Tom Hollander
Tom Hollander, May 2007
Born	Thomas Anthony Hollander (1967-08-25) 25 August 1967 (age 44)[1][2] Bristol, England, United Kingdom
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1981 – present

Thomas Anthony "Tom" Hollander (born 25 August 1967) is a British actor who has appeared in films Enigma, Gosford Park, Cambridge Spies, Pride and Prejudice, Pirates of the Caribbean, In the Loop, Valkyrie and Hanna.

Early life[link]

Tom Hollander was born in Bristol and raised in Oxford, the son of teachers. His parents are English, though his father is descended from Czech Jews who converted to Catholicism; Hollander was chief chorister at school.^[3][4] He attended the Dragon School and then Abingdon School. As a youngster, he was a member of the National Youth Theatre and the National Youth Music Theatre^[5] (then known as the Children's Music Theatre). In 1981, at fourteen years of age, he was awarded the lead role in a BBC dramatization of Leon Garfield's John Diamond.^[6] He read English at Selwyn College, Cambridge. He was actively involved in stage productions as a member of the Footlights and president of the Marlowe Society.^[7] Friend and fellow student Sam Mendes directed him in several plays while they were at Cambridge, including a critically acclaimed production of Cyrano de Bergerac (which also featured future Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg).^[8][9] After finishing university and failing to secure a place at a drama school, he found work in theatre nevertheless.

Career[link]

Hollander won the 1992 Ian Charleson Award for his performance in The Way of the World at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre.^[10] He had been nominated the previous year,^[11] and was again nominated for his performances in The Government Inspector in 1997.^[12]

Hollander's film and television appearances include Absolutely Fabulous, Martha, Meet Frank, Daniel and Laurence, Wives and Daughters, Harry, Cambridge Spies for which he received The FIPA D'OR Grand prize for best actor, Gosford Park, The Lost Prince and Pride and Prejudice for which he received The Evening Standard Film Awards Comedy Award, and London Critics Circle Best Supporting Actor. He has worked repeatedly with Michael Gambon and Bill Nighy and is a good friend of James Purefoy. Although highly respected as a character actor and the recipient of several awards, many of his films will still play on his height (5' 5" / 165 cm). Hollander has created several memorable comedic characters that draw more on his physical energy and intensity than his height, such as the "brilliantly foul-mouthed" Leon in BBC Two's Freezing, described in The Times as a "braying swirl of ego and mania".^[13]

Hollander has lent his vocal talents to a number of roles for BBC radio including Mosca in 2004's Volpone for Radio 3, Frank Churchill in Jane Austen's Emma and as Mr Gently Benevolent in the Dickensian parody Bleak Expectations for Radio 4. He has voiced a young Joseph Merrick, the "Elephant Man"; a disembodied head named Enzio in an urban gothic comedy^[14] and recently, Leon Theremin, the Russian inventor famous for the electronic instrument that bears his name. He provided the vocal texture for Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange recently with a "smooth, almost lyrical, crisp voice" that accomplished the task of rendering the extensive and unique slang of the book instantly understandable to readers.^[15]

Hollander portrays Lord Cutler Beckett, the "heavy" in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. He returned to the stage with the premiere of Joe Penhall's play Landscape with Weapon at the Royal National Theatre. He also appeared in the TNT miniseries The Company as Harold Adrian Russell Kim Philby, having previously played Guy Burgess in the BBC's Cambridge Spies. In 2008 he made a notable cameo appearance as King George III in the HBO mini-series John Adams, and ended the year as a memorable Col. Heinz Brandt in Valkyrie.

In 2009, Hollander played a symphonic cellist in Joe Wright's The Soloist. It was his second outing for Wright, who cast him to great effect as the fevered suitor Mr. Collins in 2005's Pride and Prejudice. He's worked once more with Wright in Hanna (2011). Hollander appeared in a lead role in Armando Iannucci's In the Loop as Secretary of State for International Development Simon Foster MP. Hollander's contribution to the expanded story was apparently so well-received he was "brought back" from film to television for a series-ending surprise-appearance^[16] (in a different role) in series 3, delighting fans of the show.

In 2010 Hollander and writer James Wood co-created the TV series Rev., about a hip, very human vicar. Reviews called it intelligent, realistic and very funny.^[17] Hollander played the sympathetic title character, Rev. Adam Smallbone. The show garnered a BAFTA in 2011 for Best Situation Comedy,^[18] among other awards and recognition.^[19] A second series aired in the UK on BBC 2, starting in November 2011 and ending with a Christmas special in December.

Personal life[link]

Hollander is a bicyclist and runner who has contributed his efforts to several charitable causes, including running to raise funds for the Childline Crisis Hotline in 2006, and in 2007, for the Teenage Cancer Trust.^{[citation needed]} He is a long-time supporter of the Helen & Douglas House Hospice for Children and Young Adults in Oxford, which provides hospice care for children, and continues to support charitable organizations by contributing readings and other appearances throughout the year.

He is a patron of the British Independent Film Awards,and has supported the efforts of the Old Vic's "24 Hour Plays New Voices" Gala, which forwards the cause of young writers for the British stage.^[20]

Hollander lives in Notting Hill, London.

Filmography[link]

References[link]