992), The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol (1994), Mnemonic (1999) and The Elephant Vanishes
(2003).
A Disappearing Number
was a devised piece conceived and directed by McBurney, taking as its inspiration the story of the collaboration between two of the 20th century's most remarkable pure mathematicians, Srinivasa Ramanujan
, a poor Brahmin from South India and Cambridge don GH Hardy
. It played at the Barbican in Autumn 2008 and toured internationally. In February 2009 McBurney directed the Complicite production Shun-kin, based on two texts by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki. It was produced in London and Tokyo in 2010.
On a freelance basis, McBurney directed the following: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
and All My Sons
(2008) (both in New York), and live comedy shows, including Lenny Henry
's So Much Things To Say and French and Saunders
Live in 2000.
McBurney is an established screen actor: he played the recurring role of Cecil the Choirmaster in The Vicar of Dibley
, CIA computer whiz Garland in Body of Lies
, Dr. Atticus Noyle in The Manchurian Candidate
(2004), Stone in The Last King of Scotland
, the metrosexual
husband Aaron in Friends with Money
, Fra Pavel in The Golden Compass, and Charles James Fox
in The Duchess
. He also wrote the story and was an executive producer for Mr. Bean's Holiday.
He stars in the BBC comedy series Rev.
, where he plays Archdeacon Robert.
He provides the voice of Kreacher in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010).
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 25 August 1957) is an English actor, writer and director. He is the founder and artistic director of Théâtre de Complicité in England, now called Complicite.
Early life
McBurney was born in CambridgeCambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, UK. His father, Charles McBurney, was an American archaeologist and academic. Charles McBurney was the grandson of the American surgeon Charles McBurney
Charles McBurney (surgeon)
Charles Heber McBurney, MD was an American surgeon known for describing McBurney's point in appendicitis.-Biography:Charles McBurney was born in 1845...
(who was credited with describing McBurney's point
McBurney's point
McBurney's point is the name given to the point over the right side of the abdomen that is one-third of the distance from the anterior superior iliac spine to the navel...
). His mother, Anne Francis Edmondstone (née Charles), was a British secretary of English, Scots, and Irish ancestry; his parents were distant cousins who met during 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...
. McBurney studied English literature at Cambridge University. After his father died, he went to France and trained for the theatre at the Jacques Lecoq
Jacques Lecoq
Jacques Pierre Lecoq born in Paris, was a French actor, mime and acting instructor.He is most famous for his methods on physical theatre, movement and mime that he taught at the school he founded in Paris, L'École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq from 1956 until his death in...
Institute in Paris.
Career
McBurney is a founder and artistic director of the UK-based theatre company CompliciteComplicite
The British theatre company Complicite was founded in 1983 by Simon McBurney, Annabel Arden, and Marcello Magni. Its original name was Théâtre de Complicité. "The Company's inimitable style of visual and devised theatre [has] an emphasis on strong, corporeal, poetic and surrealist image supporting...
, which performs throughout the world. He directed their productions of Street of Crocodiles
Street Of Crocodiles
Street of Crocodiles is a 21-minute-long stop-motion animation short subject directed and produced by the Brothers Quay and released in 1986....
(1992), The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol (1994), Mnemonic (1999) and The Elephant Vanishes
The Elephant Vanishes
The Elephant Vanishes is a collection of short stories by Japanese author Haruki Murakami. The stories were written between 1983 and 1990, and the collection's first English publication was in 1993...
(2003).
A Disappearing Number
A Disappearing Number
A Disappearing Number is a 2007 play co-written and devised by the Théâtre de Complicité company and directed and conceived by English playwright Simon McBurney. It was inspired by the collaboration during the 1910s between two of the most remarkable pure mathematicians of the twentieth century,...
was a devised piece conceived and directed by McBurney, taking as its inspiration the story of the collaboration between two of the 20th century's most remarkable pure mathematicians, Srinivasa Ramanujan
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Srīnivāsa Aiyangār Rāmānujan FRS, better known as Srinivasa Iyengar Ramanujan was a Indian mathematician and autodidact who, with almost no formal training in pure mathematics, made extraordinary contributions to mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series and continued fractions...
, a poor Brahmin from South India and Cambridge don GH Hardy
G. H. Hardy
Godfrey Harold “G. H.” Hardy FRS was a prominent English mathematician, known for his achievements in number theory and mathematical analysis....
. It played at the Barbican in Autumn 2008 and toured internationally. In February 2009 McBurney directed the Complicite production Shun-kin, based on two texts by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki. It was produced in London and Tokyo in 2010.
On a freelance basis, McBurney directed the following: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui
The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui is a play by the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht, originally written in 1941...
and All My Sons
All My Sons
All My Sons is a 1947 play by Arthur Miller. The play was twice adapted for film; in 1948, and again in 1987.The play opened on Broadway at the Coronet Theatre in New York City on January 29, 1947, closed on November 8, 1947 and ran for 328 performances...
(2008) (both in New York), and live comedy shows, including Lenny Henry
Lenny Henry
Lenworth George "Lenny" Henry, is a British actor, writer, comedian and occasional television presenter.- Early life :...
's So Much Things To Say and French and Saunders
French and Saunders
French and Saunders is a British sketch comedy television show written by and starring comic duo Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. It is also the name by which the performers are known on the occasions when they appear elsewhere as a double act....
Live in 2000.
McBurney is an established screen actor: he played the recurring role of Cecil the Choirmaster in The Vicar of Dibley
The Vicar of Dibley
The Vicar of Dibley is a British sitcom created by Richard Curtis and written for its lead actress, Dawn French, by Curtis and Paul Mayhew-Archer, with contributions from Kit Hesketh-Harvey. It aired from 1994 to 2007...
, CIA computer whiz Garland in Body of Lies
Body of Lies (film)
Body of Lies is a 2008 American spy film directed by Ridley Scott. Set in the Middle East, it follows the attempts of the CIA and Jordanian Intelligence to catch "al-Saleem", a fictional jihadist terrorist...
, Dr. Atticus Noyle in The Manchurian Candidate
The Manchurian Candidate (2004 film)
The Manchurian Candidate is a 2004 American thriller film based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Richard Condon, and a reimagining of the previous 1962 film....
(2004), Stone in The Last King of Scotland
The Last King of Scotland (film)
The Last King of Scotland is a 2006 British drama film based on Giles Foden's novel of the same name, adapted by screenwriters Peter Morgan and Jeremy Brock, and directed by Kevin Macdonald...
, the metrosexual
Metrosexual
Metrosexual is a neologism derived from metropolitan and heterosexual coined in 1994 describing a man who spends a lot of time and money on shopping for his appearance...
husband Aaron in Friends with Money
Friends with Money
Friends with Money is a 2006 film written and directed by Nicole Holofcener. It opened the 2006 Sundance Film Festival on January 19, 2006 and went into limited release in North America on April 7, 2006.-Plot:...
, Fra Pavel in The Golden Compass, and Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox
Charles James Fox PC , styled The Honourable from 1762, was a prominent British Whig statesman whose parliamentary career spanned thirty-eight years of the late 18th and early 19th centuries and who was particularly noted for being the arch-rival of William Pitt the Younger...
in The Duchess
The Duchess (film)
The Duchess is a 2008 British drama film based on Amanda Foreman's biography of the 18th-century English aristocrat Georgiana Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire. It was released in September 2008 in the UK...
. He also wrote the story and was an executive producer for Mr. Bean's Holiday.
He stars in the BBC comedy series Rev.
Rev. (TV series)
Rev. is a British television sitcom produced by Big Talk Productions. The show premiered on BBC Two on 28 June 2010. The show's working titles were The City Vicar and Handle With Prayer...
, where he plays Archdeacon Robert.
He provides the voice of Kreacher in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010).