Dominic West
Dominic West, September 2008
Born	(1969-10-15) 15 October 1969 (age 42) Sheffield, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1991–present
Spouse	Catherine Fitzgerald (2010–present)

Dominic Gerard Fe West (born 15 October 1969) is an English actor best known for his role as Detective Jimmy McNulty in the HBO drama series The Wire.

Career[link]

Film and TV[link]

West made his debut in 1991 in a short called 3 Joes.^{[citation needed]} His other screen appearances include True Blue, Chicago and Mona Lisa Smile. His most notable television role has been Baltimore police detective Jimmy McNulty on the HBO television police drama The Wire. West was praised for the accuracy of his character's accent.^[1][2]

During his stint on The Wire, West directed the season 5 episode, "Took".

In film, he portrayed the heavy metal guitarist Kirk Cuddy in the 2001 film Rock Star. In 2006 West made a guest appearance as an actor in a sketch in The Catherine Tate Show, alongside "Frankie Howerd impressionist". In 2007, he played the Spartan politician Theron in 300. West also starred in the 1999 film version of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream as Lysander.

West appeared in the role of Oliver Cromwell in the Channel 4 series The Devil's Whore. West played the villain, Jigsaw, in the 2008 film Punisher: War Zone. He also features in "Dr. West", the opening track on Eminem's 2009 album Relapse, as a doctor discharging Eminem from a rehab facility. West played the part over the phone in January 2009 while Eminem was recording it in a Miami studio.^[3]

In December 2009, he starred as Hank in a radio adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's expressionist play The Hairy Ape for BBC Radio 3,^[4] was a guest presenter on the BBC show Have I Got News for You, and ended the year alongside Joan Rivers and Sarah Jessica Parker with an appearance on Graham Norton's New Year's Eve Show.^[5] West portrayed General Virilus in Neil Marshall's adventure thriller Centurion^[6] and stars in the UK Ghost film The Awakening.^[7]

In 2011, West appeared as a news presenter on the BBC-TV period drama series The Hour. He also filmed Appropriate Adult, a series about serial killer Fred West which focuses on the events between the Wests' arrests in 1994, and Fred's suicide in Birmingham's Winson Green Prison on New Year's Day, 1995. His physical resemblance to West was noted during filming and Fred West's daughter Mae West thought he captured the "evil essence of him - his character, his mannerisms, even his gait." Janet Leach found it difficult to approach Dominic in character on set because he was so convincing that it took Leach back 17 years.^[8] The series aired on ITV on 4 and 11 September as a two part 90 minute special. Dominic West also said "I have this recurring dream where I'm perched on a wall and Fred West is trying to grab me and pull me down,".

Theatre[link]

As a theatre actor, West has appeared as Konstantin in the Peter Hall-directed The Seagull (1996) at the Old Vic.^{[citation needed]} In 2005, he returned to the stage to play Orlando in David Lan's As You Like It at the Wyndham's Theatre in London.^{[citation needed]} He played Edward in Harley Granville Barker's The Voysey Inheritance directed by Peter Gill at the Royal National Theatre in 2006.^[9] In late 2006 and early 2007, he played the lead role of Jan in Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll in London's West End.^{[citation needed]}

Continuing his theatre work, he starred at London's Donmar Warehouse as the protagonist in Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s existential drama Life is a Dream, for which he received glowing reviews.^[10]

In February 2011, it was announced that he would take on the title role in Simon Gray's classic comedy, Butley, playing at the Duchess Theatre in London from 1 June 2011^[11] and in the September he returned to his native Sheffield to play Iago to his former Wire co-star Clarke Peters's Othello at the Crucible Theatre.^[12]

Advertising[link]

In 2009, West starred in a series of online films known as "The Carte Noire Readers". Made to promote French coffee brand Carte Noire, they consist of actors reading love scenes from a selection of sources. West reads extracts from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen; Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence; High Fidelity by Nick Hornby; The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton; Life Class by Pat Barker; The Moment You Were Gone by Nicci Gerrard; and Something Childish But Very Natural by Katherine Mansfield.^[13]

Personal life[link]

West was born into an Irish Catholic family^[14][15] in Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, the son of George West, who owned a plastics factory, and Moya, a housewife.^[16] West attended Eton College and Trinity College, Dublin.^[14][17][18] Dominic West graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, in 1995.^{[citation needed]}

In 1998 West and Polly Astor (the daughter of Michael Astor) had a daughter named Martha, who appeared in the film Creation in 2009 alongside Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly.^[19][20]

West and Catherine FitzGerald became engaged in 2007, and married in Glin, County Limerick, Ireland, on 26 June 2010.^[21] They have three children together: Dora, Senan and Francis.^{[citation needed]} Catherine FitzGerald is an Anglo-Irish aristocrat, being the daughter of Desmond FitzGerald, the 29th Knight of Glin, and was formerly married to The 7th Earl of Durham, then Viscount Lambton.^[14][22]

In November 2010, West was awarded an honorary degree for services to the Arts by Sheffield Hallam University.^[23]

In November 2011, West was also awarded the Honorary Patronage of the Philosophical Society of Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated from with a degree in English in previous years.^[24]

Films[link]

• 3 Joes (1991)
• Richard III (1995)
• True Blue (1996)
• Surviving Picasso (1996)
• The Gambler (1997)
• Diana & Me (1997)
• Spice World (1997)
• A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
• Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
• A Christmas Carol (1999)
• 28 Days (2000)
• The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (2001)
• Rock Star (2001)
• Ten Minutes Older (2002)
• Chicago (2002)
• Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
• The Forgotten (2004)
• Hannibal Rising (2007)
• 300 (2007)
• Punisher: War Zone (2008)
• Centurion (2010)
• Jackboots on Whitehall (2010)
• From Time to Time (2010)
• Johnny English Reborn (2011)
• Arthur Christmas (2011)
• The Awakening (2011)
• John Carter (2012)

Television[link]

• The Wire (2002–08)
• The Catherine Tate Show (Guest Appearance as the Actor) (2006)
• The Devil's Whore (2008)
• Breaking the Mould: The Story of Penicillin (2009)
• Have I Got News For You (Guest Host) (2009)
• The Hour (2011)
• Appropriate Adult (2011)
• Children of the Tsunami (Narrator) (2012)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Dominic West at the Internet Movie Database
• Dominic West talks about his work with Eminem on Relapse