 |
Gregory de Polnay | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gregory Peter De Polnay 17 October 1943 |
| Nationality | British |
| Alma mater | Royal Central School of Speech and Drama |
| Occupation(s) | Actor Director Voice teacher |
Gregory de Polnay (born 17 October 1943) is an English-born actor, director and voice teacher who is noted for his work on stage, radio and television.
Born in London, in 1943, the son of Peter de Polnay and Margaret Mitchell Banks, he was probably best remembered for his role as Det. Sgt. Mike Brewer in Dixon of Dock Green , de Polnay was also a regular in the Australian sitcom series, The Group (1971).
De Polnay's credits include: Space: 1999 , Doctor Who (the serial The Robots of Death ), [1] Poldark , Enemy at the Door , Tenko , The Fourth Arm , [2] One by One , Howards' Way and Boon .
De Polnay has been an actor, director and voice teacher for nearly forty years, working in all aspects of the theatre with several West End credits to his name and appearing with the RSC in his own production of You Can't Shut Out The Human Voice featuring Peggy Ashcroft and Ben Kingsley. He also has over 100 TV appearances and 350 radio broadcasts to his name.
Due to an accident sustained while playing Malvolio in Twelfth Night at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, the USA in 1987, de Polnay retrained as a voice specialist at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, where he gained the Advanced Diploma in Voice Studies and later on an MA at King's College London in Text and Performance Studies. Whilst being Head of Voice at the Drama Centre, London and at LAMDA, he has been a prominent member of staff at several major drama schools and has lectured on 'Language and Style' in the USA, Canada and South Africa.
During the past decade, de Polnay has directed twenty-one Jacobean and Restoration plays for RADA. He was a drama advisor for the BBC World Service Classical Drama Series and has adapted several plays for the BBC World Service. When not directing, de Polnay works for several organizations in the field of public speaking and communication skills, including his own business GdeP Associates Ltd in London. He coaches several top TV and sports presenters. de Polnay also works extensively for RADA in Business providing communication and presentation skills training for a wide variety of business organizations. He has been appointed Director of the RADA Shakespeare Certificate Scheme.
Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh is a British actor and filmmaker. Born in Belfast and raised primarily in Berkshire, Branagh trained at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and has served as its president since 2015. He has directed and starred in numerous projects on stage and screen. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs, two Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and an Olivier Award. He was appointed a Knight Bachelor in the 2012 Birthday Honours, and was given Freedom of the City in his native Belfast in 2018. In 2020, he was ranked in 20th place on The Irish Times' list of Ireland's greatest film actors.
Sir Derek George Jacobi is an English actor. Jacobi is known for his work at the Royal National Theatre and for his film and television roles. He has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, two Olivier Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Tony Award. He was given a knighthood for his services to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.
Sir Antony Sher was a British actor, writer and theatre director of South African origin. A two-time Laurence Olivier Award winner and a four-time nominee, he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1982 and toured in many roles, as well as appearing on film and television. In 2001, he starred in his cousin Ronald Harwood's play Mahler's Conversion, and said that the story of a composer sacrificing his faith for his career echoed his own identity struggles.
Richard Kimber Franklin is an English actor, writer, director and political activist. Principally a stage actor, he has also appeared as a regular character in several high-profile British television programmes, including Crossroads and Emmerdale Farm, and he portrayed Captain Mike Yates of UNIT in Doctor Who from 1971 until 1974, returning to the role on a number of occasions both on television and in Doctor Who spin-off media.
Sir David Mark Rylance Waters is a English-American actor, playwright and theatre director. He is known for his roles on stage and screen having received numerous awards including an Academy Award, three BAFTA Awards, two Olivier Awards and three Tony Awards. In 2016, he was included in the Time 100 list of the world's most influential people. In 2017 he was made a knight by Queen Elizabeth II.
David John Threlfall is an English stage, film and television actor and director. He is best known for playing Frank Gallagher in Channel 4's series Shameless. He has also directed several episodes of the show. In April 2014, he portrayed comedian Tommy Cooper in a television film entitled Tommy Cooper: Not Like That, Like This. In 2014, he starred alongside Jude Law in the thriller Black Sea. In 2022, he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Play for his performance in the Martin McDonagh play Hangmen.
Brian Bedford was an English actor. He appeared in film and on stage, and was an actor-director of Shakespeare productions. Bedford was nominated for seven Tony Awards for his theatrical work, winning once.
Paul Shelley is an English actor.
Gareth S. Armstrong is a British actor, director, teacher and writer.
Stephen John Thorne was a British actor of radio, film, stage, and television. He was best known for his regular BBC Radio 4 work and audiobook recordings, and for his portrayals of several Doctor Who villains, including the Time Lord Omega.
Miles Anderson is a British stage and screen actor, born in the colony of Southern Rhodesia, who has appeared in television serials both in the United Kingdom, and North America. He appeared as Alistair the photographer in the film La La Land. In 2021 he played 'Lennox' in Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth with Denzel Washington and Frances McDormand. He is commonly remembered in the UK for his role as Lieutenant Colonel Dan Fortune in ITV television show Soldier Soldier that aired in 1991-92
Jamie Parker is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Harry Potter in the original cast for the West End play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, for which he received a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play and a WhatsOnStage Award for Best Actor in a Play. He also received a nomination for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Play as a member of the original Broadway version.
Nicholas Le Prevost is an English actor.
Ian McDiarmid is a Scottish actor and director of stage and screen. Making his stage debut in Hamlet in 1972, McDiarmid joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1974, and has since starred in a number of Shakespeare's plays. He has received an Olivier Award for Best Actor for Insignificance (1982) and a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for Faith Healer (2006).
Robert Marsden was an English actor, director, dramatic recitalist and teacher of drama at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and elsewhere. He was also one of the earliest wartime members of the BBC Radio Drama Repertory Company, formed to meet the circumstances of World War II.
Jason Peter Watkins is an English stage, film and television actor. He played the lead role in the two-part drama The Lost Honour of Christopher Jefferies, for which he won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor. He has also played William Herrick in Being Human, Gavin Strong in Trollied, Simon Harwood in W1A, Gordon Shakespeare in the film series Nativity, British Prime Minister Harold Wilson in Season 3 of The Crown and Detective Sergeant Dodds in McDonald & Dodds.
Philip James Voss was a British stage, radio, film and television actor.
Paul Meier is a British-American dialect and voice coach, theatre director, playwright, stage and screen actor, and voice-over artist best known for founding and managing Paul Meier Dialect Services and the International Dialects of English Archive (IDEA).
Burt Caesar is a British actor, broadcaster and director for stage and television, who was born in St Kitts and migrated to England with his family as a child. His career has encompassed acting in Bond films, stage performances including in Shakespearian roles, and many plays for BBC Radio 4. Caesar regularly works as a director and is an artistic advisor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA). He is also a commentator on theatre and literature.
Bill Homewood is an English television and stage actor and singer. He worked on several BBC Children's television series in the 1970s and 1980s, and was subsequently known for his work in the Royal Shakespeare Company, in the West End, on tour, and his recordings of audiobooks. He is also a published poet.
 | This article about a United Kingdom film and television actor is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |