(Cast) Best From North & South
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Richard Crispin Armitage was born and raised in Leicester, England, to Margaret (Hendey), a secretary, and John Armitage, an engineer. He attended Pattison College in Binley Road, Coventry, where he discovered his love for acting. He took part in many theatre productions all over the UK, from musical theatre (Cats) to classical theatre (Death of a Salesman). He enrolled at LAMDA in 1995 and starred in The Cherry Orchard and The Normal Heart among others.
He started working in cinema in 1999 with some small roles in Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, Cleopatra and This Year's Love (1999). In 2000 he took part in the RSC Macbeth tour of the USA and Japan with Antony Sher as the lead actor. In 2002, he had a breakthrough with his role as the charming but a bit odd character John Standring in Sparkhouse (2002), a BBC Miniseries in three parts, opposite Sarah Smart. After two guest-roles in Cold Feet (1997) in 2003 and Between the Sheets (2003), he landed a role as Steven in Frozen (2005). In 2004, he became famous throughout the whole UK with his role of mill-owner John Thornton in North & South (2004) (BBC). He landed a key role in BBC Robin Hood from 2006 to 2009 as the dark and evil Guy of Gisborne, then from 2008 to 2010 he played Lucas North in the successful British series Spooks (MI-5 in the USA). He kept working on British TV (Strike Back: Origins in 2010) and had a small but pivotal role in Captain America: the first Avenger, till he became known worldwide with his role of Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson's trilogy of The Hobbit (2012/2014), for which he received a Saturn Award. In 2014 he was the protagonist of Yael Farber's acclaimed version of Arthur Miller's The Crucible at the Old Vic in London, for which role he was nominated for an Olivier Award. He starred in the third season of Hannibal (2015) in the role of serial killer Francis Dolarhyde, which got him another Saturn Award. In 2016 he starred in the Epix original series Berlin Station in the lead role of Daniel Miller, and in the same year he received many positive reviews for his role of Kenneth in Mike Bartlett's Love, love, love for Roundabout Theatre in NYC. In 2017 He worked on Ocean's Eight, and on the second season of Berlin Station. In July 2017 the film Pilgrimage came out with many positive reviews. He has narrated several audio books with Audible, for which he has received two nominations for an Audie Award. He has recently given the voice to Trevor Belmont in the series Castlevania on Netflix.John Thornton
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
North & South
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Hannibal
Castlevania#
8/42- Daniela Denby-Ashe was born on 9 August 1978 in London, England, UK. She is an actress, known for North & South (2004), My Family (2000) and Waterloo Road (2006).Margaret Hale
North & South
1/26 - Actor
- Additional Crew
A familiar patrician-looking face both here and abroad, blue-eyed, fair-haired classical stage and TV actor Tim Pigott-Smith, the son of a journalist, was born on in Rugby, Warwickshire, on May 13, 1946. The Britisher attended King Edward VI School in Stratford-upon-Avon, graduated from Bristol University in 1967, and then receiving his acting training at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. In later years, he would return to Bristol University as a lecturer.
Tim made his professional debut in 1969 with the Bristol Old Vic under the stage name of "Tim Smith" and was predominantly a stage player in both regional and repertory companies. He focused quite strongly on Shakespeare and Greek plays and went on to play Balthazar in "Much Ado About Nothing" for the Prospect touring company as well as Posthumus in a 1974 production of "Cymbeline" for the Royal Shakespeare Company. He made his Broadway debut that same year in "Sherlock Holmes" as Dr. Watson opposite John Wood. Over the years, he would act alongside most of England's grande dame royalty including Judi Dench, Helen Mirren, Geraldine James, Margaret Tyzack, Peggy Ashcroft, Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton.
A charming, distinguished presence on stage, Tim was invited by an ailing Anthony Quayle to take over the running of the Compass theatre company founded by him in 1984 and served as its artistic director from 1989-1992. A theatre director as well ("Hamlet," and "A Royal Hunt of the Sun"), he would take several Shakespearean classics later to BBC-TV. He, in fact, started his small screen career in secondary Shakespeare roles as Laertes in Hamlet (1970) opposite Ian McKellen in the title role and Proculeius in Antony and Cleopatra (1974) starring Richard Johnson and Janet Suzman. He transitioned into more prominent BBC roles with his Angelo in Measure for Measure (1979) and Hotspur in Henry IV Part I (1979).
Aside from Tim's theatre work, quality TV remained an extremely successful venue for decades with impressive performances in such prestigious min-series as North & South (1975), The Glittering Prizes (1976), The Lost Boys (1978), Danger UXB (1979), Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981), Fame Is the Spur (1982), I Remember Nelson (1982), The Jewel in the Crown (1984) (BAFTA-TV as sadistic villain Ronald Merrick) and The Challenge (1986). He enjoyed recurring roles on the TV series Doctor Who (1963), Hannah (1980) and regular roles in the short-lived comedy Struggle (1983), the drama The Chief (1990) and with The Vice (1999). His mellifluous voice was also popular on many BBC radio productions, in audio books, as well as serving as a narrator on such documentary series as Crimes That Shook the World (2006) and Doomsday: World War I (2013)
Film work began in the 1970's but remained far and few and less distinguished with his minor participation in Aces High (1976), Joseph Andrews (1977), Sweet William (1980), Clash of the Titans (1981), Richard's Things (1980), Victory (1981) and The Remains of the Day (1993). He did enjoy a prime role in the nuclear drama A State of Emergency (1985) starring opposite Martin Sheen and Peter Firth.
Pigott-Smith remained a strong, vibrant present on the stage throughout his career. In later years, he played in such contemporary plays as "Benefactors" (1984), "Coming in to Land" (1987) opposite Ms. Smith and "Amadeus" as composer Salieri. He also portrayed Leontes in "The Winter's Tale" (1988) and scored critical acclaim in the 1999 version of "The Iceman Cometh" (both London and Broadway) and with Ms. Mirren in an over four-hour production of "Mourning Becomes Electra." Into the millennium, he was seen in "Julius Caesar" (as Cassius, 2001), "A Christmas Carol" (as Scrooge, 2002), "Women Beware Women" (2006), "Enron" (2009), "Educating Rita" (2010), "A Delicate Balance" (2011), "King Lear" (title role, 2011), "The Tempest" (as Prospero, 2012), the Chorus in "Henry V" in 2013, and earned both Olivier and Tony nominations here and abroad for his powerful portrayal of King Charles III (2015). Tim became an RSC Associate Artist in 2012, and served on both the RSC board (from 2005 until 2011) and as a governor from 2005 until his retirement in 2016.
On film in later years, he often appeared in official high-ranking parts. His list of movies include Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York (2002), The Four Feathers (2002), the historical Greek biopic Alexander (2004) starring Colin Farrell, V for Vendetta (2005), Flyboys (2006), Quantum of Solace (2008), Alice in Wonderland (2010), RED 2 (2013), Jupiter Ascending (2015) and Whisky Galore (2016). He also graced such TV shows as "Downtown Abbey" and recreated his stage triumph in the title role of King Charles III (2017) which earned him a second BAFTA-TV nomination.
Tim was in rehearsals for an upcoming stage performance of "Death of a Salesman" as Willy Loman in London when he died suddenly of natural causes on April 7, 2017, at age 70. He was survived by his actress wife Pamela Miles and their son Tom Pigott Smith, a concert/studio violinist.Richard Hale
North & South
V for Vendetta
Alice in Wonderland
RED 2
4/104- Sinéad Cusack was born on 18 February 1948 in Dalkey, Ireland. She is an actress, known for V for Vendetta (2005), Eastern Promises (2007) and Stealing Beauty (1996). She has been married to Jeremy Irons since 28 March 1978. They have two children.Hannah Thornton
North & South
V for Vendetta
Wrath of the Titans
3/73 - Actor
- Producer
Brendan Coyle was born in Corby, Northamptonshire to an Irish father and Scottish mother; his parents moved to Corby from County Tyrone, Ireland. Brendan holds Irish citizenship and has previously lived in Dublin and London. However, according to a video clip from the site for "Rockface" he resides in Norfolk.
Brendan is also the great nephew of footballing (i.e. soccer) legend Sir Matt Busby of Manchester United fame.
Brendan trained at drama school in Dublin, founded in the late 1960s as the Focus Theatre, was co-founded by his aunt Mary Elizabeth Burke-Kennedy. Brendan started there in 1981 and then received a scholarship to Mountview Theatre School in England in 1983. He has directed at least two plays at Mountview since graduating from there.
Brendan has done a number of stage, television, and movie productions, including the play "The Weir" for which he won an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Performance award for his part as the bartender, Brendan. He continues to work on stage, in film and on television.Nicholas Higgins
North & South
1/65- Actress
- Writer
- Soundtrack
Pauline Quirke was born on 8 July 1959 in Hackney, London, England, UK. She is an actress and writer, known for Birds of a Feather (1989), Emmerdale Farm (1972) and Broadchurch (2013). She has been married to Steve Sheen since August 1996. They have two children.Dixon
North & South
1/63- Jo Joyner was born on 24 May 1977 in Harlow, Essex, England, UK. She is an actress, known for For Her Sins (2023), Stay Close (2021) and Shakespeare & Hathaway: Private Investigators (2018). She has been married to Neil Madden since 14 July 2007. They have two children.Fanny Thornton
North & South
Doctor Who
2/25 - Mary Higgins
North & South
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