Tim Pigott-Smith

Timothy Peter "Tim" Pigott-Smith (born 13 May 1946) is an English film and television actor and author.

Early life

Pigott-Smith was born in Rugby, Warwickshire, the son of Margaret Muriel (née Goodman) and Harry Thomas Pigott-Smith, who was a journalist.^[1] He was educated at Wyggeston Boys' School, Leicester, King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon and Bristol University. He trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Acting career

Television

After a long career in smaller roles, Pigott-Smith got his big break with the leading role of Ronald Merrick in the 1984 television serial The Jewel in the Crown. Other notable appearances include the title role in the crime drama series The Chief (1990–1993), a recurring role in ITV drama The Vice as Ken Stott's nemesis, Vickers, and Bloody Sunday. He has appeared in two separate adaptations of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South; in the 1975 version he played Frederick Hale and in 2004 he played Frederick's father Richard.

He has appeared twice in Doctor Who: in the stories The Claws of Axos (1971) and The Masque of Mandragora (1976).

His distinctive voice has made him a popular narrator of documentary television series. He narrated the Battlefield series, which examines pivotal battles of the Second World War from an operations point of view. More recently, he narrated a series on the British Royal Family, entitled Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work. The series followed Queen Elizabeth II for more than a year, including the 2007 state visit to the United States.

He appeared in Lewis in 2015 as a taxidermist in the episode "One For Sorrow."

Film

His film career has included the 2004 film Alexander, The Four Feathers, Gangs of New York, Johnny English, The Remains of the Day and V for Vendetta. He also made an appearance in the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace. In February 2010 Piggott-Smith played Alan Keen in the television film On Expenses.

Stage

Pigott-Smith is a regular stage actor in Shakespearean and Greek roles; for instance, he played Posthumus in John Barton's 1974 production of Cymbeline for the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 2011 he took the title role in King Lear at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds.^[2]

Contemporary works include Enron, playing Ken Lay, for the Chichester Festival Theatre, and then London, in 2009 and Tobias in A Delicate Balance at the Almeida Theatre, London in 2011.^[3][4] He returned to the Almeida in 2014 as a post-accession Charles, Prince of Wales in King Charles III,^[5] for which he received a nomination for the Olivier Award for Best Actor, and his first Tony Award nomination for its production on Broadway in 2015.

Radio

He is also a noted radio actor, appearing in many productions on BBC Radio 4.

Filmography

Books

During the making of The Jewel in the Crown, Pigott-Smith wrote a diary on his impressions of India. This was published together with an anthology of poetry and prose under the title Out of India.^[6]

He has written two children's books in the series The Baker Street Mysteries, featuring the exploits of Sherlock Holmes' Baker Street Irregulars – The Dragon Tattoo (2008) and Shadow of Evil (2009). Smith has played Holmes in a BBC Radio adaptation of The Valley of Fear.

References

External links

• Tim Pigott-Smith at the Internet Movie Database