James McAvoy
McAvoy at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival
Born	James Andrew McAvoy (1979-04-21) 21 April 1979 (age 33)[1] Port Glasgow, Scotland
Alma mater	Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
Occupation	Actor, Voice actor
Years active	1995–present
Spouse	Anne-Marie Duff (2006–present)

James Andrew McAvoy^[2] ( /ˈmækəvɔɪ/ MAK-ə-voi; born (1979-04-21)21 April 1979) is a Scottish stage and screen actor. He made his acting debut as a teen in 1995's The Near Room and continued to make mostly television appearances until the early 2000s. His notable television work includes State of Play, Shameless, and Frank Herbert's Children of Dune. Besides screen acting, McAvoy has appeared on stage with Three Days of Rain in 2009, and in 2011 he did voice work for animated films including Gnomeo & Juliet and Arthur Christmas.

Starting in 2003, McAvoy began to build his film resume with Bollywood Queen. That film was followed with The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (2005), a commercial hit. His performance in Kevin Macdonald's The Last King of Scotland achieved him not only critical praise, but several award nominations. 2007's critically acclaimed Atonement marked the breakthrough in McAvoy's career. It also earned him a Golden Globe Award nomination and his second BAFTA nomination. Another big point in the actor's career was starring in Wanted (2008). Since then, he is notable for playing Charles Xavier in the 2011 superhero film X-Men: First Class.

Early life and family[link]

James McAvoy was born in Port Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Elizabeth (née Johnstone), a psychiatric nurse, and James McAvoy Senior, a builder.^[3][4] He was brought up as a Roman Catholic.^[5] His parents divorced when he was seven, which McAvoy took hard.^[1][3][4] McAvoy's mother suffered from poor health and subsequently decided it was best that he live with his maternal grandparents, Mary and butcher James Johnstone, in the nearby Drumchapel area of Glasgow in a terrace council house.^[3][6] His mother lived with them intermittently.^[4] The actor has regularly visited his grandparents.^[3] He has a sister, Joy, and a younger half-brother, Donald.^[3][4] McAvoy has not been in contact with his father since childhood.^[4] According to his father, McAvoy avoided any contact with him after he moved in with his new lover.^[3] Nonetheless, the actor had a good upbringing.^[7] He attended St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary in Jordanhill, Glasgow, a Catholic school, and briefly considered joining the Catholic priesthood.^[7][8] In a 2006 interview, McAvoy admitted that part of the reason why he considered becoming a priest was that he wanted to use it as an excuse to travel.^[9] During his education, he worked at a local bakery.^[7][8]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

McAvoy's acting debut came at the age of 15 in The Near Room (1995). McAvoy later admitted that he was not very interested in acting when joining the movie, but was inspired to study the craft after developing feelings for his co-star, Alana Brady.^[10] He continued to act while still a member of PACE Youth Theatre.^[11] McAvoy eventually graduated from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in 2000.^[12] Throughout the early 2000s, McAvoy made guest appearances in television shows and began working on movies. In 2001, the actor appeared in a play entitled Out in the Open. His performance in the play as a gay hustler impressed filmmaker Joe Wright so much that he stayed on his radar and offered McAvoy parts in his movies, but to no avail, as the actor turned them down for years.^[12]

He also starred in Privates on Parade in the Donmar Warehouse, this time catching Sam Mendes's attention.^[4] Also during 2001, the actor appeared in Band of Brothers, an eleven-hour World War II miniseries by executive producers Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks.^[13] It was shown on the HBO network.^[14] He gained the attention of critics in 2002's made-for-television adaption of the book White Teeth.^[15]

During 2003 McAvoy appeared in the Sci Fi Channel miniseries Frank Herbert's Children of Dune, adapted from Frank Herbert's novels. It is one of the highest-rated programs ever to be aired on the channel.^[16] More cable work came for him when he accepted the role of an unprincipled reporter in 2003's State of Play. The well-received six-part British drama serial tells the story of a newspaper's investigation into the death of a young woman and was broadcast on BBC One.^[17][18] Calling the program a "must-see", the Chicago Tribune recommended State of Play for its cast's performance.^[19] During 2002, McAvoy shot scenes for Bollywood Queen. Called West Side Story meets Romeo and Juliet with bindis, the movie deals with star-crossed lovers caught in the middle of clashing cultures. It was shown as a special presentation at the 2003 Sundance Film Festival and opened in UK theatres on 17 October.^[20][21] In 2004, he acted in a supporting role in the romantic comedy Wimbledon, also featuring Kirsten Dunst as a co-lead.^[22] His next project was voicing a character named Hal in the 2004 English version of Strings, a mythic fantasy film.^[23] Another 2004 release for him was Inside I'm Dancing, an Irish production helmed by Damien O'Donnell. In it, the actor was cast as the principal character: a maverick with duchenne muscular dystrophy.^[24]

Critical success[link]

McAvoy rounded out 2004 by appearing in the first two seasons of Shameless as Steve McBride, the moral hero of the BAFTA-winning Channel 4 program, giving the actor a big break in his career.^[25] His public profile was raised in 2005 with the release of Walt Disney Pictures's The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. McAvoy starred in the fantasy adventure film made by Andrew Adamson and based on C. S. Lewis's'children's novel as Mr. Tumnus, a faun who befriends Lucy Pevensie (played by Georgie Henley) and joins Aslan's (Liam Neeson) forces. It was given a UK release of 9 December. At the UK box office, this movie opened at number one, earning around £8.7 million at 498 cinemas over the weekend.^[26] Worldwide, Narnia grossed £463 million, making it the 41st highest-grossing film of all-time worldwide.^[27] That succeeding year he also accepted the principal role of Brian Jackson, a nerdy university student who wins a place on a University Challenge quiz team in the mid-1980s, in Starter for 10. He was directed by David Nicholls, who adapted the film's screenplay from his own book. The British/American production was given distribution in the UK on 10 November. 10 scored a rating of 89% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes based on a sample of 75 reviews.^[28] In spite of the positive buzz, the movie flopped at the box office, unable to recover its production costs of £5.7 million.^[29][30]

Forrest Whittaker had suggested McAvoy to director Kevin Macdonald for the role of Nicholas Garrigan in 2006's Academy Award-winning low-budgeted The Last King of Scotland.^[31] McAvoy portrayed a Scottish doctor that becomes the personal physician to dictator Idi Amin (played by Whittaker) while in Uganda. While the movie is based on factual events of Amin's rule, the story between the two is fictional and adapted from Giles Foden's acclaimed 1998 novel. He assessed his character to be a "completely selfish prick."^[9] An overwhelmed McAvoy fainted during his first take of what would be the hardest scene for him to shoot, Nicolas's torture.^[32] McAvoy was named Best Actor of the year by the Scotland's own BAFTA Awards, where the film swept the major categories,^[33] and received a nomination from the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. The movie itself walked away with three wins, including the honour for Outstanding British Film of the Year.^[34] This was accompanied by praise for McAvoy's performance.^[35]

Following that, he played Irish attorney Tom Lefroy and love-interest to Jane Austen in Becoming Jane, a 2007 historical movie inspired by the author's early life.^[36] Next up was Penelope, which premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival.^[37] Also starring co-producer Reese Witherspoon, it generated polarised reviews.^[38] The breakthrough role in McAvoy's career came in Atonement, Joe Wright's 2007 adaption of Ian McEwan's novel of the same title. A romantic war film, it focuses on lovers Cecilia and Robbie's (Keira Knightley and McAvoy) lives being torn apart after her jealous younger sister (Saoirse Ronan) falsely accuses him of a crime. Upon reading the script, McAvoy thought to himself, "if I don't get the part I'm not reading the book because it'll be devastating. It's an amazing role and I really wanted it."^[39] McAvoy has called the movie "incredibly sad" but considers it an uplifting experience. He also shared that he hoped viewers will be left "absolutely devastated and harrowed."^[40] Screenings of Atonement were held at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival, where it was one of most acclaimed films present, and Venice Film Festival.^[41][42] Atonement was a big awards contender; it was nominated for fourteen BAFTAs and seven Academy Awards.^[43][44] Both McAvoy and Knightley were nominated for their performances at the 65th Golden Globe Awards, respectively.^[45] Additionally, the film was lauded by critics, with Metacritic reporting it to have an approval rating of 85.^[46] The Hollywood Reporter writer Ray Bennett said the duo gave "compelling and charismatic performances".^[47]

[edit] Wanted and after

One of the biggest highlights of McAvoy's career was starring opposite Angelina Jolie and Morgan Freeman in Wanted, an action movie where he personified Wesley Gibson, a young American slacker who learns he is heir to a legacy of assassins. When McAvoy screen-tested for the role, he was initially rejected because the studio was seeking an actor with conventional Hollywood leading-man looks and physique. He later recalled being considered the "runt of the litter" of those who tested, but ultimately got the part in late 2006 since the studio "wanted someone geeky."^[48][49] While shooting action scenes for Wanted, he suffered several injuries, including a twisted ankle and an injured knee.^[50] Nonetheless the actor said he had a "good time" doing the movie. McAvoy had never done this type of genre before and thought of Wanted as a chance to be more versatile.^[51] Loosely based on the comic book miniseries of the same name by Mark Millar, it saw a June 2008 release worldwide. It received favourable reviews from the press, who generally liked that it was fast-paced.^[52] At the box office, Wanted was a success, grossing £207 million against a £45 million production budget.^[53] Next was The Last Station (2009), a biopic that details the final months of celebrated writer Leo Tolstoy and also stars McAvoy's wife.^[54] It was shown at a limited amount of screens in the US.^[55] Although most critics' awards paid attention to co-stars Helen Mirren and Christopher Plummer, the Satellite Awards nominated McAvoy for Best Supporting Actor.^[56] In 2009, McAvoy voiced Angelina's father, Maurice Mouseling, in the television series, Angelina Ballerina: The Next Steps.

He also appeared onstage in 2009 at Apollo Theater's Three Days of Rain.^[57] He accepted the job of voicing the male titular character in Gnomeo and Juliet (2011), an animated movie based on William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet.^[58] In Robert Redford's historical American drama The Conspirator, McAvoy played the role of an idealistic war hero who reluctantly defends a co-conspirator charged in the Abraham Lincoln assassination. It premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival.^[59] While this movie garnered mixed reception, critics lauded the actor for his work. In Owen Gleiberman's assessment of The Conspirator, he found it "stiff-jointed" and tedious, but regarded McAvoy as "an avid presence".^[60] In mid-2010, McAvoy was cast as telepathic superhero Professor X, leader and founder of the X-Men, in X-Men: First Class.^[61] He joined an ensemble that included Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Kevin Bacon. Based on the Marvel Comics and a prequel to the film series, it is set primarily during the Cuban Missile Crisis and focuses on the relationship between Professor X and Magneto and the origin of their groups. McAvoy admitted that he was not familiar with the comics as a child, but was a fan of the cartoons since the age of 10.^[62] Released to the UK on 1 June, First Class topped its box office with ticket sales of around £5 million during its opening weekend.^[63] First Class was also reviewed favourably.^[64] In 2011, McAvoy began filming the role of Max Lewinsky in the British thriller, Welcome to the Punch.^[65] He was also cast as the lead role in the upcoming Danny Boyle film, Trance.

In 2012, McAvoy was cast as Bruce Robertson in Filth, an adaptation of an Irvine Welsh novel of the same name. The film's ensemble cast includes Jamie Bell, Jim Broadbent, Eddie Marsan, and Imogen Poots.^[66] It was also announced that he would co-star with Jessica Chastain in a double-feature film project, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby.^[67]

Personal life[link]

Duff and McAvoy in February 2007

McAvoy dated Scottish actress Emma Nielsen (stage name Emma King) for six years until 2003.^[68] While working on Shameless, McAvoy started a relationship with his character's love interest, Anne-Marie Duff, who is nine years his senior.^[69] When they first began dating, McAvoy and Duff mutually agreed not to speak to the press about their relationship.^[68][70][71] At the age of 27, he married Duff, then 36, on 18 October 2006 in a quiet ceremony.^[69][71] When asked by Ryan Seacrest, during his radio show, if he wished he had waited longer to get married so he could exploit his fame better, McAvoy replied that he had married the woman of his dreams. "The world seemed less scary.... And I started to like myself a little bit more," McAvoy added of how he knew they were in love.^[40]

They have one child together, a son named Brendan, born in 2010.^[72] During interviews, the actor has opted not to discuss his son and have not announced their child's birth date, although he has stated the little man keeps him up at night.^[73] He had dropped out of the cancer dramedy 50/50 in early 2010, shortly before filming was to begin, reportedly in fear that he would miss the birth of their child.^[74] Despite his wealth, McAvoy leads what has been called a modest life. Prior to marrying Duff, he purchased a second floor flat in North London during 2006 for about £178,000. Also, he and his wife drive a 1990s Nissan Micra that is worth less than £1,000.^[75] The couple enjoy a close relationship and rarely leave their flat, choosing to instead read or do sudoku puzzles together. Of this lifestyle, the actor said it is "mundane, and I love it that way".^[3]

After McAvoy won an award from the BAFTAs, his estranged father spoke to the Sunday Mirror, stating that he would love to get in touch with his son, but did not know how to reach him. Though the actor did not read the piece, he heard about it and was unmoved.^[4] He enjoys fantasy themes which he said started from the age of 11 with The Lord of the Rings.^[76] His big interest outside acting and science fiction is football; he is a huge fan of Celtic Football Club, stating that his dream role would be to play Celtic legend Jimmy Johnstone.^[77] McAvoy considers himself a spiritual person who no longer practices Catholicism.^[8] Speaking to Sky News, McAvoy said he believed that British filmmakers belittle and dumb down their productions to please American audiences. "It's like we're patronising them and short changing ourselves," the actor commented.^[78] He has also branded 3-D films a "waste of money", accusing movie studios of using the effect to get more money out of their theatre audiences.^[79]

Charity[link]

At one point, McAvoy did a "terrifying" base jump from the world's tallest hospital building in a bid to help raise money for Ugandan children's charity Retrak, an organisation which assists children on the streets.^[80] Additionally, McAvoy is a celebrity supporter of the British Red Cross with whom he travelled to Uganda to raise awareness of the projects there. He had become involved with the charity after shooting The Last King of Scotland there for several months and was shocked by what he saw in the landlocked country.^[81] In February 2007, he visited northern Uganda and spent four days seeing projects supported by the British Red Cross.^[82]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

United Kingdom portal

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: James McAvoy

• James McAvoy at the Internet Movie Database
• James McAvoy at Yahoo! Movies
• James McAvoy news coverage at The Guardian

Sir Michael Parkinson, CBE (born 28 March 1935) is an English broadcaster, journalist and author. He presented his interview programme, Parkinson, from 1971 to 1982 and from 1998 to 2007. He has been described in The Guardian as "the great British talkshow host".^[1]

Early life[link]

Parkinson, or "Parky" as he is known, was born in the village of Cudworth, England. The son of a miner, he was educated at Barnsley Grammar School and passed two O-Levels: in Art and English Language.^{[citation needed]} He was a club cricketer, and both he and his opening partner at Barnsley Cricket Club, Dickie Bird, had trials for Yorkshire together with Geoffrey Boycott.^[2] He once kept Boycott out of the Barnsley Cricket team by scoring a century and 50 in two successive matches.^[3] Parkinson began as a journalist on local newspapers, and his Yorkshire background and accent remain part of his appeal. He worked as a features writer for the Manchester Guardian, working alongside Michael Frayn, and later on the Daily Express in London.^[4] He was also conscripted into National Service as Britain's youngest army captain^[5] and was involved in the Suez Operation in the summer of 1956.

Career[link]

Television[link]

During the 1960s, Parkinson moved into television, working on current affairs programmes for the BBC and Manchester-based Granada Television.

From 1969 he presented Granada's Cinema, a late-night film review programme,^[5] (which included his first star interview with Laurence Olivier), before in 1971 presenting his eponymous BBC series. Parkinson ran until 1982 and from 1998 until December 2007, leaving the BBC for ITV1 partway through the second run. It featured celebrities but it avoided posing the confrontational questions for which Parkinson is well known. By his own reckoning, Parkinson interviewed 2,000 of the world's most famous people.^[6] In 1985, he stood in for Barry Norman as presenter of Film 85.

He was one of the original line-up of TV-am in 1983, with Angela Rippon, Anna Ford and Robert Kee, all replaced with younger talent. He also took over as host of Thames Television's Give Us a Clue from Michael Aspel.

On Halloween night 1992, Parkinson appeared as himself in the television drama Ghostwatch. He was the studio link during a fictional, apparently live, paranormal investigation. However, the cinéma vérité style in which it was shot led to complaints from viewers who believed it depicted real events. From 1995 to 1999, he hosted the BBC One daytime programme Going for a Song. He again played himself in Richard Curtis' 2003 romantic comedy, Love Actually, interviewing the character Billy Mack, played by Bill Nighy. From 31 January to 3 February 2007, Parkinson presented "Symphony at the Movies" at Sydney Opera House, where he shared stories about his interviews with movie stars and introduced music from films.

In October 2003, Parkinson had a controversial interview with Meg Ryan while she was in the United Kingdom to promote In the Cut. He said it was his most difficult television moment.^[7]

Parkinson announced his retirement on 26 June 2007:^[8]

In 2007, Parkinson appeared in the Australian soap Neighbours as himself. On 24 November 2007, during recording of the final regular edition of his ITV chat show, broadcast on 16 December, Parkinson fought back tears as he was given an ovation.^[9] The last artist to perform on his show was regular guest Jamie Cullum.

As of December 2008, Parkinson held 458 credits as a presenter on his own and with others.^[10]

Parkinson was a flagship of the BBC's prime time schedule, attracting top names before the chat show circuit was part of the promotional mill^{[citation needed]}. Parkinson interviewed Marlon Brando, he was able to interview wartime variety stars while attracting up-and-coming comedians such as Billy Connolly, and was not afraid to allow an interviewee time to be himself, sometimes as with Fred Astaire or Sir Paul McCartney devoting an entire programme to a guest.

Parkinson was a guest on Top Gear in 2008, posting a lap time of 1:49.4 as the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car".

Parkinson would always maintain that the most remarkable man he ever interviewed was Muhammad Ali.^[11]

He regrets having never interviewed Frank Sinatra or Sir Donald Bradman.^{[citation needed]}

Radio[link]

Parkinson took over BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs for the 1986 series, after the 1985 death of its creator, Roy Plomley, whose widow was unhappy with Parkinson replacing him. After six shows he was criticised by the BBC Board of Management for "a Yorkshire bias in the choice of castaways". despite the fact that only one of his guests was born in the county.^[12] (The list of castaways included, within its first seven under Parkinson control, Maureen Lipman, Ben Kingsley and Selina Scott (all born in Yorkshire), Roy Hattersley (born 'just over the border' in Derbyshire but always associated with Sheffield, Yorkshire) and Bruce Oldfield (born in County Durham but largely educated in Yorkshire [Ripon Grammar School and Sheffield College]). Parkinson claimed that the criticism was " a rearguard action by the establishment against the perceived desecration of an institution by an outsider".^[13] Parkinson stayed for three years until handing over to Sue Lawley.

Between 1994 and 1996 he hosted Parkinson on Sport on BBC Radio Five Live. Between 1996 and 2007, he presented a morning show on BBC Radio 2 called Parkinson's Sunday Supplement; it featured newspaper and entertainment summaries with the help of journalists and a lengthy interview with a media personality. These were interspersed with music that demonstrated his penchant for jazz and big-band. In October 2007, a few months after announcing his retirement from his television series, Parkinson said his radio show would also end.^[14] The last programme was broadcast on Sunday 2 December 2007. As an interim Clive Anderson presented the programme during December/January and Eammon Holmes during February and Fiona Bruce during March. Michael Ball has now replaced him on a permanent basis. Parkinson presented a mid-morning programme on London's LBC Newstalk 97.3FM. He was considered responsible for promotion of jazz singers to a more mainstream audience during the run of his BBC radio show.^{[citation needed]}

Writing[link]

In 1965 The Sunday Times invited Parkinson to write a regular sports column, drawing on characters in his days in cricket and soccer.^{[citation needed]} In the 1980s, Parkinson wrote a series of children's books called The Woofits about a family of anthropomorphic dog-like creatures in the fictional Yorkshire coal-mining village of Grimeworth. The books led to a TV series, which he narrated. He wrote a sports column for the Daily Telegraph and is president of the Sports Journalists' Association of Great Britain.^[15]

His book Parky: My Autobiography was published on 2 October 2008.

In April 2009, Parkinson wrote about the recently deceased Jade Goody in Radio Times. He described her as "barely educated, ignorant and puerile," adding, "When we clear the media smokescreen from around her death, what we're left with is a woman who came to represent all that's paltry and wretched about Britain today."^[16] Bishop Jonathan Blake, who had presided over Goody's wedding, took exception to Parkinson's comments.^[17]

Other work[link]

In 1971 Parkinson was nominated as a candidate for the position of Rector of the University of Dundee. In one of the closest ever contests for that position he was very narrowly defeated by incumbent Peter Ustinov after two recounts. The result was controversial as it was alleged earlier results indicated Parkinson had won and a further recount should have taken place to confirm the result. As a result pressure grew for the poll to be rerun. While the University decreed that the original result was to stand a new poll was organised by the Students' Association, which also featured the candidature of a goat. However, this time Ustinov won a decisive victory over Parkinson, the goat and Paul Foot.^[18][19]

On 29 September 2008 Parkinson launched his website, which includes online interviews with Nelson Mandela and British comedian Rory Bremner. The site also includes a blog, giving Parkinson's views on news events plus information about his compilation album, Michael Parkinson: My Life In Music, featuring favourite songs performed by Frank Sinatra, Michael Bublé, Dionne Warwick and others.

Parkinson gave the keynote address in Sydney on Australia Day 2011, the first non-Australian to do so. ^[20] Parkinson used the publicity surrounding his Australia Day appearance to promote the abolition of the Australian monarchy. ^[21]

Personal life[link]

On 22 August 1959 he married Mary Heneghan, who was from Doncaster. Under her new name, Mary Parkinson was one of the presenters of the Thames TV daytime show Good Afternoon and briefly presented Parkinson in the 1970s. They have three children, Andrew, Nicholas and Michael Jr, who were born in 1960, 1964 and 1967 and eight grandchildren (Laura, James, Emma, Georgina, Ben, Felix, Sofia and Honey). In the 1970s he campaigned in support of birth control, having had a vasectomy in 1972 to allow his wife to stop taking the Pill.^[22] He is a cricket fan, and in 1990 hosted a World XI team against Yorkshire. Parkinson and his wife live in Bray, Berkshire.^[23] He met his friend Michel Roux when rowing down the River Thames on a Sunday to his then pub, the Waterside Inn.^[24]

Honours and awards[link]

In 1999 he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Lincoln. He was invested as a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Prince Charles in November 2000 for services to broadcasting.^[25] Parkinson was made a Knight Bachelor in the 2008 New Year's Honours List; he remarked that he was "not the type to get a knighthood" coming as he did "from Barnsley. They give it to anyone nowadays."^[26]

Parkinson was ranked 8th^[27] in a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals. In April 2006, Parkinson was awarded Honorary Patronage of the University Philosophical Society (Trinity College, Dublin). He was voted number 20 in ITV's "TV's 50 Greatest Stars".

On 4 June 2008 his knighthood was bestowed by the Queen at Buckingham Palace^[28]

Parkinson became the first Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University on 11 November 2008. His role includes representing the university and conferring degrees at graduation ceremonies. He is quoted as saying, “I am honoured to be offered the chancellorship at Nottingham Trent University. In television I have always worked with young, ambitious people and I am keen to be involved in this university which helps to realise the aspirations of the young. It will also give me an opportunity to see what I missed!”.^[29]

Since 2005, Parkinson has served as the President of the Sports Journalists' Association of Great Britain,^[30] the largest national organisation of sports journalists in the world.

In popular culture[link]

His presenting techniques were spoofed by Benny Hill on The Benny Hill Show (sketch "The Golden Boy"), Alistair McGowan on Big Impression and by Jon Culshaw on Dead Ringers, in which Culshaw portrays Parkinson interviewing the public at bus stops and other locations. The Kenny Everett character Cupid Stunt was "interviewed" by a cut-out Parkinson in "her" sketches. He is on the cover of the Wings album Band on the Run. Paul McCartney told Parkinson that he would appear on his chat show if Parkinson appeared on the album cover, although it was not until 1999 that McCartney fulfilled his promise.

In 2005, Parkinson appeared with comedian Peter Kay on the music video of the re-released "Is This the Way to Amarillo" for Comic Relief, which became a Number 1 single. Parkinson was also featured in Irregular Webcomic! Number 1697.^[31]

In May 2009 Parkinson "bemoaned the state of TV generally, saying he was fed up of the rise of celebrities hosting shows, ridiculously titled documentaries and property shows", saying "In my television paradise there would be no more property programmes, no more police-chasing-yobbos-in-cars programmes and, most of all and please God, no more so-called documentary shows with titles like My 20-Ton Tumour, My Big Fat Head, Wolf Girl, Embarrassing Illnesses and The Fastest Man on No Legs."^[32] On 11 October 2010 Parkinson appeared on Richard Bacon's Radio 5 Live show where he was particularly critical of British comedian and actor Russell Brand saying “I don't see the point of him," ^[33]

Mark E. Smith of The Fall, on the song "Middlemass" from the live album The Legendary Chaos Tape, London, 1980 has an improvised line about "the son of Mike Parkinson made from coal".

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Website
• Michael Parkinson and the MBC's Encyclopedia of Television
• Michael Parkinson at the Internet Movie Database

Michael Fassbender
Fassbender in March 2012.
Born	(1977-04-02) 2 April 1977 (age 35) Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany
Nationality	Irish, German
Alma mater	Drama Centre London
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–present

Michael Fassbender (born 2 April 1977) is an Irish-German actor. He is perhaps best known for having played Lieutenant Archie Hicox in the war film Inglourious Basterds (2009), Magneto in the superhero film X-Men: First Class (2011), and the android David in the science fiction film Prometheus.

His other credits include the fantasy action film 300 (2007); the drama film Fish Tank (2009); the romantic drama film Jane Eyre (2011); the historical film A Dangerous Method (2011), directed by David Cronenberg, in which he plays psychologist Carl Jung; as well as the biographical film Hunger (2008) and the drama film Shame (2011), both directed by Steve McQueen. For his role in Shame, he won the Volpi Cup best-actor award at the 68th Venice International Film Festival held in August 2011 along with being nominated for a Golden Globe Award and BAFTA.

Early life and education[link]

Fassbender was born in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany (now Germany). His mother is from Larne, County Antrim in Northern Ireland, and his father, Josef Fassbender, is German.^[1][2] According to Fassbender's "family lore", his mother is the great-great-niece of Michael Collins, an Irish leader during the War of Independence.^[1][3] When he was two years old, his parents moved to Killarney, County Kerry, in the Republic of Ireland, where they ran the West End House, a restaurant where his father worked as a chef.^[1][2] Fassbender was brought up as a Roman Catholic and served as an altar boy.^[4]

He attended St. Brendan's, Killarney (The Sem) and the Drama Centre London.^[5]

Career[link]

Early work[link]

Fassbender first played the part of Burton "Pat" Christenson in Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg's award-winning television miniseries Band of Brothers. He played the character of Azazeal in both series of Hex on Sky One and he also starred as the main character in the music video for the song "Blind Pilots", by the British band The Cooper Temple Clause. In the video, he plays the part of a man on a stag night with his friends, only to slowly transform into a goat due to wearing a cowbell necklace.

Fassbender played the part of Jonathan Harker in a ten-part radio serialization of Dracula produced by BBC Northern Ireland and broadcast in the Book at Bedtime series between 24 November and 5 December 2003. He was also seen in early 2004 in a Guinness television commercial, The Quarrel, playing a man who swims across the ocean from Ireland to apologize personally to his brother in New York.

During the 2006 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Fassbender played Michael Collins in Allegiance, a play by Mary Kenny based on the meeting between Winston Churchill and Collins, of whom Fassbender's mother is a great-niece.^[6] In addition, he produced, directed and starred in the stage version of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs, along with his production company.

He appeared in Angel (UK title: The Real Life of Angel Deverell), about the rise and fall of an eccentric young British writer (played by Romola Garai) in the early 20th century. Fassbender plays her love interest and average painter Esmé. The drama – the first English-language effort by French director François Ozon and based on the novel by Elizabeth Taylor – premiered on 17 February 2007 at the Berlin International Film Festival and on 14 March 2007 in Paris. He then made a brief appearance in Wedding Belles as Barney, speaking with a Scottish accent.

Mainstream success[link]

Michael Fassbender at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival

In 2006, Fassbender played the role of Stelios, a young Spartan warrior, in 300, a fantasy action film directed by Zack Snyder. The film was a commercial success.^[7]

In preparation for his role as Provisional Irish Republican Army prisoner Bobby Sands in Steve McQueen's 2008 film Hunger, Fassbender underwent a crash diet that restricted him to 600 calories a day. He received the British Independent Film Award for his performance.^[8]

One year after his success at the Cannes Film Festival with Hunger, he appeared in two films. The first was Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, in which he played the British officer Lieutenant Archie Hicox. The other film was Fish Tank directed by Andrea Arnold. Both films were critically acclaimed and Fassbender's work in them also well received.

In 2010, Fassbender appeared as Burke in Jonah Hex, a Western film.^[9] In an interview at San Diego Comic-Con International, a comic book convention, Fassbender commented of the role: "I kind of developed this character and really pushed it – I’ll see how far I pushed it ... I had this idea about the character, he’s kind of psychotic, he gets his kicks in perverted ways. I didn’t want to make it very obvious or like something you’ve seen before".^[10] Hex received predominately negative reviews.^[11] Responding to criticism of Jonah Hex in 2011, Fassbender commented: "Pretty awful, was it? I haven't seen it myself."^[12]

He also portrayed Quintus Dias in Neil Marshall's war-thriller-drama film Centurion.^[13] and was cast as 'Richard Wirth' in the Joel Schumacher film Blood Creek alongside Dominic Purcell. The story centers on a West Virginia man who comes to terms with his moral qualms and helps his brother wipe out a family that had been protecting a Nazi occultist and who had kept his brother captive for him to feed off for years.

Fassbender played Edward Rochester in the 2011 film Jane Eyre, featuring Mia Wasikowska in the title role, with Cary Fukunaga directing.^[14]

Fassbender (right), Josh Brolin and Megan Fox promoting the 2010 film Jonah Hex at Comic-Con in 2009.

Fassbender portrayed Magneto in the superhero blockbuster X-Men: First Class, the prequel to X-Men. Set in 1962, it focuses on the friendship between Charles Xavier (played by James McAvoy) and Magneto and the origin of their groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants. The film was released on 3 June 2011 to general acclaim and financial success and promoted Fassbender to being more of a popular movie star.