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Jonathan Pryce

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Jonathan Pryce
Pryce at the Mar del Plata Film Festival in 2006
Born
John Price
OccupationActor
Years active1970–present
SpouseKate Fahy (1974–present)
AwardsBest Actor Award - Cannes Film Festival
1995 Carrington
WebsiteJonathan Pryce

Jonathan Pryce (born June 1, 1947) is a Welsh award-winning stage and film actor/singer. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and marrying Irish actress Kate Fahy in 1974, he began his career as a stage actor in the late 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 box-office hits such as Evita, Tomorrow Never Dies, Pirates of the Caribbean and The New World, as well as independent projects 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.

Biography

Early life

Pryce was born John Price in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, the son of Margaret Ellen (née Williams), a retail cashier and shopkeeper, and Isaac Price, a coal miner who also ran a small general grocery shop. 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 in Ormskirk. While studying, he took part in a college theatre production. An impressed friend sent off to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art for an application form, and Pryce was awarded a scholarship to RADA.[3][4][5]

Although Pryce found the RADA "straight-laced",[5] he graduated and went on to perform with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the Nottingham Playhouse. He then joined the Everyman Theatre Liverpool Company, eventually becoming the theatre's Artistic Director.[6][7] While working at the Everyman Theatre Pryce met Irish actress Kate Fahy. The two married in 1974 and based their home in the Hampstead area of London, where they currently live with their three children: Patrick (b.1983), Gabriel (b.1986) and Phoebe (b.1990).[8] It is during this time that he made his first screen appearance in a minor role on a 1972 episode of the British science fiction programme Doomwatch, called Fire & Brimstone. It was not until 1976, however, that he got his first movie role, playing the character Joseph Manasse in the film drama Voyage of the Damned, starring Faye Dunaway.

1980s

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.[9][10] 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.

File:Brazil-JPryce2.jpg
Pryce as Sam Lowry in Brazil

After appearing mostly in TV films, such as Something Wicked This Way Comes and the Ian McEwan-scripted film The Ploughman's Lunch, he achieved a breakthrough with his role as the subdued protagonist Sam Lowry in the ex-Monty Python Terry Gilliam's 1985 film, Brazil. The film, an analogy to Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, was acclaimed in Europe and won two BAFTA Film Awards. In the American version, some scenes were removed by its distributor, Universal Pictures, to make the film "shorter" and more consumer-friendly.[11] Despite being 43 minutes shorter than the original version, the movie was also well received in the United States and won three awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and two Academy Awards nominations. Brazil became a cult film,[12][13] 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 20th greatest British movies of all time (which Brazil topped).[14] The film was described by Harlan Ellison as "the finest SF movie ever made"[11] and it holds a 97% freshness rate at Rotten Tomatoes.[15] 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.[16]

In 1988 Pryce worked once again with Gilliam in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, playing "The Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson". The film is one of the most famous fiascos in film history,[17] with production costing more than $40 million, when the original budget was $23.5 million.[18][19] 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).[20] During the last year of the decade, Pryce appeared on two of the earliest episodes of the improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, alongside Paul Merton and John Sessions.[21]

1990s

After some minor roles in the big screen, such as in the independent film Glengarry Glen Ross and in Scorcese's The Age of Innocence, Pryce successfully returned to the stage and originated the role of The Engineer, an Eurasian pimp in the award winning West End musical Miss Saigon. His performance was praised in England,[22][23] 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".[24] 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.[25] Realizing that its decision would result in the loss of many jobs, 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.[26][27] Pryce returned to the London stage the following year to star alongside Elaine Paige in the 1992 revival of the Federico Fellini-inspired musical Nine.[28]

In 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.[29] 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.[30] Between 1993 and 1994, Pryce became a spokesman for Infiniti in a series of American television commercials, notably for the Infiniti J30. These advertisements were widely ridiculed because of the campaign's general "snobiness".[31] These commercials were parodied on Saturday Night Live in 1993, with Mike Myers doing an impersonation of Pryce, spokesmodeling for sleek luxury toilets instead of automobiles.[32] In 1994, Pryce portrayed Fagin in a revival of the musical Oliver!,[33] 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 that year's Cannes Film Festival.[34]

The following year Pryce starred alongside 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 dictator Juan Peron. 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". Both his acting and his singing received mixed reviews from the press.[35][36] After Evita, Pryce went on to portray a James Bond villain, 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. In 1998, Pryce performed in Cameron Mackintosh's gala concert Hey, Mr Producer!, as Professor Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady and reprising his role as the Engineer from Miss Saigon.[37]

2000s

During the early 2000s Pryce starred and participated in a variety of movie flops, 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 his on-screen projects were failing, however, the 2001 London stage production of My Fair Lady and his portrayal of Professor Henry Higgins was being acclaimed by the media.[38] In 2003 he landed a role in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where he portrayed a fictional Governor of Jamaica, Weatherby Swann. 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 fourth project with Terry Gilliam, starred Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, and The New World, in which he had a minor 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?. Pryce's performance was highly praised, but he lost the Olivier to Richard Griffiths.[39][40][41]

The following year, Pryce voiced over the French adult animated film, Renaissance, which he stated wanted to do because he had never "done something quite like it before".[42] 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.[43] 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.[44] During early 2007 Pryce played Sherlock Holmes in a TV miniseries, the BBC production Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars.[45] Currently, from September 2007 through January 2008, he is appearing as Shelly Levene in a new West End production of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross at London's Apollo Theatre.[46]

Work

Stage

Filmography

Year Title Role
1983 Something Wicked this Way Comes Mr. Dark
1985 Brazil Sam Lowry
1986 Haunted Honeymoon Charles Abbot
Jumpin' Jack Flash Jack
1987 Man on Fire Michael
1988 Consuming Passions Mr Farris
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson
1992 Glengarry Glen Ross James Lingk
1993 Dark Blood (unreleased) Harry
Barbarians at the Gate Henry Kravis
1995 Carrington Lytton Strachey
1996 Evita Colonel Juan Perón
1997 Regeneration / Behind the Lines Dr. William Rivers
Tomorrow Never Dies Elliot Carver
1998 Ronin Seamus O'Rourke
1999 Stigmata Cardinal Houseman
2001 The Affair of the Necklace Cardinal Louis de Rohan
2003 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Gov. Weatherby Swann
What a Girl Wants Alistair Payne
2004 De-Lovely Gabe
2005 The Brothers Grimm General Vavarin Delatombe
The New World King James
2006 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Gov. Weatherby Swann
2007 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Gov. Weatherby Swann
Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars Sherlock Holmes
2008 Leatherheads C.C. Frazier
My Zinc Bed (in post-production) TBA
2009 G.I. Joe (filming) U.S. President

Television

Year Title Role
2009 Clone - Pilot Episode Dr. Victor Blenkinsop

References

  1. ^ Shenton, Mark (October 15, 2007). "Jonathan Pryce". Broadway.com in London. Retrieved on November 10, 2007.
  2. ^ BWW News Desk (November 20, 2005). "Jonathan Pryce Confirmed To Step Into 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'". BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved on November 10, 2007.
  3. ^ "Jonathan Pryce". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on October 28, 2007.
  4. ^ "Jonathan Pryce Biography". Tribute.ca. Retrieved on October 28, 2007.
  5. ^ a b (August 16, 2002). "I always wanted to be a pop star...". The Guardian. Retrieved on December 9, 2007.
  6. ^ (March 6, 2007). "Jonathan Pryce is Sherlock Holmes". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on October 28, 2007.
  7. ^ "Jonathan Pryce Mini Biography". Ön Sayfa. Retrieved on October 28, 2007.
  8. ^ "Jonathan Pryce Biography (1947-)". FilmReference.com. Retrieved on October 28, 2007.
  9. ^ "Performance history of Hamlet". Royal Shakespeare Company. Retrieved on November 6, 2007
  10. ^ "Laurence Olivier Awards: Past winners". The Society of London Theatre. Retrieved on 11-06, 2007.
  11. ^ a b Matthews, Jack. "Dreaming Brazil". Essay accompanying DVD release by The Criterion Collection.
  12. ^ "Entertainment Weekly's Top 50 Cult Movies (Brazil #13)". FilmSite.org. Retrieved on November 26, 2007.
  13. ^ Morgan, David (October 6, 2006). "Terry Gilliam Sounds Off". CBS News. Retrieved on November 26, 2007.
  14. ^ Corliss, Richard. "ALL-TIME 100 movies". Time. Retrieved on November 6, 2007
  15. ^ "Brazil". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved on November 6, 2007.
  16. ^ "Jonathan Pryce's Biography". The Theatre Royal Haymarket website. Retrieved on November 26, 2007.
  17. ^ Robert Parish, James (2006). Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops. Wiley. ISBN 0471691593
  18. ^ "Losing The Light - Terry Gilliam & The Munchausen Saga (a summary)". Hal Leonard Online. Retrieved on November 6, 2007.
  19. ^ "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved on November 6, 2007.
  20. ^ Gilliam, Terry. (2006). Tideland DVD Commentary by Terry Gilliam and screenwriter Tony Grisoni [DVD]. Velocity / Thinkfilm
  21. ^ ""Whose Line is it Anyway?" - Episode Guide - Series one (1988)". WhoseLine.net. Retrieved on November 26, 2007.
  22. ^ "Jonathan Pryce Biography". Allocine.co.uk. Retrieved on November 26, 2007.
  23. ^ O'Keefe, Robert (September 20, 1999). "Miss Saigon 10th Anniversary show 1990 Review". London Theater Guide Online. Retrieved on November 26, 2007.
  24. ^ Rothstein, Mervyn (8 August, 1990). "Union Bars White in Asian Role; Broadway May Lose 'Miss Saigon'". The New York Times.
  25. ^ Rich, Frank (August 10), 1990). "Jonathan Pryce, 'Miss Saigon' and Equity's Decision (page 3)". The New York Times. Retrieved on November 6, 2007.
  26. ^ "Miss Saigon: Bringing Discrimination into the Limelight". Retrieved on November 6, 2007.
  27. ^ Rothstein, Mervyn (September 19, 1990). "Dispute Settled, 'Miss Saigon' Is Broadway Bound". The New York Times. Retrieved on November 6, 2007.
  28. ^ "De 8 et 1/2 a Nine". RegardEnCoulisse.com. Retrieved on December 9, 2007. (French)
  29. ^ "Dark Blood". RiverPhoenix.org. Retrieved on November 6, 2007.
  30. ^ "Videos". George Sluizer's official website. Retrieved on November 19, 2007.
  31. ^ Meredith, Robyn (June 13, 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 November 6, 2007.
  32. ^ "Infiniti Q45 Toilet I". SNL Transcripts. Retrieved on November 6, 2007.
  33. ^ Jones, Kenneth (March 10, 2006). "Playbill.com's Brief Encounter with Jonathan Pryce". Playbill. Retrieved on December 9, 2007.
  34. ^ "Cannes Film Festival: 1995". IMDb.com. Retrieved on November 26, 2007.
  35. ^ "Evita The Movie". Retrieved on November 6, 2007.
  36. ^ Jahiel, Edwin. "1997 - Evita Review". Movie Reviews. Retrieved on November 6, 2007.
  37. ^ "Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh". IMDb.com. Retrieved on January 6, 2008.
  38. ^ Thomas, Rebecca (March 22, 2001). "Fair Lady's luvverly show". BBC News. Retrieved on November 10, 2007.
  39. ^ Clover, Brian (April 19, 2004). "The Goat or Who is Sylvia?". Curtain Up. Retrieved on January 19, 2008.
  40. ^ Loveridge, Lizzie (February 4, 2004). "The Goat or Who is Sylvia?". Curtain Up. Retrieved on January 19, 2008.
  41. ^ (February 21, 2005). "The Olivier Awards 2005". The Society of London Theatre. Retrieved on January 19, 2008.
  42. ^ Milling, Robin (September 21, 2006). "Jonathan Pryce puts his voice on". Artisan News. Retrieved on November 16, 2007.
  43. ^ "Chapter 7 - Return to The Bahamas". Pirates of the Caribbean, Full Production Notes. Retrieved November 10, 2007.
  44. ^ (November 20, 2005). "Jonathan Pryce Returns to Broadway Stage". eWoss News. Retrieved on November 5, 2007.
  45. ^ (March 6, 2007). "Jonathan Pryce is Sherlock Holmes". BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on October 28, 2007.
  46. ^ CB (July 6, 2007). "Pryce and Gillen in Glengarry". The Society of London Theatre. Retrieved on October 28, 2007.
Preceded by Award for Best Actor - Cannes Film Festival
1995
for Carrington 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Official James Bond villain actor
1997 		Succeeded by

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