Don Warrington

This article is about the British actor. For the Canadian football player, see Don Warrington (Canadian football).
Don Warrington
Born Don Williams
(1951-05-23) 23 May 1951
Occupation Actor
Years active 1974 - present

Don Warrington, born Donald Williams MBE (born 23 May 1951) is a Trinidadian-born British actor.[1][2][3]

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.[4][5]

Career

Warrington was born in Trinidad but as a young child went with his mother to England, where he was raised in Newcastle upon Tyne.[6]

His father, Basil Kydd, was a Trinidadian politician who died in 1958.[7][8] Warrington trained as an actor at the Drama Centre London.[9] He started acting in repertory theatre at the age of 17.[10]

Warrington is known for playing Philip Smith in Rising Damp, from 1974 to 1978, alongside Leonard Rossiter and Richard Beckinsale. Warrington also appeared as series regular in the crime drama C.A.T.S. Eyes, as government contact Nigel Beaumont (1985-1987); in Impact Earth (2007) playing General Harris; and in New Street Law as Judge Ken Winyard.

In 1993 Warrington played television reporter Graham Gaunt in To Play The King, the second part of the BBC's House Of Cards trilogy.

In 2013 Warrington played the lead role of Joe Keller, in Talawa Theatre Company's all-black revival of Arthur Miller's tragedy All My Sons at the Manchester Royal Exchange,[11][12] directed by Michael Buffong – a production that The Guardian reviewer called "flawless", giving it a five-star rating.[13]

He has had smaller roles in many programmes including Red Dwarf, Lovejoy, Manchild, and Diamond Geezer. Warrington portrayed the villainous founder of Time Lord society, Rassilon, in several Doctor Who audio plays, and also appeared as the President of an alternate universe Great Britain in the Doctor Who episode "Rise of the Cybermen" (2006). Soon after, he recorded an abridged audio book of the Doctor Who novel The Art of Destruction by Stephen Cole.

Warrington has performed with the National Theatre,[14] the Royal Shakespeare Company, Bristol Old Vic.

He is one of the interviewees on the BBC 2 series Grumpy Old Men, and he appears in a series of Kenco coffee advertisements in the United Kingdom in which he plays an African coffee plantation owner. He regularly provides voice-overs for both BBC TV and radio.

Warrington has also appeared in BBC1 sitcom The Crouches, which aired from 9 September 2003 until 2005. He played Bailey, who was Roly's boss at a London Underground station in South London. Roly was played by Robbie Gee. Warrington played the role of the Hospital Chaplain in Casualty, assuming the role of Trevor. He also starred in the 2010 film It's a Wonderful Afterlife.

He has provided voiceover links, reading out the various methods of contacting the show on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show on BBC Radio 2, which has been broadcast since 11 January 2010.

Since 2011, Warrington has played Commissioner Selwyn Patterson in the hit BBC show Death in Paradise.[15][16]

He also appeared as jazz musician Frederick J. Louden in a BBC radio production of The Devil's Music, written by Alan Plater. In 2011, Warrington played the father of a suspected terrorist in the last series of the BBC drama Waking the Dead. In 2012–13 he toured with Gwen Taylor in the new stage version of Driving Miss Daisy.[17]

In late 2015, it was announced that Warrington would play King Lear in Talawa Theatre Company's production of William Shakespeare's play.[18][19] Warrington won universal acclaim for his performance as King Lear in the 2016 Talawa Theatre Company and Manchester Royal Exchange co-production, with critics describing it as a "heartbreaking tour-de-force",[20] The Stage wrote that "Warrington seizes and owns it with magnetic, majestic power".[21][22]

Strictly Come Dancing

In 2008 Warrington competed in the sixth series of Strictly Come Dancing, partnered with the 2005 and 2006 British National Champion in Latin American dance, Lilia Kopylova.[23] After Week 4, Warrington was joint seventh out of the remaining 12 contestants with an average of 24.5 points. In Week 5 he was eliminated, having lost the dance-off against Heather Small, with the first three judges all voting for Small over Warrington.

He joined the show in order to step out of his comfort zone, and he appreciated the opportunity to learn to dance.[24]

Week # Dance/Song Judges' score Result
Horwood Phillips Goodman Tonioli Total
1 Cha-Cha-Cha / "Let's Groove Tonight" 3 5 6 5 19 Dance Off
3 Tango / "Whatever Lola Wants" 7 7 8 8 30 Safe
5 American Smooth / "My Way" 6 6 7 6 25 Eliminated

Television roles

Year Title Role
1974 to 1978 Rising Damp Philip Smith
1985 to 1987 C.A.T.S. Eyes Nigel Beaumont
2002 to 2003 Manchild Patrick
2003 to 2005 The Crouches Bailey
2006 to 2007 New Street Law Judge Ken Winyard
2006 Doctor Who The President ("Rise of the Cybermen")
2009 on Casualty Hospital Chaplain Trevor
2011 on Death In Paradise Commissioner Selwyn Patterson
2014 Chasing Shadows Chief Superintendent Harley Drayton

Footnotes

  1. ↑ "Don Warrington MBE", The British Blacklist.
  2. ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/10058787/Don-Warrington-Rigsbys-a-racist-but-thats-not-the-real-issue.html
  3. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2345724/Don-Warrington-Rising-Damp-star-61-recalls-emigrating-child-Trinidad-Newcastle.html
  4. ↑ The London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 58729. p. 24. 14 June 2008.
  5. ↑ http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2345724/Don-Warrington-Rising-Damp-star-61-recalls-emigrating-child-Trinidad-Newcastle.html
  6. ↑ Dominic Cavendish, "Don Warrington: Rigsby's a racist - but that's not the real issue", The Telegraph, 15 May 2013.
  7. ↑ Don Warrington biography, from Caribbean Britain: The Cultural and Biographical Directory by Marjorie H. Morgan. Historical Biographies, 1 October 2012.
  8. ↑ Maureen Paton, "The day that changed my life: Don Warrington the former Rising Damp star, 61, recalls emigrating as a child from Trinidad to Newcastle", Mail Online, 21 June 2013.
  9. ↑ Don Warrington biography, ATG Tickets.
  10. ↑ Ultimate Strictly.
  11. ↑ "All My Sons", Talawa Theatre Company.
  12. ↑ Clare Brennan, "All My Sons – review", The Observer, 6 October 2013.
  13. ↑ Alfred Hicking, "All My Sons – review", The Guardian, 2 October 2013.
  14. ↑ Don Warrington page, National Theatre.
  15. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/5NBydTwDZryNHPG17f3lLBp/characters
  16. ↑ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0913116/
  17. ↑ Marion McMullen, "Driving force behind Don Warrington's stage return", Coventry Telegraph, 8 February 2013.
  18. ↑ https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2015/don-warrington-cast-as-king-lear-at-the-royal-exchange/
  19. ↑ https://www.thestage.co.uk/news/2015/don-warrington-backs-calls-for-mobo-theatre-awards/
  20. ↑ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/theatre/what-to-see/don-warringtons-king-lear-is-a-heartbreaking-tour-de-force/
  21. ↑ https://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/2016/king-lear-review-at-the-royal-exchange-theatre-manchester/
  22. ↑ http://www.talawa.com/articles/king-lear-reviewed/
  23. ↑ "Don Warrington & Lilia Kopylova", Strictly Come Dancing, BBC One.
  24. ↑ Alex Fletcher, "Don Warrington ('Strictly Come Dancing')", Digital Spy, 22 October 2008.

External links

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