Oliver Ford Davies | |
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 Davies in 2008 | |
| Born | Oliver Robert Ford Davies 12 August 1939 |
| Occupation(s) | Actor, writer |
| Years active | 1959–present |
Oliver Robert Ford Davies OBE (born 12 August 1939) is an English actor, theatre historian, director, playwright, and writer. He is best known for his extensive theatre work, and to a broader audience for his role as Sio Bibble in Star Wars Episodes I to III. He is also known for his role as Maester Cressen in HBO series Game of Thrones .
Oliver Robert Ford Davies [1] [a] was born in Ealing, Middlesex, England on 12 August 1939. [3] His father was a teacher. [4]
He attended the King's School, Canterbury.[ citation needed ] Aged 11, he performed in a school play, Richard of Bordeaux, and found that he "liked being someone else". [4] In 1956 he joined the eminent Ealing amateur company Questors. [5]
He won a scholarship to Merton College, Oxford, where he read history and became president of the Oxford University Dramatic Society. After obtaining his DPhil, [6] he did a postgraduate teaching qualification. [4]
From 1964 [4] Davies worked as a history lecturer at the University of Edinburgh before taking up acting professionally in 1967, [4] "to give acting a go". Among his students was future foreign secretary of the UK Robin Cook. [7]
In 1959, as a member of the Oxford University Experimental Theatre Club, Davies appeared in his first Stratford performance in the Memorial Theatre's open-air production of Bartholomew Fair . [8] [9]
His first professional appearances were, at the age of 27, in the 1967 season at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre - which at that time included included Michael Gambon, Brian Cox, Timothy Dalton, and Anna Calder-Marshall. [4] Short Seasons at the Mermaid, London, the Oxford Playhouse and the Cambridge Arts Theatre followed. [10] Davies' long and prolific association with the Royal Shakespeare Company started in 1975, when director Terry Hands cast him as Mountjoy in Henry V . [11] [12]
His big breakthrough in theatre came in 1990, when he was given the lead role in David Hare's Racing Demon at the National Theatre in London. [4]
In 2002, Davies played King Lear in an Almeida Theatre production. The following year, he played opposite Joan Plowright in Absolutely! (perhaps), an adaptation of Pirandello's Cosi e (se vi pare) by Martin Sherman. Franco Zeffirelli directed the play for Wyndham's and Haymarket theatres. [7] [2]
In 2008 he appeared on stage as Polonius in Hamlet with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), alongside David Tennant and Patrick Stewart. The cast were once again assembled to create a film version, which was broadcast on television in December 2009. [13] In May 2009, Davies appeared in All's Well That Ends Well at the Royal National Theatre as the King of France. [14] In 2010, he appeared at the Orange Tree Theatre as Balfour in the premiere of Ben Brown's play The Promise, about the Balfour Declaration. [15] [16]
In 2011, he appeared in a stage adaptation of Michelle Magorian's book Goodnight Mister Tom , in which he played the central character, Thomas Oakley. He was back with the RSC in 2014 as Justice Shallow in Henry IV, Part 2 . Davies again appeared with David Tennant in Richard II in 2013.[ citation needed ]
In 2019, Davies played the Button Moulder in David Hare's adaptation of Henryk Ibsen's Peter Gynt at the Olivier Theatre. [17]
On television, Davies had a regular role as Peter Foxcott QC in Kavanagh QC and was schoolmaster Le Bas in the serialisation of A Dance to the Music of Time (1997).[ citation needed ] He also appeared with John Thaw in an episode of Inspector Morse and also appeared in the ITV television drama The Uninvited , and in a 2002 episode of the popular drama Foyle's War .[ citation needed ]
On film, his most prominent role was probably Sio Bibble in the Star Wars prequel trilogy films, released in 1999, 2002 and 2005.[ citation needed ] In 2003, Davies appeared in the film Johnny English , where he portrayed the Archbishop of Canterbury.[ citation needed ]
He appeared as Maester Cressen in the TV series Game of Thrones. [18]
Davies' books include Playing Lear (2003), an account of his experience while performing King Lear at the Almeida Theatre, [19] and Performing Shakespeare (2007, republished 2019). [20] Both are published by Nick Hern Books. [19] [20]
Davies wrote and published his memoir, An Actor's Life in 12 Productions, in 2022 through The Book Guild publishing. [21] [7]
Davies' drama King Cromwell was staged at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, in November 2003. The director was Sam Walters and Davies himself took the title role. [22] [23] [7]
Davies is also an historian of theatre, and as mentioned earlier, was a university lecturer before devoting himself to acting full-time. [7]
In February 2019 Davies discussed his career in the BBC Radio Three series Private Passions. [24]
Davies was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award in 1990 (1989 season) for Best Actor in a New Play for Racing Demon . [7] He was twice nominated for a Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for his performance in Absolutely! (perhaps) at the Wyndham's Theatre in 2003, and again in 2009 for his performance as Polonius in the RSC production of Hamlet at the Novello Theatre.
He is an Honorary Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company. [11]
In 2023, Davies' book, An Actor's Life in 12 Productions published by The Book Guild in November 2022, won the Society for Theatre Research's 2023 STR Theatre Book Prize, [21] and was well-reviewed by actor and theatre director Andrew Hilton. [7]
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to drama. [25] [26]
Davies is left wing politically, and an internationalist. [7]
He has said that the actor he most admires is Paul Scofield, in particular his portrayal of King Lear in 1962. [4]
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