British Actors Archives - Page 85 of 130

Andrew Garfield

Andrew Garfield was born in California in 1983 and raised in the the U.K. HIs films include “Lion for Lambs” in 2007 with Robert Redford, “The Other Boylen Girl” and “The Social Network”. Won praise for his performance in television’s “Red Riding Trilogy” as journalist Eddie Dunford in 2009.

TCM Overview:

Andrew Garfield rose from relative obscurity to the Hollywood forefront after he was picked to play Peter Parker for a reboot of the blockbuster “Spider-Man” franchise. The theater-trained actor captivated British audiences, playing an ex-convict who served time for a juvenile crime in the made-for-TV movie “Boy A” (Channel 4, 2007), and in the dystopian drama “Never Let Me Go” (2010), opposite Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan. Garfield gave strong supporting performances alongside such legendary actors as Robert Redford and Meryl Streep in “Lions for Lambs” (2007), and honed his craft under the direction of visionary filmmakers David Fincher and Terry Gilliam. Garfield proved to be Hollywood’s best-kept secret when he was announced as Tobey Maguire’s heir to the Spidey suit for a 2010 film. The coveted role came with considerable pressure and scrutiny, yet Garfield handled his task with the conviction and talent of a more seasoned actor.

Andrew Russell Garfield was born in Los Angeles on Aug. 20, 1983. At the age of four, his family moved to England, where the future star was brought up in the town of Epsom, Surrey. Garfield attended the City of London Freemen’s School in Ashtead, and later trained at the city’s Central School of Speech and Drama. Much like his contemporaries, he began his career on stage, performing at the Royal Exchange Theater in Manchester and garnering accolades such as a MEN Theater Award in 2004 for his role in “Kes,” as well as being named outstanding newcomer at the 2006 Evening Standard Theater Awards. Garfield made his onscreen debut in the short film “Mumbo Jumbo” (2005), a comedy about a suburban kidnapping gone awry, before landing minor roles in various British programs such as “Sugar Rush” (Channel 4, 2005- ) and the sci-fi hit, “Doctor Who” (BBC, 2005- ). Garfield made a leap to a starring role in “Boy A,” where he played a young ex-con who was released from prison after serving for a murder he committed as a child. The role earned him a best actor BAFTA in 2008.

Garfield quickly graduated to the big leagues when he was cast in the political drama “Lions for Lambs” (2007), as an American college student opposite Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise. The film’s heavyweight star power was not enough to carry it commercially and it received mixed reviews, yet it also launched relative newcomer Garfield’s career to new heights. That same year, Variety named him one of Hollywood’s “10 Actors to Watch.” He briefly returned to British television, appearing in the acclaimed “Red Riding” miniseries (Channel 4, 2009), before co-starring in Gilliam’s epic fantasy “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (2009). Garfield played a sleight-of-hand expert and the assistant to a sideshow ringleader (Christopher Plummer). Buzz for the film was punctuated by Heath Ledger’s untimely death mid-way through production, and the very public casting of three actors – Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law – who were brought in to fill his role. The highly publicized film received lukewarm reception stateside, but Garfield’s talent and screen presence thrust him closer and closer to the spotlight.

In 2010, Garfield co-starred opposite fellow British breakouts Knightley and Mulligan in director Mark Romanek’s stylized thriller “Never Let Me Go.” The film followed three boarding school friends who reunite years later, only to discover a grim truth: they are clones, born and raised for the sole purpose of providing organs for transplants. That same year, he portrayed Eduardo Saverin, one of the co-founders of Facebook, in “The Social Network,” based on Ben Mezrich’s book, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal. The film also starred a who’s-who of young Hollywood talents, including Justin Timberlake, Jesse Eisenberg and Rashida Jones. Amidst widespread praise of both the film and its many well-acted performances, Garfield earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture.

Garfield hit the career jackpot in July 2010 after he was chosen to portray Peter Parker in a new “Spider-Man” film franchise. Several young actors were reportedly considered for the iconic role, including Zac Efron, Logan Lerman and Jamie Bell. An international press conference held in Cancun, Mexico revealed Garfield as the new Peter Parker, taking over the role from Tobey Maguire, who had starred in the first three films between 2002 and 2007. Clearing up any doubts as to whether the newcomer could take on the highly coveted role, the film’s director Mark Webb said Garfield had “a rare combination of intelligence, wit and humanity,” which he promised audien online here.ces would love. The fourth installment of the “Spider-Man” series, which focused on the character’s origins, was scheduled for a July 2012 release.

TCM overview can also be accessed here.

Nick Berry was born in 1963 in Woodford. He first came to fame for his performance as ‘Wicksey’ in “Eastenders” from 1985 until 1990. In 1992 he began a six year run in the very popular ITV series “Heartbeat”. His most recent series was “In Deep” which ran from 2001 until 2003. His films include “Forever Young” in 1983 and “Paparazzo” in 1995.

“MailOnline” article:

When Nick Berry gets stopped in the street, the questions are usually the same. ‘It’s, “Didn’t you used to be on EastEnders?”, or, “Are you that bloke from Heartbeat?”‘ he smiles. ‘People aren’t always sure.’

The answer, in both cases, is yes, and although it may seem a long time ago now, between the mid-Eighties and late Nineties Berry was barely off our screens.

After springing to fame as Simon Wicks in EastEnders in 1985, Berry left in 1990 and decamped to the Yorkshire Dales for a six year stint as Heartbeat’s Sergeant Nick Rowan, before taking on the role of harbour master Mike Nicholls in Harbour Light.

Stay-at-home dad: Nick Berry left acting to focus on his family

There was even a brief pop career too: in 1986 Berry released a single, Every Loser Wins, which became the second biggest-selling record in the UK that year.

And then – nothing. Save for a stint in the early Noughties filming police drama In Deep alongside Stephen Tompkinson, Berry disappeared from view, turning his back on acting aged 39 to become a stay-at-home father to his two sons Louis, now 16, and 13-year-old Finley.

Today, nearly ten years on, not only are there no regrets, but Berry insists he has no desire to throw his hat back in the ring. ‘I chose to be a stay-at-home dad and have loved it. I always said that when the boys were teenagers I could go back, but the longer you don’t do something the harder it is to do it, and I haven’t really missed it. While I’d never say never, I’m genuinely happy as I am.’

We’re only meeting today because In Deep has been released on DVD.

Filmed in 2002, the series was effectively Berry’s swan song, and he admits to being taken aback by its resurfacing now.

‘I was in my garden tending my peas when I got a call saying, “We’re going to bring it out again” and I thought, “That seems an awfully long time ago.”‘

Those with long memories will recall that Berry was a genuine screen heart-throb in his time, besieged at the BBC studios where EastEnders was filmed by hoards of screaming women.

It was fun for a time, he admits, but marriage in 1994 to former Levi jeans model Rachel Robertson, now 39, and fatherhood changed his perspective.

‘The job was great,’ he says. ‘You’re driven everywhere, fed every five minutes and told what to do and where to go. What I struggled with was that the boys were very young and I felt like I was away filming all the time. I’d been blessed with these little people and yet I wasn’t really there. I realised I wanted to be at home.’

Of course, cynics may point out that Berry didn’t exactly bow out at the top of his game – Harbour Lights struggled to attract viewers – but by then he had the money to do so.

‘I was rewarded amazingly well for what I did,’ he admits. ‘It was that Eighties/Nineties thing when no one thought it was going to end and people were throwing money around. I was very lucky.’

At one point, he was rumoured to have been offered a £2 million golden-handcuffs deal by EastEnders executives when he resigned in the late Eighties, and he’s amassed an estimated £5 million from his time in the spotlight – certainly enough to fund a rambling house in Epping, Essex, and a beach house in Hove where he boasts Norman Cook and Zoe Ball as neighbours.

‘We all say hello, it’s pretty friendly,’ he says. ‘In the summer, we’re all out playing with our kids on the beach. It’s very chilled-out.’

Despite his spectacular screen success, east London-born Berry says he wasn’t a natural actor. ‘I was never that comfortable in the spotlight. Some of the egos you can do without. A lot of actors take themselves so seriously but, by and large, you’re getting paid to show off.’

Berry is too discreet to identify any culprits, although one must assume that, given his formative years in the soap, he must count some of his former EastEnders castmates among their number.

Although he has a drink from time to time with former cast mates Sid Owen, who played Ricky, and Todd Carty, who played Mark Fowler, he admits that ‘You can’t keep up with everyone.’

Shunning the spotlight certainly seems to suit him: at 48, he is trim and tanned – a product, he says, of long hours in the garden.

‘I’ve basically turned into my dad. I’ve got a shed and a vegetable patch, and I’m pleased to report my peas are doing very well. I’m at my happiest there.’

He and Rachel celebrate their 17th wedding anniversary this year and have been together for nearly two decades. Berry clearly adores his wife, to whom he refers as his ‘soul mate’.

The two of them are business partners too, having set up a production company several years ago, though Berry jokes that it’s ‘not terribly productive’ at the moment. I

n time, however, he says he might be persuaded to work behind the camera, if he finds a project that suits them both. ‘To be honest, I was luckier than I ever thought I would be,’ he says. ‘So, while everything in the garden’s rosy, I’ll carry on growing my peas.’

In Deep is out now on DVD

The above “MailOnline” article can also be accessed online here.

Bradley Walsh was born in 1960 in Watford. He began his working life as a professional footballer with Brentford Football Club in the early 1980’s. In 1994 he was a television presenter on “The National Lottery”. In 1994 he was cast was Danny Baldwin in “Coronation Street”. He remained with the popular show until 2006. He is currently one of the stars of the hughly successful “Law & Order U.K.”.

Diana Quick

Diana Quick was born in 1946 in London. Came to international prominence in her role as ‘Julia’ in “Brideshead Revisited” in 1982 with Jeremy Irons. Her movies include Ridley Scott’s “The Duelists” in 1977 and “The Big Sleep” in 1978.

Interesting article on Diana Quick in the Guardian newspaperwhcich can be accessed here.

Diana Quick

Diana Quick was born in 1946 in London. Her best known role is as Julia Flyte in the television classic “Brideshead Revisited” in 1981. Her film debut was in 1971 in “Nicholas and Alexandra”. Other films include “The Duellists”, “The Big Sleep” and “Saving Grace”.

IMDB entry:

Eclectic British stage actress Diana Quick was trained at Oxford University and has included both the classics and musical theatre in her repertoire over the years, ranging from “Troilus and Cressida” to “The Threepenny Opera”. Though not a potent name in America, she has occasionally graced films and TV. Specializing in aristocratic roles, she stood out among a highly formidable cast in the classic epic mini-series Brideshead Revisited (1981) and received both Emmy and BAFTA nominations for her efforts. She had a long-standing relationship with actor Bill Nighy, and they have one daughter.

– IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Anna Neagle IMDB

Anna Neagle proved to be a box-office sensation in British films for over 25 years. She was noted for providing glamour and sophistication to war-torn London audiences with her lightweight musicals, comedies and historical dramas. She won several awards as Britain’s favourite actress and biggest female box-office draw. Almost all of her films were produced and directed by Herbert Wilcox, whom she married in 1943.

In her historical dramas, Anna Neagle was renowned for her portrayals of real-life British heroines, including Nell Gwynn (Nell Gwynn, 1934), Queen Victoria (Victoria the Great, 1937, and Sixty Glorious Years, 1938) and Edith Cavell (Nurse Edith Cavell, 1939)

Her IMDB entry:

Dame Anna Neagle, the endearingly popular British star during WWII, was born Florence Marjorie Robertson and began dancing as a professional in chorus lines at age 14. She starred with actor Jack Buchanan in the musical “Stand Up and Sing” in the West End and earned her big break when producer/director Herbert Wilcox, who had caught the show purposely to consider Buchanan for an upcoming film, was also taken (and smitten) by Anna, casting her as well in the process.

THEY MET AT MIDNIGHT, from top: Michael Wilding, Anna Neagle on poster art, 1948.

Thus began one of the most exclusive and successful partnerships in the British cinema.

Under Wilcox’s guidance (they married in 1943), Anna became one of the biggest and brightest celebrities of her time. Always considered an actress of limited abilities, the lovely Anna nevertheless would prove to be a sensational box-office commodity for nearly two decades.

She added glamour and sophistication for war-torn London audiences and her lightweight musicals, comedies and even costumed historical dramas provided a nicely balanced escape route.

The tasteful, ladylike heroines she portrayed included nurses Edith Cavell and Florence Nightingale, flyer Amy Johnson and undercover spy Odette; Nell Gwyn and Queen Victoria also fell within her grasp. She appeared in a number of frothy post-war retreads co-starring Michael Wilding that the critics turned their noses on but the audiences ate up – including Piccadilly Incident (1946), Kathy’s Love Affair (1947), Spring in Park Lane (1948) and The Lady with a Lamp (1951).

She tried to extend her fame to Hollywood and briefly appeared there in three musicals in the early 40s, but failed to make a dent. Anna’s appeal faded somewhat in the late 50s and, after producing a few film efforts, retired altogether from the screen.

She returned to her theatre roots, which culminated in the long-running “Charlie Girl”, a 1965 production that ran with Anna for nearly six years. She was bestowed with the honor of Dame of the British Empire in 1969 for her contributions to the theatre. Anna continued to perform after her husband’s death in 1977, later developing Parkinson’s disease in her final years. She died in 1986 of complications.

– IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / gr-home@pacbell.net

Her IMDB entry can also be accessed here.

New York Times obituary in 1996

Dame Anna Neagle, a British stage and screen actress whose career spanned more than half a century, died in a nursing home near London yesterday. She was 81 years old.

Miss Neagle was one of Britain’s leading film stars in the late 1930’s and 40’s, specializing in romantic comedies and costume biographies. She played Queen Victoria twice – in ”Victoria the Great” and ”Sixty Glorious Years” – and also portrayed the World War I nurse Edith Cavell.

Other of Miss Neagle’s films include ”Goodnight Vienna,” ”Nell Gwynn,” ”Piccadilly Incident,” ”Girl in the Street,” ”A Yank in London,” ”Spring in Park Lane,” ”Irene” and a film version of the musical ”No No Nanette.” She had a close working relationship with the director and producer Herbert Wilcox, whom she met in the early 1930’s and to whom she was married for 34 years until his death in 1977. She worked for only two other directors during her long career.

She was not a particular critical favorite: Some found her acting wooden, her voice reedy, and her dancing only adequate. But she was enormously popular with British audiences and was voted most popular actress for seven straight years after World War II. For her part, Miss Neagle said she never read her notices.

In the 1960’s Miss Neagle returned to the stage and appeared in 2,062 performances of ”Charlie Girl” in the West End between 1965 and 1971. Began in Chorus Line

Miss Neagle, whose given name was Marjorie Robertson, was born in London on Oct. 20, 1904, and began her career as part of a dance troupe called ”The Young Ladies.” In a scene that could have come from a Hollywood musical, Miss Neagle was picked from a chorus line in 1931 to appear opposite Jack Buchanan in a West End show, ”Stand Up and Sing.” Other stage appearances included ”Magic Night” and ”The Little Damozel.”

Mr. Wilcox saw her in the latter play and chose her to appear in ”Goodnight Vienna.” Her portrayal of a British Secret Service agent in ”Odette” was considered by many to be her finest performance, although ”Piccadilly Incident,” with Michael Wilding, a melodramatic tale of love and war, may have been her biggest success.

In recent years, Miss Neagle’s film work had undergone a revival, and she came to New York last year for a retrospective of her films presented by the Museum of Modern Art. She was made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth in 1979.

Miss Neagle last appeared on stage earlier this year in a variety show that ran three months at the Palladium in London. She entered a nursing home 10 days ago, suffering from exhaustion

Charles Lawson plays the part of Jim McDonald in “Coronation Street” so he does. He has been playing the role since 1989. He was born in Belfast in 1959. In 1982 he had a featured role in the terrific series “Harry’s Game”. His first film role was in “Ascendancy” in 1983. Other films include “Four Days in July”, “Up Line” and TV series like “Boon”, “Dalziel & Pascoe”, “Holby City” and “Casualty”.

Charles Lawson interview here.

Aoife Mulholland was born in 1978 in Galway. On the London stage she starred as Roxie Hart in the muscial “Chicago” and as Maria Von Trapp in “The Sound of Music”. She was featured in the film “Malicious Intent”. Her “Wikipedia” entry can be accessed here.

Fionnuala Elwood was born in 1964 in Dublin. One of her first major acting roles was in “Prime Suspect” in 1991 on television. Other roles include nine years in “Emmerdale Farm” and roles in such shows as “Coronation Street” and “Casualty”.

Shane Richie was born in 1964 in London to Irish parents. He began his career in comedy but then also began to do straight acting. He has played Alfie Moon in “Eastenders”. He has also starred in insuch TV series as “Skins”, “The Good Samaratian” and “Father Frank”.

Collection of Classic Brittish Actors

Andrew Garfield

Nick Berry

Bradley Walsh

Diana Quick

Anna Neagle

Anna Neagle IMDB

New York Times obituary in 1996

Charles Lawson

Aoife Mullholland

Fionnuala Elwood

Shane Richie

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