Jonathan Pryce, CBE (born 1 June 1947) is a Welsh stage and film actor and singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and meeting his longtime partner English actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the 1970s. His work in theatre, including an award-winning performance in the title role of the Royal Court Theatre's Hamlet, led to several supporting roles in film and television. He made his breakthrough screen performance in Terry Gilliam's 1985 cult film Brazil.
Critically lauded for his versatility,[1][2] Pryce has participated in big-budget films such as Evita, Tomorrow Never Dies, Pirates of the Caribbean and The New World, as well as independent films such as Glengarry Glen Ross and Carrington. His career in theatre has also been prolific, and he has won two Tony Awards—the first in 1977 for his Broadway debut in Comedians, the second for his 1991 role as "The Engineer" in the musical Miss Saigon.
Pryce was born John Price in Carmel near Holywell, Wales, the son of Margaret Ellen (née Williams) and Isaac Price, a former coal miner who, along with his wife, ran a small general grocery shop. He changed the spelling of his last name from Price to Pryce in order to join Equity, the English actors' trade union, because Equity can only have one actor with any particular name on its books. Pryce has two older sisters. He was educated at Holywell Grammar School (today Holywell High School), and, at the age of 16, he went to art college and then started training to be a teacher at Edge Hill College (now Edge Hill University) in Ormskirk. While studying, he took part in a college theatre production. An impressed tutor suggested he became an actor and on Pryce's behalf sent off to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art for an application form, and Pryce was awarded a scholarship to RADA.[3][4][5] While at RADA Pryce worked as a door-to-door salesman of velvet paintings.[6] Pryce was part of 'new wave’ of actors to emerge from the Academy. Others included Bruce Payne, Juliet Stevenson, Alan Rickman, Anton Lesser, Kenneth Branagh and Fiona Shaw.
Despite finding RADA "straight-laced",[5] and being told by his tutor that he could never aspire to do more than playing villains in Z-Cars,[7] when he graduated he joined the Everyman Theatre Liverpool Company, eventually becoming the theatre's Artistic Director.[8][9]
While working at the Everyman Theatre in 1972 Pryce met actress Kate Fahy. They based their home in London, where they currently live. They have three children: Patrick (b. 1983), Gabriel (b. 1986) and Phoebe (b. 1990).[10] In order to gain his Equity card to work in Liverpool, he made his first screen appearance in a minor role on a 1972 episode of the British science fiction programme Doomwatch, called Fire & Brimstone. He then starred in 2 television films, both directed by Stephen Frears, "Daft as a Brush" and 'Playthings" . After the Everyman, Pryce joined the director Sir Richard Eyre at the Nottingham Playhouse and starred in the Trevor Griffiths play "Comedians" in a role specially written for his talents " Gethin Price". The production then transferred to London's Old Vic Theatre and in 1976 he reprised his. role on Broadway, this time directed by Mike Nichols and in 1977 won his first Tony Award as Best Actor. It was around this time that he appeared in his first movie role, playing the character Joseph Manasse in the film drama Voyage of the Damned, starring Faye Dunaway. He did not, however, abandon the stage, appearing from 1978 to 1979 on the Royal Shakespeare Company's productions of The Taming of the Shrew as Petruchio, and Antony and Cleopatra as Octavius Caesar.[11][12]
In 1980, his performance in the title role of Hamlet at the Royal Court Theatre won him an Olivier Award, and was acclaimed by some critics as the definitive Hamlet of his generation.[13][14] That year he also appeared in the film Breaking Glass, a film that is remarkable in that it featured in the cast (sometimes in small roles) many actors who would eventually become stars of film and television, such as Jim Broadbent, Richard Griffiths and Phil Daniels. Also during this year, Pryce had a small but pivotal role as Zarniwoop in the 12th episode of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series, one that he reprised for the Quintessential Phase which was broadcast in 2005. In his original, and memorable, role as Zarniwoop, Pryce's character questions the "ruler of the Universe," a solipsist, who has been chosen to rule arguably because of either his inherent manipulability, or immunity therefrom, on his philosophical opinions.
In 1983, Pryce played the role of the sinister Mr. Dark in Something Wicked This Way Comes, based on the Ray Bradbury novel of the same title. After appearing mostly in TV films, such as the Ian McEwan-scripted The Ploughman's Lunch, and Martin Luther, Heretic, he achieved a breakthrough with his role as the subdued protagonist Sam Lowry in Terry Gilliam's 1985 film, Brazil. The film, set in a world similar to the one depicted in Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, was acclaimed in Europe and won two BAFTA Film Awards. In the American version, Universal Pictures tried to remove numerous scenes in order to make the film shorter and more consumer-friendly, though they eventually relented.[15] The movie was also well received in the United States and won three awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and two Academy Award nominations. Brazil has since become a cult film,[16][17] and is still frequently mentioned in "best film" lists and rankings, such as Time magazine's list of the 100 best films of all time and Total Film magazine's 2004 list of the 20 greatest British movies of all time (which Brazil topped).[18] The film was described by Harlan Ellison as "the finest SF movie ever made"[15] and it holds a 98% freshness rate at Rotten Tomatoes.[19] After Brazil, Pryce appeared in the historical thriller The Doctor and the Devils and then in the Gene Wilder-directed film Haunted Honeymoon. During this period of his life, Pryce continued to perform on stage, and was particularly noteworthy as the successful but self-doubting writer Trigorin in a London production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull in late 1985.[20] From 1986 to 1987 Pryce played the lead part on the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Macbeth, which also starred Sinéad Cusack as Lady Macbeth.[21] Also in 1986 he starred in the film Jumping Jack Flash
In 1988 Pryce worked once again with Gilliam in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, playing "The Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson". The film was a notorious financial fiasco,[22] with production costing more than $40 million, when the original budget was $23.5 million.[23][24] The film has gained cult favorite status over time, however, and in a commentary track on the DVD edition of his 2007 feature Tideland, Gilliam now says that Munchausen is one of the films that his fans most often cite as a favorite (along with Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Brazil, Twelve Monkeys and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas).[25] The following year Pryce appeared in three of the earliest episodes of the improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, alongside Paul Merton and John Sessions.,[26] and in another play by Chekhov, this time Uncle Vanya at the Vaudeville Theatre.[27]
After a series of dramatic roles on stage, most notably Vanya and Macbeth, Pryce decided he wanted to do musicals after seeing his friend Patti LuPone in the original London production of Les Misérables.[28] He would successfully return to the stage originating the role of The Engineer, an Eurasian pimp in the award winning West End musical Miss Saigon. His performance was praised in England where he won the Olivier and Variety Club awards,[29][30] but when the production transferred to Broadway the Actors' Equity Association (AEA) would not allow Pryce to portray the Engineer because, according to their executive secretary, "[t]he casting of a Caucasian actor made up to appear Asian is an affront to the Asian community".[31] Cameron Mackintosh, the show's producer, decided to cancel the $10 million New York production because, he said, he would not let the freedom of artistic expression be attacked.[32] Realizing that its decision would result in the loss of many jobs, and after Pryce received much support from the acting community (both Charlton Heston and John Malkovich threatened to leave the union if Pryce was not allowed to perform) the AEA decided to make a deal with Mackintosh, allowing Pryce to appear in the production. He would then, in 1991, win a Tony Award for his performance.[33][34] Also in 1991 Pryce starred in the ITV mini-series Selling Hitler as Gerd Heidemann. Pryce returned to the London stage the following year to star for one night only at the Royal Festival Hall for an AIDS charity alongside Elaine Paige and Lilliane Montivecchi in the 1992 revival of the Federico Fellini-inspired musical Nine.[35]
In 1993 Pryce featured, alongside Kathy Burke and Minnie Driver, in the BBC mini-series Mr. Wroe's Virgins, directed by Oscar winner Danny Boyle. Later that same year Pryce was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and for a Golden Globe Award for his work as Henry Kravis in the HBO produced made-for-TV movie Barbarians at the Gate.[36] Also during 1993, Pryce was set to star alongside River Phoenix and Judy Davis in the film Dark Blood, but production had to be shut down when, 11 days shy of completing production, Phoenix died of a drug overdose.[37] Director George Sluizer, who owns the rights to what has been filmed, has made available some of the raw material, which features Pryce and Phoenix on a field in Utah, on his personal website.[38] Between 1993 and 1997, Pryce, on a multi million dollar contract became the spokesman for Infiniti in a series of American television commercials, notably for the Infiniti J30 and Infiniti Q45. These advertisements were notable for their sophistication with Pryce even appearing alongside jazz singer Nancy Wilson in a Prague nightclub.[39] These commercials were hilariously parodied on Saturday Night Live in 1993, with Mike Myers doing an impersonation of Pryce, spokesmodeling for sleek luxury toilets instead of automobiles.[40] In 1994, Pryce portrayed Fagin in a revival of the musical Oliver!,[41] and would star the following year alongside Emma Thompson in the film Carrington, which centres on a platonic relationship between gay writer Lytton Strachey and painter Dora Carrington. Pryce's portrayal of Strachey gained him the Best Actor Award at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival.[42]
The following year Pryce starred with Madonna and Antonio Banderas in his first musical film, Evita. In this Oscar-winning adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical, Pryce portrayed the Argentinian president Juan Perón. The movie's soundtrack was an international success. It contains over 30 songs sung mainly by Madonna, Banderas and Pryce, of which two are solos for Pryce: "She Is A Diamond" and "On The Balcony Of The Casa Rosada". After Evita, Pryce went on to portray a James Bond arch-villain, the power-mad, billionaire media mogul Elliot Carver, in the 1997 film Tomorrow Never Dies. During the rest of the decade Pryce would play to his new acquired villain fame, portraying an assassin in Ronin, a corrupt Cardinal in the controversial Stigmata and, for Comic Relief, the Master in the Doctor Who special, Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death. About this time Pryce sang at The Hollywood Bowl alongside opera singer Lesley Garrett in highlights from My Fair Lady and in 1998, he performed in Cameron Mackintosh's gala concert Hey, Mr Producer!, also as Professor Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady and reprising his role as the Engineer from Miss Saigon.[43]
During the early 2000s Pryce starred and participated in a variety of movies, such as The Affair of the Necklace, What a Girl Wants, Unconditional Love and Terry Gilliam's unfinished The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. While the success of some of these films was variable, the 2001 London stage production of My Fair Lady and his portrayal of Professor Henry Higgins was being acclaimed by the media.[44] This production turned up to be very stressful for Pryce because Martine McCutcheon, who portrayed Eliza Doolittle, was sick during much of the show's run. McCutcheon was replaced by her understudy Alexandra Jay, who would also fall sick hours before a performance, forcing her understudy, Kerry Ellis, to take the lead. Pryce was understandably upset and on her first night introduced Ellis to the audience before the show by saying "This will be your first Eliza, my second today and my third this week. Any member of the audience interested in playing Eliza can find applications at the door. Wednesday and Saturday matinee available."[45] Pryce ended up dealing with four Elizas during the course of 14 months. Nevertheless, the show was nominated for four Laurence Olivier Awards on 2001: Best Actress in a Musical for Martine McCutcheon, Outstanding Musical Production, Best Theatre Choreographer and Best Actor in a Musical for Pryce. Pryce lost to Philip Quast, although ironically McCutcheon won in her category having played fewer performances than any of her understudies. Pryce did express interest in doing My Fair Lady in New York, but when asked if he would do it with McCutcheon he said that "there's as much chance of me getting a date with Julia Roberts as doing My Fair Lady in New York with Martine McCutcheon".[27]
In April 2003 Pryce returned to the non-musical stage with A Reckoning, written by American dramatist Wesley Moore. The play co-starred Flora Montgomery and after premiering at the Soho Theatre in London was described by The Daily Telegraph as "one of the most powerful and provocative new American plays to have opened since David Mamet's Oleanna."[46] That year Pryce also landed a role in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where he portrayed a fictional Governor of Jamaica, Weatherby Swann, a movie he described as "one of those why-not movies".[27] After Pirates Pryce has appeared in several large-scale productions, such as De-Lovely (Pryce's second musical film), a chronicle of the life of songwriter Cole Porter, for which Kevin Kline and Pryce covered a Porter song called "Blow, Gabriel, Blow", The Brothers Grimm, Pryce's third film with Terry Gilliam, starred Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, and The New World, in which he had a cameo role as King James I. In 2005, Pryce was nominated for another Olivier Award in the best actor category for his role in the 2004 London production of The Goat or Who is Sylvia?, where he played Martin, a goat-lover that has to face the recriminations of his cheated-on wife, played by his real life wife Kate Fahy. Pryce's performance was highly praised, but he lost the Olivier to Richard Griffiths.[47][48][49]
The following year, Pryce voiced over the French animated film, Renaissance, which he stated wanted to do because he had never "done anything quite like it before".[50] That same year he reprised the role of Governor Weatherby Swann for the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Both were filmed at the same time but released a year apart.[51] Also, during 2006, Pryce returned to the Broadway stage replacing John Lithgow, from January to July, as Lawrence Jameson in the musical version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.[52] During early 2007 Pryce played Sherlock Holmes in a TV miniseries, the BBC production Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars.[8] From September 2007 through June 2008, he returned to the theatre scene appearing as Shelly Levene in a new West End production of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross at London's Apollo Theatre.[53] He Later appeared in the BBC Three comedy series Clone as Dr. Victor Blenkinsop also starring Stuart McLoughlin and Mark Gatiss.In 2009 he appeared at the Donmar Theatre in the title role of Dimetos written by Athol Fugard and later that year made a sentimental journey back to Liverpool to appear as Davies in Pinter's 'The Caretaker' directed by veteran director Christopher Morahan. This transferred to London's Trafalgar Theater in early 2010. On television in 2009 he appeared as 'Mr Buxton" in the critically acclaimed 'Return to Cranford' and was nominated for an Emmy as Best Actor in a Mini Series.
He has an Honorary Doctorate from Liverpool University, is a fellow of WCMD and a companion of LIPA. He is a patron of the children's charity Friendship Works and of the surgical charity Saving Faces. Pryce was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2009 Birthday Honours.[54]
Incomplete list
- When Love Speaks (2002, EMI Classics) - Shakespeare's "Sonnet 65" ("Since brass, nor stone, nor earth, nor boundless sea")
- HR, a six-part comedy drama series on BBC Radio 4 about a middle-aged Human Resources (HR) officer, played by Nicholas le Prevost, and his colleague, played by Pryce. The series was written by Nigel Williams and directed by Peter Kavanagh, and first broadcast in 2009.
- Portrayed The Master in the 1999 Comic Relief parody Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death.
- Cranford (2009, BBC) - Mr. Buxton
- ^ Shenton, Mark (15 October 2007). "Jonathan Pryce". Broadway.com in London. Retrieved on 10 November 2007.
- ^ BWW News Desk (20 November 2005). "Jonathan Pryce Confirmed To Step Into 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved on 10 November 2007.
- ^ "Jonathan Pryce". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on 28 October 2007.
- ^ "Jonathan Pryce Biography". Tribute.ca. Retrieved on 28 October 2007.
- ^ a b (16 August 2002). "I always wanted to be a pop star...". The Guardian. Retrieved on 9 December 2007.
- ^ (8 October 2007). "Why Jonathan Pryce is right for Mamet". telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved on 15 June 2008.
- ^ (10 July 2001). "Life with lots of Doolittles". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved on 15 June 2008.
- ^ a b (6 March 2007). and went on to perform with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the Nottingham Playhouse. "Jonathan Pryce is Sherlock Holmes". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on 28 October 2007.
- ^ "Jonathan Pryce Mini Biography". Ön Sayfa. Retrieved on 28 October 2007.
- ^ Jonathan Pryce Film Reference bio Retrieved on 28 October 2007
- ^ The RSC Shakespeare - Plot summaries, The Taming of the Shrew. Retrieved on 18 June 2008.
- ^ The RSC Shakespeare - Plot summaries, Antony and Cleopatra. Retrieved on 18 June 2008.
- ^ "Performance history of Hamlet". Royal Shakespeare Company. Retrieved on 6 November 2007
- ^ "Laurence Olivier Awards: Past winners". The Society of London Theatre. Retrieved on 6 November 2007.
- ^ a b Matthews, Jack. "Dreaming Brazil". Essay accompanying DVD release by The Criterion Collection.
- ^ "Entertainment Weekly's Top 50 Cult Movies (Brazil #13)". FilmSite.org. Retrieved on 26 November 2007.
- ^ Morgan, David (6 October 2006). "Terry Gilliam Sounds Off". CBS News. Retrieved on 26 November 2007.
- ^ Corliss, Richard. "ALL-TIME 100 movies". Time. Retrieved on 6 November 2007
- ^ "Brazil". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on 6 November 2007.
- ^ "Jonathan Pryce's Biography". The Theatre Royal Haymarket website. Retrieved on 26 November 2007.
- ^ The RSC Shakespeare - Plot summaries, The Tragedy of Macbeth. Retrieved on 18 June 2008.
- ^ Robert Parish, James (2006). Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops. Wiley. ISBN 0-471-69159-3
- ^ "Losing The Light - Terry Gilliam & The Munchausen Saga (a summary)". Hal Leonard Online. Retrieved on 6 November 2007.
- ^ "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on 6 November 2007.
- ^ Gilliam, Terry. (2006). Tideland DVD Commentary by Terry Gilliam and screenwriter Tony Grisoni [DVD]. Velocity / Thinkfilm
- ^ ""Whose Line is it Anyway?" - Episode Guide - Series one (1988)". WhoseLine.net. Retrieved on 26 November 2007.
- ^ a b c (18 March 2003). "Work with Martine again? I think not". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved on 15 June 2008.
- ^ Shenton, Mark (15 June 2008). "Q&A - Jonathan Pryce". Broadway.com in London. Retrieved on 15 June 2008.
- ^ "Jonathan Pryce Biography". Allocine.co.uk. Retrieved on 26 November 2007.
- ^ O'Keefe, Robert (20 September 1999). "Miss Saigon 10th Anniversary show 1990 Review". London Theater Guide Online. Retrieved on 26 November 2007.
- ^ Rothstein, Mervyn (8 August 1990). "Union Bars White in Asian Role; Broadway May Lose 'Miss Saigon'". The New York Times.
- ^ Rich, Frank (10 August), 1990). "Jonathan Pryce, 'Miss Saigon' and Equity's Decision (page 3)". The New York Times. Retrieved on 6 November 2007.
- ^ "Miss Saigon: Bringing Discrimination into the Limelight". Retrieved on 6 November 2007.
- ^ Rothstein, Mervyn (19 September 1990). "Dispute Settled, 'Miss Saigon' Is Broadway Bound". The New York Times. Retrieved on 6 November 2007.
- ^ "De 8 et 1/2 a Nine". RegardEnCoulisse.com. Retrieved on 9 December 2007. (French)
- ^ Reuters (23 June 2007). "Uma Thurman to star in HBO's "Zinc Bed"". China Daily. Retrieved on 15 June 2008.
- ^ "Dark Blood". RiverPhoenix.org. Retrieved on 6 November 2007.
- ^ "Videos". George Sluizer's official website. Retrieved on 19 November 2007.
- ^ Meredith, Robyn (13 June 1996). "The Media Business: Advertising;Infiniti chooses artsy ads with musings about the meaning of life to sell its luxury cars.". The New York Times. Retrieved on 6 November 2007.
- ^ "Infiniti Q45 Toilet I". SNL Transcripts. Retrieved on 6 November 2007.
- ^ Jones, Kenneth (10 March 2006). "Playbill.com's Brief Encounter with Jonathan Pryce". Playbill. Retrieved on 9 December 2007.
- ^ "Festival de Cannes: Carrington". festival-cannes.com. http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3362/year/1995.html. Retrieved 2 September 2009.
- ^ "Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh". IMDb.com. Retrieved on 6 January 2008.
- ^ Thomas, Rebecca (22 March 2001). "Fair Lady's luvverly show". BBC News. Retrieved on 10 November 2007.
- ^ (10 July 2001). "Life with lots of Doolittles". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved on 15 June 2008.
- ^ Connema, Richard. "American Premiere of Wesley Moore's A Reckoning is a Challenging Father/Daughter Confrontation". Talkin' Broadway. Retrieved on 15 June 2008.
- ^ Clover, Brian (19 April 2004). "The Goat or Who is Sylvia?". Curtain Up. Retrieved on 19 January 2008.
- ^ Loveridge, Lizzie (4 February 2004). "The Goat or Who is Sylvia?". Curtain Up. Retrieved on 19 January 2008.
- ^ (21 February 2005). "The Olivier Awards 2005". The Society of London Theatre. Retrieved on 19 January 2008.
- ^ Milling, Robin (21 September 2006). "Jonathan Pryce puts his voice on". Artisan News. Retrieved on 16 November 2007.
- ^ "Chapter 7 - Return to The Bahamas". Pirates of the Caribbean, Full Production Notes. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
- ^ (20 November 2005). "Jonathan Pryce Returns to Broadway Stage". eWoss News. Retrieved on 5 November 2007.
- ^ de Jongh, Nicholas (10 October 2007). "Blackmail, greed, despair ... a tale for our times". This Is London. Retrieved on 15 June 2008.
- ^ London Gazette: (Supplement) no. 59090. p. 8. 13 June 2009.
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Awards for Jonathan Pryce
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| Persondata |
| Name |
John Price |
| Alternative names |
Jonathan Pryce |
| Short description |
Welsh stage and film actor |
| Date of birth |
1 June 1947 |
| Place of birth |
Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, UK |
| Date of death |
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| Place of death |
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