Roger Allam
| Roger Allam | |
|---|---|
|
Allam in 2009 | |
| Born |
26 October 1953 Bow, London, England, United Kingdom |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1981–present |
| Spouse(s) | Rebecca Saire |
| Children | 2 sons |
| Website |
all-allam |
Roger Allam (born 26 October 1953) is an English actor, known primarily for his stage career, although he has performed in film, television and radio.
He has most famously played Inspector Javert in the original London production of the stage musical Les Misérables, Douglas Richardson in the award-winning radio series Cabin Pressure, and DI Fred Thursday in the TV series Endeavour.
Life and career
Allam was born in Bow, London, England. He was educated at Christ's Hospital and Manchester University.[1] His father was vicar of St Mary Woolnoth.[2]
He has been nominated four times for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor, winning twice. He has been nominated for, and won, the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor.
He played Mercutio, for the Royal Shakespeare Company, in 1983.[3] He has also appeared in many radio dramas for the BBC. In 2001, he starred in BBC Radio 4's adaptation of Les Misérables, as Valjean. In 2000 he played Hitler at the Royal National Theatre in David Edgar's Speer. He won an Olivier Award as Best Actor 2001, for his role as Captain Terri Denis in a revival of Privates on Parade, opening in December 2001 at the Donmar Warehouse, Covent Garden. In November 2002 at the Comedy Theatre he co-starred with Gillian Anderson in Michael Weller's romantic comedy What the Night Is For.
In 2003, he starred as former West German federal chancellor Willy Brandt in Michael Frayn's play Democracy which opened at the Cottesloe Theatre, in the Royal National Theatre. He stayed with the show for its transfer to the West End. In December 2004 and January 2005, Allam appeared as the villainous Abanazar in a pantomime of Aladdin at the Old Vic theatre, co-starring Ian McKellen, Maureen Lipman and Sam Kelly. He reprised this role at the Old Vic, once again with Ian McKellen and Frances Barber in 2006–07. In August 2005, Allam appeared in Blackbird by David Harrower alongside Jodhi May at the Edinburgh Festival in a production by German star director Peter Stein. The play transferred to the Albery Theatre in London in February 2006. Blackbird subsequently won a best new play award.
He also found time in 2006 to appear in Stephen Frears's movie The Queen, starring Oscar-winner Dame Helen Mirren, as the Queen's private secretary. In February 2007, he performed in the 1960s farce Boeing-Boeing at the Comedy Theatre in the West End, co-starring Mark Rylance, Frances de la Tour and Tamzin Outhwaite. In January 2007, he appeared for the first time as Peter Mannion MP in the special episode of the BBC comedy The Thick of It. He went on to reprise his role in the second special aired in July 2007 and in the extra 15-minute episode shown via the BBC red button. He has carried on with this role as a regular character in the subsequent series.
In 2008, Allam played the role of Max Reinhardt, the Salzburg Festival impresario in Michael Frayn's play Afterlife, the production staged by Michael Blakemore on the National Theatre's Lyttelton stage.[4] In 2009, Allam played Albin/Zaza in La Cage aux Folles at the Playhouse in London. Allam played Falstaff in Henry IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2 at Shakespeare's Globe, in the 2010 season.[5] He won the Olivier Award for Best Actor.[6] In October 2010, Allam was reunitied with his former cast mates from Les Misérables in the 25th anniversary concert for a performance of "One Day More".
In January 2012, British TV audiences found him in the first series of Endeavour, the prequel to the long-running Inspector Morse, playing the gruff but kind-hearted Detective Inspector Fred Thursday, young Endeavour Morse's mentor in a 1960s Oxford - by 2016 he had portrayed this central character in two additional series. In April 2012 he also starred as Uncle Vanya in the play by Anton Chekhov at the Chichester Festival Theatre.
In 2013 he starred as Prospero in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest at Shakespeare's Globe theatre in London[7] alongside Colin Morgan as Ariel. Allam presented Michael Frayn at the 2013 Olivier Awards with a Special Lifetime Award which was aired by ITV1. Allam has also reteamed with Stephen Frears in Tamara Drewe, the film version of Posy Simmond's popular comic strip. He plays the crime novelist Nicholas Hardiment, who is bewitched by London journalist Tamara Drewe, played by Gemma Arterton. In the closing chapter of his Timebends autobiography (1987) Arthur Miller writes of Allam: "To play Adrian....in the 1986 Royal Shakespeare Company production of The Archbishop's Ceiling, Roger Allam gave up the leading role as Javert in the monster hit Les Misérables because he had done it over sixty times and thought my play more challenging for him at that moment of his career. Nor did he consider his decision a particularly courageous one. This is part of what a theatre culture means and it is something few New York actors would have the sense of security even to dream of doing." [8]
In August 2014, Allam was one of 200 public figures who were signatories to a letter to The Guardian opposing Scottish independence in the run-up to September's referendum on that issue.[9]
Allam narrates the Channel 4 series The Auction House.[10]
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Theatre |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Vinegar Tom | Doctor | Humberside Theatre, Hull |
| 1979 | Mary Barnes | Lecturer/Angie's brother | Royal Court Theatre |
| 1981 | Twin Rivals | Subtleman/Richmore | |
| 1981 | Two Gentlemen of Verona | Outlaw | |
| 1981 | Titus Andronicus | Demetrius | |
| 1981, 1983 | All's Well That Ends Well | Morgan | Royal Shakespeare Theatre (1981) Martin Beck Theatre (1983) |
| 1982 | Our Friends in the North | Conrad | |
| 1982 | Poppy | Lin | |
| 1983 | The Charge of the Light Brigade (RSC Festival) | Terence Gawain Hackett | |
| 1983 | Typhoid Mary (RSC Festival) | Dr Soper | |
| 1984 | Romeo and Juliet | Mercutio | |
| 1984 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Theseus/Oberon | |
| 1984 | Richard III | Clarence | |
| 1984 | Today | Victor Ellison | |
| 1984 | The Party | Ford | |
| 1985 | The Dream Play | The Officer | |
| 1985–1986 | Les Misérables | Javert | Barbican Theatre (1985) Palace Theatre (1986) |
| 1986 | The Archbishop's Ceiling | Adrian | |
| 1986 | Heresies | Pimm | |
| 1987 | Measure for Measure | The Duke Vincentio | |
| 1987 | Twelfth Night | Sir Toby Belch | |
| 1987 | Julius Caesar | Brutus | |
| 1989 | The Fairy Queen | Oberon | Aix-en-Provence Festival |
| 1990 | The Seagull | Trigorin | |
| 1990 | Much Ado About Nothing | Benedick | |
| 1991 | Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde | Jekyll | |
| 1992 | Madras House | Philip Madras | Lyric Hammersmith |
| 1992 | Una Pooka | Angelo | Tricycle Theatre |
| 1993 | City of Angels | Stone | Prince of Wales Theatre |
| 1994 | Arcadia | Bernard Nightingale | Theatre Royal Haymarket |
| 1995 | The Importance of Being Earnest | Jack Worthing | Old Vic Theatre |
| 1995 | The Way of the World | Mirabell | National Theatre |
| 1997–1998 | ART | Serge(1997) Marc(1998) | Wyndham's Theatre |
| 1996 | Macbeth | Macbeth | |
| 1996 | The Learned Ladies | Trissotin | |
| 1999 | Summerfolk | Bassov | National Theatre |
| 1999 | Money | Henry Graves | National Theatre |
| 1999 | Troilus and Cressida | Ulysses | National Theatre |
| 2000 | The Cherry Orchard | Lopakhin | National Theatre |
| 2000 | Albert Speer | Adolf Hitler | National Theatre |
| 2001 | Privates on Parade | Terri Dennis | Donmar Warehouse |
| 2002 | What The Night Is For | Adam Penzius | Comedy Theatre |
| 2003 | The Woman in White | Performer | Sydmonton Festival |
| 2003 | Democracy | Willy Brandt | National Theatre |
| 2004, 2005 | Aladdin | Abbanazar | The Old Vic |
| 2006 | Blackbird | Ray | Albery Theatre |
| 2006 | Pravda | Lambert Le Roux | Chichester Festival Theatre, Birmingham Repertory Theatre |
| 2007 | Boeing, Boeing | Bernard | Comedy Theatre |
| 2007 | The Giant | Leonardo da Vinci | Hampstead Theatre |
| 2008 | Afterlife | Max Reinhardt | National Theatre |
| 2009 | La Cage Aux Folles | Albin/Zaza | Playhouse Theatre |
| 2009 | God of Carnage (UK Tour) | Michel Vallon | |
| 2010 | Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 | Falstaff | Shakespeare's Globe |
| 2013 | The Tempest | Prospero | Shakespeare's Globe |
| 2014 | Seminar | Leonard | Hampstead Theatre |
| 2015 | The Moderate Soprano | John Christie | Hampstead Theatre |
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Wilt | Davz | |
| 2003 | Strangers | Eric | Short film |
| 2005 | A Cock and Bull Story | Adrian | |
| 2006 | The Wind That Shakes the Barley | Sir John Hamilton | |
| 2006 | The Queen | Robin Janvrin | |
| 2006 | V for Vendetta | Lewis Prothero | |
| 2008 | Speed Racer | E.P. Arnold Royalton | |
| 2010 | Tamara Drewe | Nicholas Hardiment | |
| 2011 | Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides | Henry Pelham, Prime Minister of Great Britain | |
| 2011 | The Iron Lady | Gordon Reece | |
| 2012 | The Woman in Black | Mr Bentley | [12] |
| 2012 | The Angels' Share | Thaddeus | |
| 2015 | Mr. Holmes | Dr. Barrie | |
| 2013 | The Book Thief | Narrator/Death | |
| 2015 | A Royal Night Out | Stan | |
| 2015 | The Hippopotamus | Ted Wallace | Post-Production |
| 2016 | The Truth Commissioner | Henry Stanfield |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Ending Up | Dr. Mainwaring | Made-for-television film |
| 1989 | The fairy queen | Oberon | Made-for-television film |
| 1990 | The Investigation: Inside a Terrorist Bombing | Charles Tremayne | Made-for-television film |
| 1992 | Shakespeare: The Animated Tales | Duke Orsino / Narrator (voice) | Television mini series; episodes "The Winter's Tale" and "Twelfth Night" |
| 1994 | Screen Two | Stephen Summerchild | Television series; episode "A Landing on the Sun" |
| 1998 | Heartbeat | Graham Hayes | Television series; episode "Echoes of the Past" |
| 1997 | Inspector Morse | Denis Cornford | Television series; episode "Death Is Now My Neighbour" |
| 1998 | The Creatives | Charlie Baxter | Television series |
| 1998 | Midsomer Murders | Alan Hollingsworth | Television series; episode "Faithful unto Death" |
| 1999 | RKO 281 | Walt Disney | Made-for-television film |
| 2002 | Foyle's War | Alastair Graeme | Television series; episode "Eagle Day" |
| 2002 | Waking the Dead | Benjamin Gold | Television series; episode "Thin Air" |
| 2003 | The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone | Christopher | Made-for-television film |
| 2005 | The Inspector Lynley Mysteries | Simon Featherstonehaugh | Television series; episode "The Seed of Cunning" |
| 2007–2012 | The Thick of It | Peter Mannion | Television series |
| 2006 | Spooks | Paul Millington | Television series |
| 2008 | The Curse of Steptoe | Tom Sloane | Made-for-television film |
| 2009 | The Old Guys | Ned | Television series; episode "The Therapist" |
| 2009 | Margaret | John Wakeham | Made-for-television film |
| 2009 | Kröd Mändoon and the Flaming Sword of Fire | General Arcadius | Television series |
| 2009 | Ashes to Ashes | Detective Superintendent Mackintosh | Television series |
| 2011 | Game of Thrones | Magister Illyrio Mopatis | Television series; Episodes: "Winter is Coming" and "The Wolf and the Lion" |
| 2012– | Endeavour | Detective Inspector Fred Thursday | Television series |
| 2012 | Parade's End | General Campion | Television series |
| 2013 | Sarah & Duck | Narrator | Children's Television Series |
| 2013 | The Politician's Husband | Marcus Brock | BBC Two Three Part Drama |
| 2014 | Bad Education | Maurice Hewston | BBC Three Comedy |
Radio
- The King's General (1992 BBC Radio 4 adaptation) as Sir Richard Grenvile.[13]
- The Man in the Elephant Mask (1997 BBC Radio 4 series) as Joseph Merrick.[14]
- The Ring and the Book (2008 BBC Radio 4 adaptation) as Guido Franceschini[15]
- Cabin Pressure (five series from 2008 to 2014) as First Officer Douglas Richardson.[16]
- Will Smith's Midlife Crisis Management (2008 BBC Radio 4 series) as Will's godfather, Peter[17]
- War and Peace (2014 BBC Radio 4 adaptation, aired on New Years Day 2015) as General Mikhail Kutuzov[18]
Audiobooks
Allam has read several audiobooks, including Solar by Ian McEwan.
References
- ↑ "Official Roger Allam Fan Site – dedicated to the Olivier Award Winning actor – Biography". Rogerallam.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ↑ "Acting? This is the real thing" by Robert Gore-Langton The Times, 25 November 2002
- ↑ "Official Website of Roger Allam". All-Allam.com. Retrieved 2015-07-11.
- ↑ National Theatre : Productions : Afterlife
- ↑ Roger Allam to play Falstaff at Globe
- ↑ "Roger Allam Wins Best Actor", Olivier Awards, 13 March 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
- ↑ "Roger Allam: Lear in waiting". The Independent.
- ↑ "Official Website of Roger Allam". All-Allam.com. Retrieved 2015-07-11.
- ↑ "Celebrities' open letter to Scotland – full text and list of signatories | Politics". theguardian.com. 2014-08-07. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ↑ Wollaston, Sam (18 June 2014). "The Auction House - TV review". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
- ↑ "Official Roger Allam Fan Site – dedicated to the Olivier Award Winning actor – Stage". Rogerallam.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-08-26.
- ↑ "The Woman in Black (2011) – Cast". Hammerfilms.com. Retrieved 4 April 2011.
- ↑ "The King's General". BBC.
- ↑ "The Man In The Elephant Mask". radiolistings.co.uk.
- ↑ "BBC Radio 4 - Classic Serial, The Ring and the Book, Episode 1". BBC.
- ↑ "BBC Radio 4 – Cabin Pressure". BBC.
- ↑ "BBC Radio 4 – Will Smith's Midlife Crisis Management". BBC.
- ↑ "BBC Radio 4 – War and Peace, Episode 10". BBC.
External links
- Roger Allam official website
- Roger Allam fansite
- Roger Allam at the Internet Broadway Database
- Roger Allam at the Internet Movie Database
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