Kenneth Cranham | |
---|---|
Born | Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland | 12 December 1944
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1963–present |
Spouse(s) | Fiona Victory |
Partner | Charlotte Cornwell |
Children | 2 |
Kenneth Cranham CBE (born 12 December 1944) is a Scottish film, television, radio and stage actor. His most notable screen roles were in Oliver! (1968), Up Pompeii (1971), Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Chocolat (1988), Layer Cake (2004), Gangster No. 1 (2000), Hot Fuzz (2007), Maleficent (2014), and Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017).
On television he appeared in Budgie (1972), Boon (1989), Minder (1993), Merlin (2008), Rome , Death in Paradise (2013), War & Peace (2016), and The White Princess (2017).
On stage he has twice been nominated for the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play, winning it in 2016, for his performance in The Father .
Cranham was born in Dunfermline, Fife, the son of Lochgelly-born Margaret McKay Cranham (née Ferguson) and Ronald Cranham, a London-born civil servant. [1] [2] Cranham trained at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, [3] and at Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1966 with an Acting (RADA Diploma). [4]
He starred in the title role in the popular 1980s comedy drama Shine on Harvey Moon , prior to which he had appeared as Charlie Collins in A Family at War (1971). [5] He also appeared in Oliver! (1968), [5] Up Pompeii (1971), [5] Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972),Danger UXB(1979) Chocolat (1988), [5] Gangster No. 1 (2000), [5] Layer Cake (2004), [5] Hot Fuzz (2007), [5] Maleficent (2014), [5] and Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017). [5] He was cast as the deranged Philip Channard and his Cenobitic alter-ego in the Horror film Hellbound: Hellraiser II . [5]
On television he has appeared in Budgie (1972), [5] Boon (1989), [5] Minder (1993), [5] Rome (2007), [5] Merlin (2008), [5] Death in Paradise (2013), [5] War & Peace (2016), [5] and The White Princess (2017). [5]
Among many stage credits are West End productions of Entertaining Mr Sloane , Loot , An Inspector Calls (both transferring to Broadway), The Ruffian on the Stair , The Birthday Party and Gaslight (at the Old Vic). For his role as Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls , he was nominated for a Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play. [6] It took another 23 years before winning the award when in 2016, Cranham won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as Andre in Florian Zeller's The Father . [7] Cranham's performance was described as "the performance of his life" by Michael Coveney of WhatsOnStage.com. [8]
For BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Play , Cranham has played DS Max Matthews in The Interrogation by Roy Williams (2012–present) and starred as Thomas Gradgrind in BBC Radio's 2007 adaptation of Dickens' Hard Times .
His first wife was actress Diana Quick. He has two daughters: Nancy Cranham from a relationship with actress Charlotte Cornwell, and Kathleen Cranham with his second wife, to whom he is still married, actress Fiona Victory. [1]
Cranham was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to drama. [9]
He has also performed a number of readings for BBC Radio.
Year | Award | Category | Work | Result | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | 1993 Laurence Olivier Awards | Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor | An Inspector Calls | Nominated | [6] |
2015 | Critics’ Circle Theatre Award | Best Actor | The Father | Won | [12] |
2016 | 2016 Laurence Olivier Awards | Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor | Won | [7] [13] | |
Clive Barker is an English novelist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the Books of Blood, which established him as a leading horror writer. He has since written many novels and other works. His fiction has been adapted into films, notably the Hellraiser series, the first installment of which he also wrote and directed, and the Candyman series. He was also an executive producer of the film Gods and Monsters, which won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay.
The Cenobites are fictional, extra-dimensional, and seemingly demonic beings who appear in the works of Clive Barker. Introduced in Barker's 1986 novella The Hellbound Heart, they also appear in its sequel novel The Scarlet Gospels, the Hellraiser films, and in Hellraiser comic books published (intermittently) between 1987 and 2017. In the novel Weaveworld, they are mentioned in passing as "The Surgeons". The Cenobites appear in prose stories authorized but not written by Clive Barker, such as the anthology Hellbound Hearts edited by Paul Kane and Marie O'Regan, the novella Hellraiser: The Toll, and the novel Sherlock Holmes and the Servants of Hell written by Paul Kane.
Billie Honor Whitelaw was an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and was regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works. She was also known for her portrayal of Mrs. Baylock, the demonic nanny in the 1976 horror film The Omen.
Peter Ewart Ohm, known professionally as Peter Vaughan, was an English character actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on stage.
William Simpson Fraser was a Scottish actor who appeared on stage, screen and television for many years. In 1986 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his stage role in the play When We Are Married.
Jack Shepherd is an English actor, playwright and theatre director. He is known for his television roles, most notably the title role in Trevor Griffiths' series about a young Labour MP Bill Brand (1976), and the detective drama Wycliffe (1993–1998). His film appearances include All Neat in Black Stockings (1969), Wonderland (1999) and The Golden Compass (2007). He won the 1983 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a New Play for the original production of Glengarry Glen Ross.
Hellraiser is a British-American horror media franchise that consists of eleven films, as well as various comic books, and additional merchandise and media. Based on the novella The Hellbound Heart by English author Clive Barker, the franchise centers around the Cenobites which includes the primary antagonist named Pinhead.
Ronald G. Cook is an English actor. He has been active in film, television and theatre since the 1970s.
Benjamin Patrick Aris was an English actor who was best known for his parts in Hi-de-Hi! and To the Manor Born, and was also very active on stage. He was often cast as an eccentric, upper-class or upper-middle class man.
Angus MacInnes is a Canadian actor. He is most famous for his role as Jon "Dutch" Vander in Star Wars, and as former hockey great Jean "Rosey" LaRose in the comedy Strange Brew. He also appeared in Witness as a corrupt policeman, as a gangster seeking stolen cocaine in Atlantic City, and he has appeared in BBC Scotland soap River City as Sonny.
Clare Frances Elizabeth Higgins is an English actress. Her film appearances include Hellraiser (1987), Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988), Small Faces (1996), The Golden Compass (2007) and The Worst Witch (2017-2020).
Anthony "Bronco" McLoughlin was an Irish actor, stuntman, and animal trainer.
Sean Chapman is an English actor. He played Frank Cotton in Clive Barker's Hellraiser, and its sequel, Hellbound: Hellraiser II. He also voiced the character Sgt. Michael Sykes in Crysis in 2007 and in Crysis Warhead in 2008.
Simon Bamford is an English film, television and stage actor. He is well known for playing the Butterball Cenobite in Hellraiser in 1987 and its sequel Hellbound: Hellraiser II in 1988.
Chatterer is a fictional character appearing in the Hellraiser film series. He is a Cenobite, an order of extradimensional sadomasochists who experiment in extreme forms of hedonism. His name comes from the constant clicking of his teeth, his only means of communication. He serves the Cenobites' leader Pinhead. Chatterer has become a fan favourite character in the Hellraiser franchise.