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Sean Pertwee (born 4 June 1964) is an English actor.

Early life[link]

Pertwee was born in London, the son of Ingeborg and Jon Pertwee, who played the third incarnation of The Doctor in the television series Doctor Who.^[1] They moved to the town of Stockton-on-Tees when Pertwee was twelve years old. He attended Teddington School in London.

Career[link]

In the early 1980s, Pertwee was cast as Captain Fitzpatrick in the play Tom Jones, based on the novel by Henry Fielding. After leaving Sunbury College, Pertwee trained at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and, after graduating in 1986, toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company for three years. He co-owned the Natural Nylon film production company along with Sadie Frost, Jude Law, Jonny Lee Miller and Ewan McGregor.^[2] The company folded in 2003.

Pertwee starred in the 2008 film Doomsday as Doctor Talbot. His voice is frequently heard in a variety of television commercials, documentaries and video games, including the medieval empire-building computer game Medieval: Total War and futuristic war games Killzone (as Colonel Gregor Hakha), Killzone 2 (as Colonel Mael Radec) and Fire Warrior (as Governor Severus). He is also the voice behind the Northeast's tourism advertisement which started broadcasting at the start of 2009. He is the current narrator of Masterchef: The Professionals, replacing India Fisher for the fourth series which began on 7 November 2011.

Sean appeared on the film Devil's Playground, a zombie horror film directed by Mark McQueen. He stars alongside Danny Dyer, Jaime Murray, Janet Montgomery and Craig Fairbrass. The film was released in October 2010. Pertwee appeared in the Nazi zombie film The 4th Reich^[3] which he filmed in spring 2010, directed by Shaun Smith.^[4]

In 2010, Sean Pertwee appeared in a Party political broadcast in support of the Labour Party. Sean's recent dramatic work for BBC Radio 4 includes playing the actor Oliver Reed in the play Burning Both Ends by Matthew Broughton.^[5] When David Tennant announced that he would depart from Doctor Who in 2010, Pertwee was one of the many who expressed interest in becoming the new Doctor.^[1] The role ultimately went to Matt Smith.

Personal life[link]

Pertwee is the brother of Dariel Pertwee, grandson of actor and screenwriter Roland Pertwee, and is more distantly related to actor Bill Pertwee. He married make-up artist Jacqui Hamilton-Smith, daughter of Anthony Hamilton-Smith, on 12 June 1999 at the House of Lords. Jacqui gave birth to twins, Alfred and Gilbert, around Christmas 2001. They were born prematurely; Gilbert died in April 2002. The family lives in Stockwell. Pertwee has said that Alfred is a fan of Doctor Who, both of Tennant's Tenth Doctor and his father's Third Doctor.^[1]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

• Coping with Cupid (1991)
• London Kills Me (1991)
• Leon the Pig Farmer (1992)
• Dirty Weekend (1993)
• Swing Kids (1993)
• Shopping (1994)
• Blue Juice (1995)
• I.D. (1995)
• Deadly Voyage (1996)
• Event Horizon (1997)
• Soldier (1998)
• Tale of the Mummy (1998)
• Stiff Upper Lips (1998)
• Five Seconds to Spare (1999)
• Love, Honour and Obey (2000)
• Seven Days to Live (2000)
• The 51st State (2001)
• Equilibrium (2002)
• Dog Soldiers (2002)
• Goal! (2005)
• The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby (2005)
• The Prophecy: Uprising (2005)
• The Last Drop (2005)
• Renaissance (2006)
• Wilderness (2006)
• Dangerous Parking (2007)
• Goal! 2: Living the Dream...
• When Evil Calls (2007)
• Botched (2007)
• Doomsday (2008)
• Mutant Chronicles (2008)
• 4.3.2.1 (2010)
• Just for the Record (2010)
• Ultramarines: The Movie (2010)
• Devil's Playground (2010)
• Heaven and Earth (2010) (in pre-production)
• Four (2010) (in post-production)
• The 4th Reich (2010) (in pre-production)
• Vuosaari (2012)
• U.F.O.^[6] (2013)

Television[link]

• Billy Smart's Children's Circus (1975)
• Boon (1986) in episode "Whispering Grass"
• Poirot: The King of Clubs (1989)
• Chancer (1990)
• Harry Enfield's Television Programme (1990)
• Virtual Murder (1992) in episode "Dreams Imagic"
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992) in episode "Germany"
• Kissing the Gunner's Daughter (1992)
• A Touch of Frost (1992) in episode "Quarry"
• Peak Practice (1993) in episode "Hope to Die"
• Cadfael (1994 season)
• Bodyguards (1997)
• Macbeth (1998)
• Operation Good Guys (2000) in episode "The Leader"
• In the Beginning (2000)
• Cold Feet (2001 and 2003)
• Waking The Dead (2003)
• Bo`Selecta (2004) as Himself
• A Bear's Tail (2005)
• Marple: The Moving Finger (2006)
• Ancient Rome–The Rise And Fall Of An Empire: Caesar (2006) – as Julius Caesar
• The Tudors (2007)
• Honest (2008) as Sergeant Bain
• Skins (2008)
• Law & Order: UK (2009)
• Luther (2010)
• Camelot (2011)

Video games[link]

• Medieval: Total War (2002) - Narrator
• Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior (2003) - Governor Severus
• Killzone (2004) - Colonel Gregor Hakha
• Fable II (2008) - Additional Voices
• Killzone 2 (2009) - Colonel Mael Radec
• Fable III (2011) - Captain Saker

References[link]

External links[link]

• Sean Pertwee at the Internet Movie Database

The Edge
Background information
Birth name	David Howell Evans
Born	(1961-08-08) 8 August 1961 (age 50) Barking, Essex, England, United Kingdom
Origin	County Dublin, Ireland
Genres	Rock, post-punk, alternative rock
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, activist
Instruments	Guitar, vocals, keyboards, piano, bass guitar
Years active	1976–present
Labels	Island, Mercury
Associated acts	U2, Passengers
Website	www.u2.com
Notable instruments
Gibson Explorer Fender Stratocaster Gibson Les Paul Fender Telecaster Gretsch Country Gentleman Gretsch White Falcon Rickenbacker 330/12

David Howell Evans (born 8 August 1961), more widely known by his stage name The Edge (or just Edge),^[1] is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record. As a guitarist, The Edge has crafted a minimalistic and textural style of playing. His use of a rhythmic delay effect yields a distinctive ambient, chiming sound that has become a signature of U2's music.

The Edge was born in England to a Welsh family, but was raised in Ireland after moving there as an infant. In 1976, at Mount Temple Comprehensive School, he formed U2 with his fellow students and his older brother Dik. Inspired by the ethos of punk rock and its basic arrangements, the group began to write its own material. They eventually became one of the most popular acts in popular music, with successful albums such as 1987's The Joshua Tree and 1991's Achtung Baby. Over the years, The Edge has experimented with various guitar effects and introduced influences from several genres of music into his own style, including American roots music, industrial music, and alternative rock. With U2, The Edge has also played keyboards, co-produced their 1993 record Zooropa, and occasionally contributed lyrics. The Edge met his second and current wife, Morleigh Steinberg, through her collaborations with the band.

As a member of U2 and as an individual, The Edge has campaigned for human rights and philanthropic causes. He co-founded Music Rising, a charity to support musicians affected by Hurricane Katrina. He has collaborated with U2 bandmate Bono on several projects, including songs for Roy Orbison and Tina Turner, and the soundtracks to the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and the Royal Shakespeare Company's London stage adaptation of A Clockwork Orange. In 2011, Rolling Stone magazine placed him at number 38 on its list of "The 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Personal life[link]

The Edge at a U2 concert in Anaheim (2005)

David Howell Evans was born at the Barking Maternity Hospital,^[2] Essex, England to Welsh parents Garvin and Gwenda Evans.^[1] When he was one, his family moved to County Dublin, Ireland where he attended St Andrew's National School. He received piano and guitar lessons and often performed with his brother Dik Evans before they both answered an advertisement posted by Larry Mullen, Jr. at their school, Mount Temple Comprehensive School, seeking musicians to form a band.^[3] The band accepted both of them. This band went through several incarnations before emerging as U2 in March 1978 (Dik Evans left the band just before the name change).^[3] U2 began performing in various venues in Ireland and eventually began developing a following. Their debut album, Boy, was released in 1980.

In 1981, leading up to the October tour, Evans came very close to leaving U2 for religious reasons, but he decided to stay.^[3] During this period, he became involved with a group called Shalom Tigers, in which bandmates Bono and Larry Mullen Jr. were also involved.^[4] Shortly after deciding to remain with the band, he wrote a piece of music that later became "Sunday Bloody Sunday".^[3] The Edge married his high school girlfriend Aislinn O'Sullivan on 12 July 1983.^[5] The couple had three daughters together: Hollie in 1984, Arran in 1985 and Blue Angel in 1989.^[4] The couple separated in 1990, but were unable to get officially divorced because of Irish laws regarding marriage annulment; divorce was legalised in 1995 and the couple were legally divorced in 1996.^[4]

In 1993, The Edge began dating Morleigh Steinberg, a professional dancer and choreographer employed by the band as a belly dancer during the Zoo TV Tour. They had a daughter, Sian (born 1997), and a son, Levi (born 25 October 1999),^[4] before marrying on 22 June 2002.^[4] He appeared in the 2009 music documentary film It Might Get Loud.^[6] The Edge has been criticized for his efforts to build five luxury mansions on a 156 acre plot of land in Malibu, California.^[7] The California Coastal Commission voted 8-4 against the plans, with the project described by the commission's executive director, Peter Douglas, as "In 38 years...one of the three worst projects that I've seen in terms of environmental devastation...It's a contradiction in terms – you can't be serious about being an environmentalist and pick this location."^[7] The Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy agreed to remain neutral on the issue following a $1 million donation from The Edge and a commitment from The Edge to designate 100 acres of the land as open space for public footpaths.^[7]

Music style[link]

Guitar playing[link]

As a guitar player, The Edge has a sound typified by a low-key playing style, a chiming, shimmering sound (thanks in part to the sound of VOX AC-30s) that he achieves with extensive use of delay effects and reverb. The feedback delay is often set to a dotted eighth note (3/16 of a measure), and the feedback gain is adjusted until a note played repeats two or three times.^{[citation needed]}

On 1987's The Joshua Tree, The Edge often contributes just a few simple lead lines given depth and richness by an ever-present delay. For example, the introduction to "Where the Streets Have No Name" is simply a repeated six-note arpeggio, broadened by a modulated delay effect. The Edge has said that he views musical notes as "expensive", in that he prefers to play as few notes as possible. He said in 1982 of his style,

"I like a nice ringing sound on guitar, and most of my chords I find two strings and make them ring the same note, so it's almost like a 12-string sound. So for E I might play a B, E, E and B and make it ring. It works very well with the Gibson Explorer. It's funny because the bass end of the Explorer was so awful that I used to stay away from the low strings, and a lot of the chords I played were very trebly, on the first four, or even three strings. I discovered that through using this one area of the fretboard I was developing a very stylized way of doing something that someone else would play in a normal way."^[9]

Many different influences have shaped The Edge's guitar technique.^{[citation needed]} His first guitar was an old acoustic guitar that his mother bought him at a local flea market for only a few pounds; he was nine at the time. He and his brother Dik Evans both experimented with this instrument.^[9] He said in 1982 of this early experimentation, "I suppose the first link in the chain was a visit to the local jumble sale where I purchased a guitar for a pound. That was my first instrument. It was an acoustic guitar and me and my elder brother Dik both played it, plonking away, all very rudimentary stuff, open chords and all that."^[9] The Edge has stated that many of his guitar parts are based around guitar effects. This is especially true from the Achtung Baby era onwards, although much of the band's 1980s material made heavy use of echos.

Vocals[link]

The Edge in June 2005

The Edge also supplies the backing vocals for U2. U2's 1983 live album and video release, Under a Blood Red Sky and Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky are good reference points for his singing (as are the live DVDs from the Elevation Tour, U2 Go Home: Live from Slane Castle and Elevation 2001: Live from Boston). For example, he sings the chorus to "Sunday Bloody Sunday" (Bono harmonizes on the final 'Sunday'). U2 used this tradeoff technique later in "Bullet the Blue Sky" as well. His backing vocals are sometimes in the form of a repeated cry; examples of songs that use this approach include "Beautiful Day", "New Year's Day" and "Stay (Faraway, So Close!)". Another technique he uses in his backing vocals is the falsetto, in songs such as "Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of", "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own", "A Man and a Woman", "The Wanderer", live versions of "The Fly", and "Window in the Skies".

The Edge sings the lead vocal on "Van Diemen's Land" and "Numb", the first half of the song "Seconds", dual vocals with Bono in "Discotheque", and the bridge in the song "Miracle Drug".^[4] He also sings the occasional lead vocal in live renditions of other songs (such as "Sunday Bloody Sunday" during the PopMart Tour and "Party Girl" during the Rotterdam Zoo TV show when it was Bono's birthday).^[10] He also plays a solo acoustic version of the song "Love is Blindness" that is featured in the documentary film From the Sky Down.

Other instruments[link]

He has played piano and keyboards on many of the band's songs, including "I Fall Down", "October", "So Cruel", "New Year's Day", "Running to Stand Still", "Miss Sarajevo", "The Hands that Built America", and "Original of the Species" and others. He plays the organ on "Please". In live versions of "New Year's Day", "The Unforgettable Fire", "Your Blue Room", and "Moment of Surrender", he plays both the piano and guitar parts alternately. In most live versions of "Original of the Species," piano is the only instrument played during the song. Although The Edge is the band's lead guitarist, he occasionally plays bass guitar, including the live performances of the song "40" where The Edge and bassist Adam Clayton switch instruments.

Solo recordings[link]

In addition to his regular role within U2, The Edge has also recorded with such artists as Johnny Cash, B. B. King, Tina Turner, Ronnie Wood, Jay-Z, and Rihanna. The Edge connected with Brian Eno and Lanois collaborator Michael Brook (the creator of the infinite guitar, which he regularly uses), working with him on the score to the film Captive (1986). From this soundtrack the song "Heroine", the vocal of which was sung by a young Sinéad O'Connor was released as a single.

He also created the theme song for season one and two of The Batman. He and fellow U2 member, Bono, wrote the lyrics to the theme of the 1995 James Bond film GoldenEye. The Edge, along with bandmate Bono, recently composed a musical adaptation of Spider-Man. On May 25, 2011, a single titled Rise Above 1: Reeve Carney Featuring Bono and The Edge was released digitally.^[11] The music video was released on July 28, 2011.^[12]

Musical equipment[link]

Edge's 1964 Vox AC30 on stage in Foxborough for the U2 360° Tour.

The Edge plays electric guitar, acoustic guitar, keyboards, piano, bass guitar (on "40" and "Race Against Time") and lap steel guitar. Compared to many lead guitarists, The Edge is known for using many more guitars during a show. According to his guitar tech Dallas Schoo, a typical lead guitarist uses four or five different guitars in one night, whereas The Edge takes 45 on the road, and uses 17 to 19 in one 2.5-hour concert. He is estimated to have more than 200 guitars in the studio.^{[citation needed]}

Philanthropy[link]

In 2005, The Edge along with Bob Ezrin and Henry Juszkiewicz co-founded Music Rising, a charity that helped provide replacement instruments for those that were lost in Hurricane Katrina. The instruments were originally only replaced for professional musicians but they soon realized the community churches and schools needed instruments as well. The charity's slogan is "Rebuilding the Gulf Region note by note" and has so far helped over a hundred musicians who were affected by Hurricane Katrina. The Edge also serves on the board of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to improving global health by advancing angiogenesis-based medicine, diets, and lifestyle.^[13]

See also[link]

• Timeline of U2
• List of people on stamps of Ireland

References[link]

Footnotes

Bibliography

External links[link]

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (October 2011)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Edge

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: The Edge

• U2.com, official U2 site
• Music Rising
• The Edge at the Internet Movie Database
• The Edge – Album Credits
• A Study of The Edge's Guitar Delay
• The Edge: 'It's all about the vision'
• Food Bank For New York City public service announcement
• Comment on the mathematical analysis of The Edge's guitar sound

Kevin McKidd
McKidd at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	(1973-08-09) 9 August 1973 (age 38) Elgin, Moray, Scotland
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1996–present
Spouse	Jane Parker (1999 - present) 2 children

Kevin McKidd (born 9 August 1973) is a Scottish television and film actor and director. Before playing the role of Owen Hunt in Grey's Anatomy, McKidd starred as Lucius Vorenus in the historical drama series Rome, Tommy in Danny Boyle's Trainspotting, and provided the voice of Captain John "Soap" Mactavish in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the sequel Modern Warfare 3.

Early life[link]

McKidd was born and brought up in Elgin, in the north of Scotland. His father was a plumber and his mother, Kathleen, a secretary.^[1][2] He attended Seafield Primary School and Elgin Academy, and was a member of the local amateur dramatic group, Moray Youth Theatre. Planning to study engineering, he attended the University of Edinburgh, but dropped out and instead enrolled at Queen Margaret College in Edinburgh to study drama. He also joined Edinburgh University's student theatre company, Bedlam Theatre where he performed as a member of the improvised comedy troupe The Improverts.

Career[link]

After playing Tommy in Trainspotting, McKidd was cast as Father Deegan in the 1996 Christmas episode of Father Ted. Subsequent roles include Malky Johnson in Small Faces.^[3] In 2004, he played James Hepburn, 4th Earl of Bothwell, the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, in the BBC mini-series Gunpowder, Treason & Plot.

In 1999 he was part of an ensemble cast in Mike Leigh's Topsy Turvy, based on the writing and rehearsal for Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado. The actors researched their historical characters and used this knowledge during extensive rehearsals to help develop dialog for scenes blocked out by Leigh. McKidd, like the rest of the cast, did his own singing in the Gilbert & Sullivan operettas portrayed in the film.

In 2001 he played Elliot in a British film by Caleb Lindsay called Understanding Jane. He appeared in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, the 2002 film adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby. In Neil Marshall's horror film, Dog Soldiers, he appeared as Pte Lawrence Cooper. In the 2005 BBC drama, The Virgin Queen, he played Thomas Howard, 4th Duke of Norfolk.

In 1998, McKidd was in the four-part BBC2 series Looking After Jo Jo, playing the role of Basil. He was also one of the main stars of the joint HBO/BBC series Rome, where his portrayal of the soldier/politician Lucius Vorenus received critical acclaim.^[4] The role gained him recognition in the US.^[3]

Additional work includes his role in the Silence of the Lambs prequel Hannibal Rising (2007). In late 2007, McKidd began his role as the lead character in the American Fantasy television series Journeyman on NBC.^[5] The show suffered from low ratings and only thirteen episodes were produced.

His role in Rome led to McKidd's casting in the medical drama series Grey's Anatomy as Dr. Owen Hunt.^[3] He made his directorial debut in the series' seventh season,^[3] directing the episode "Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)". McKidd commented of the debut, "It's something I've really wanted to do for a long time. Shonda Rhimes and the producers all supported me and gave me the chance, and when you think it costs around $5million to make an episode, that's a lot to hang on an actor who really hasn't had any experience."^[3] He won the award for "Best Performance in a Drama Series Multi-Episode Storyline" at the 14th Prism Awards for his work in "Grey's Anatomy".

McKidd has done voice work and voiced the character of Jezz Torrent, flame haired lead singer of the fictional Scottish hard rock band Love Fist in the video games "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City". He is also credited with playing a voice-over for the character John "Soap" MacTavish in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.^[6] McKidd was in talks in 2008 to portay Conner Macleod in a big screen remake of the 1986 fantasy movie Highlander though no word on casting has come out.

Speyside Sessions[link]

McKidd instigated a Scottish Folk music album that was recorded in 2011/12 at Hogmanay in his home town of Elgin. Many of the contributors to this 'collective' album are old school friends of McKidd's. The album is to be released in the summer of 2012 in aid of charity.

Many of the tracks on the album are reported to be folk songs that were handed down through the generations, as well as traditional Scottish Songs by Robert Burns, the Scottish poet who wrote 'Auld Lang Syne'

According to accounts from McKidd's twittering, this seems to be one of his most personal projects to date.^[7]

Personal life[link]

McKidd married Jane Parker in 1999 and has two children, Joseph and Iona; the family resides in Los Angeles during filming of Grey's Anatomy,^{[citation needed]} but try to go back to Scotland or the UK at least twice a year.^[3]

Playing a doctor has led the actor to support the P3 Project, a friend's charity focusing on African pediatric care.^[3]

Filmography[link]

Kevin McKidd, 29 August 2010

• Small Faces (1996) .... Malky Johnson
• Trainspotting (1996) .... Tommy
• Behind the Lines (1997) .... Callan
• Richard II (1997) .... Henry Percy
• Hideous Kinky (1998) .... Henning
• Bedrooms and Hallways (1998) .... Leo
• The Acid House (1998) .... Johnny (A Soft Touch)
• Dad Savage (1998) .... H
• Looking After Jo Jo (1998) .... Basil
• Topsy-Turvy (1999) .... Durward Lely (Nanki-Poo)
• Understanding Jane (2001) .... Eliott
• Nicholas Nickleby (2002) .... John Browdie
• Max (2002) .... George Grosz
• Dog Soldiers (2002) .... Pvt. Lawrence Cooper
• That Old One (2002) .... Tom Furness
• The Key (2003) .... Duncan
• AfterLife (2003) .... Kenny Brogan
• 16 Years of Alcohol (2003) .... Frankie
• Does God Play Football (2003) .... Father Davis
• De-Lovely (2004) .... Bobby Reed
• The Purifiers(2004) .... Moses
• One Last Chance (2004) .... Seany
• Kingdom of Heaven (2005) .... English Sergeant
• The Rocket Post (2006) .... Thomas McKinnon
• The Last Legion (2007) .... Wulfila
• Hannibal Rising (2007) .... Kolnas
• Made of Honor (2008) .... Colin McMurray
• One Night in Emergency (2010) .... Peter Forbes
• Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) .... Poseidon
• Bunraku (2010) .... Killer #2
• The Great Ghost Rescue (2011) .... Hamish
• Comes A Bright Day (2012) .... Cameron
• Brave (2012) .... Lord MacGuffin/Lord's son Young MacGuffin
• Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013) .... Poseidon

Television[link]

• Father Ted (1996) .... Father Deegan
• The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns (1999) .... Jericho O'Grady
• Anna Karenina (2000) .... Count Vronsky
• North Square (2000) .... Billy Guthrie
• Gunpowder, Treason & Plot (2004) .... Bothwell
• The Virgin Queen (2005) .... Duke of Norfolk
• Rome (2005–2007) .... Lucius Vorenus
• Journeyman (2007) .... Dan Vasser
• Grey's Anatomy (2008–present) .... Owen Hunt

Director[link]

• Grey's Anatomy (2011) .... "Don't Deceive Me (Please Don't Go)"
• Grey's Anatomy (2011) .... "Poker Face" ^[8]
• Grey's Anatomy (2012) .... "Let the Bad Times Roll"
• Grey's Anatomy Grey's Anatomy: Message of Hope (Webisodes)

Voice work[link]

• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) — Jezz Torrent
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) — Captain John "Soap" MacTavish
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (2011) — Captain John "Soap" MacTavish

References[link]

External links[link]

• Kevin McKidd at the Internet Movie Database

Jason Iain Flemyng^[1] (born 25 September 1966) is an English actor. He is known for his film work, which has included roles in British films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), both for Guy Ritchie, as well as Hollywood productions such as Rob Roy (1995) along with the Alan Moore comic book adaptations From Hell (2001) and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003). He has also appeared in prominent roles in both theatre and television in the UK. Flemyng can speak reasonable French, and has made three films in that language.^[2] He won the Best Actor Award at the Geneva Film Festival for his role in 1996's Alive and Kicking.^[3]

Early life and career[link]

Flemyng was born in Putney, London, the son of Scottish film director Gordon Flemyng.^[2] He decided he wanted to become an actor after appearing in theatrical productions at his school, Christ's Hospital in Sussex. "I always wanted to be an actor," he later told the BBC. "From the time I fancied a girl who played Dorothy in the school production of The Wizard of Oz. I auditioned for the role of the scarecrow so that I could have the most stage time with her, but she ended up running off with the tin man!"^[4]

In the 1980s, he was involved with the National Youth Theatre and the political organisation the Young Socialists.^[2] He also became involved with the Labour Party's Militant tendency, and was expelled from Labour in 1987 for selling the Militant newspaper.^[2] Flemyng has subsequently claimed that both his theatrical and political activities at this time were simply a way of meeting girls.^[2] In 1990 he was admitted to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), where he was a classmate of Hermione Norris.^[4] Following his graduation from LAMDA in the early 1990s he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company.^[2]

Television and film work[link]

One of his first prominent roles on screen was a guest appearance in the American television series The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles in 1992.^[5] He was then a regular in the ITV drama series Doctor Finlay from 1993 to 1996.^[2]

His first film appearance was in the 1994 version of The Jungle Book.^[2] His first major cinema role was in Angela Pope's 1996 drama Hollow Reed, where he played a child abuser, followed by a main role in Guy Ritchie's popular 1998 London gangster film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Flemyng later claimed to have lost so much money while playing poker with the film's backers in between takes on set that he had to work on the four days of re-shoots the film required for no fee.^[6] He went on to appear in films such as The Red Violin and Deep Rising (1998), Snatch (2000), George A. Romero's Bruiser (2000) and Rock Star (2001).^[5] Flemyng also starred in the short film Feeling Good, written by Dexter Fletcher, whom he met while working on Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

In the early 2000s he featured in two big-budget Hollywood films which were adaptations of Alan Moore comic books; as John Netley in 2001's From Hell, with Johnny Depp, and 2003's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, with Sean Connery, in which Flemyng played Dr. Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde.^[7] The latter film was not a success, but Flemyng commented that: "It was a bit of a nightmare... the film cost a fortune and didn't make back the money it was meant to... But I still get a huge kick out of doing films like that and From Hell. Any day you walk onto a set and Sean Connery or Johnny Depp or Brad Pitt is there has to be a good day."^[7]

In parallel with his film career, Flemyng has continued to take various television roles. He told BBC News Online in 2004 that: "Of the 40 feature films I've made, 15 of them failed to make it onto the screen and have only ever been seen by cast and crew. It is very frustrating when a film you really believe in remains unseen. That's not a problem with television. If you're a painter you don't paint a picture and then stick it under the bed – you want people to see it."^[7] In 2005 he played the famous science-fiction role of Professor Bernard Quatermass when digital television channel BBC Four produced a live remake of the 1953 serial The Quatermass Experiment.^[8] In 2005 he also played the part of Dimitry, a Russian ex-biological weapons specialist, in Transporter 2, where he was briefly reunited with Jason Statham.