Nigel Hawthorne
Nigel Hawthorne | |
|---|---|
 Hawthorne as the Duke of Clarence in the 1995 film Richard III | |
| Born | Nigel Barnard Hawthorne 5 April 1929 Coventry, Warwickshire, England |
| Died | 26 December 2001 (aged 72) Radwell, Hertfordshire, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1950–2001 |
| Partner | Trevor Bentham (1979–2001) |
Sir Nigel Barnard Hawthorne CBE (5 April 1929 – 26 December 2001) was an English actor. He portrayed Sir Humphrey Appleby, the Permanent Secretary in the 1980s sitcom Yes Minister and the Cabinet Secretary in its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister. For this role, he won four BAFTA TV Awards for Best Light Entertainment Performance. He won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for portraying King George III in The Madness of King George (1994). He later won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor, for the 1996 series The Fragile Heart. He was also an Olivier Award and Tony Award winner for his work in theatre.
Early life
Hawthorne was born in Coventry, Warwickshire, England, the second of four children of Agnes Rosemary (née Rice) and Charles Barnard Hawthorne, a physician.[1] When Nigel was three years old, the family moved to Cape Town, South Africa, where his father had bought a practice. Initially they lived in the Gardens and then moved to a newly built house near Camps Bay.[2] He was educated at St George's Grammar School, Cape Town and, when the family moved, the now defunct Christian Brothers College,[3] where he played on the rugby team.[4] He described his time at the latter as not being a particularly happy experience.[2] He enrolled at the University of Cape Town, where he met and sometimes acted in plays with Theo Aronson,[5] later a well-known biographer, but withdrew and returned to the United Kingdom in the 1950s to pursue a career in acting.
Career
Hawthorne made his professional stage debut in 1950, playing Archie Fellows in a Cape Town production of The Shop at Sly Corner.[3] He made his Broadway debut in 1974 in As You Like It. He returned to the New York stage in 1990 in Shadowlands and won the 1991 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play.[6]
In a long and varied career in film, which began with an advertisement for Mackeson Stout and smaller roles in various British television series since the late 1950s, his most famous roles were as Sir Humphrey Appleby, the Permanent Secretary of the fictional Department of Administrative Affairs in the television series Yes Minister (and Cabinet Secretary in its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister), for which he won four BAFTA awards during the 1980s, and as King George III in Alan Bennett's stage play The Madness of George III (for which he won a Best Actor Olivier Award) and the film version entitled The Madness of King George, for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actor and won the BAFTA Film Award for Best Actor. He won a sixth BAFTA for the 1996 TV mini-series The Fragile Heart.
Hawthorne was also a voice actor, and lent his voice to two Disney films: Fflewddur Fflam in The Black Cauldron (1985), and Professor Porter in Tarzan (1999). He also voiced Captain Campion in the 1978 cartoon film Watership Down.
Personal life
An intensely private person, he was upset at having been involuntarily outed as gay in 1995 in the publicity surrounding the Academy Awards, but he did attend the ceremony with his long-time partner Trevor Bentham, speaking openly about being gay in interviews and his autobiography, Straight Face,[7] which was published posthumously.[8]
They met in 1968 when Bentham was stage-managing the Royal Court Theatre. From 1979 until Hawthorne's death in 2001, they lived together in Radwell near Baldock and latterly at Thundridge, both in Hertfordshire, England. The two of them became fund raisers for the North Hertfordshire hospice and other local charities.[9]
Death
Hawthorne had several operations for pancreatic cancer, although his immediate cause of death was from a heart attack, aged 72. He was survived by Bentham, and his funeral service was held at St Mary's, the Parish Church of Thundridge near Ware, Hertfordshire, following which he was cremated at Stevenage Crematorium.[10] His funeral was attended by Derek Fowlds, Maureen Lipman, Charles Dance, Loretta Swit and Frederick Forsyth along with friends and local people. The service was led by the Right Reverend Christopher Herbert, the Bishop of St Albans. The coffin had a wreath of white lilies and orchids and Bentham was one of the pallbearers.[11]
On hearing of Hawthorne's death, Alan Bennett described him in his diary, "Courteous, grand, a man of the world and superb at what he did, with his technique never so obvious as to become familiar as, say, Olivier's did or Alec Guinness's."[12]
Honours
He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 1987 New Year Honours, and was knighted in the 1999 New Year Honours.[13]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Carve Her Name with Pride | Polish Soldier in Park | Uncredited |
| 1972 | Young Winston | Boer Sentry | Uncredited |
| 1974 | S*P*Y*S | Croft | film debut |
| 1975 | The Hiding Place | Pastor De Ruiter | |
| 1975 | Decisions, Decisions | unknown role | Short film |
| 1977 | Spiderweb | Lonnrot | Short film |
| 1978 | Sweeney 2 | Dilke | |
| 1978 | Watership Down | Captain Campion | Voice, credited as Nigel Hawthorn |
| 1978 | The Sailor's Return | Mr. Fosse | |
| 1981 | History of the World: Part I | Citizen Official | (The French Revolution) |
| 1981 | Memoirs of a Survivor | Victorian Father | |
| 1982 | Firefox | Pyotr Baranovich | |
| 1982 | The Plague Dogs | Dr. Boycott | Voice |
| 1982 | Gandhi | Kinnoch | |
| 1983 | Dead on Time | Doctor | Short film |
| 1984 | The Chain | Mr. Thorn | |
| 1985 | The Black Cauldron | Fflewddur Fflam | Voice |
| 1985 | Turtle Diary | The Publisher | |
| 1988 | Rarg | Storyteller | Short film |
| 1989 | A Handful of Time | Ted Walker | |
| 1990 | King of the Wind | Achmet | |
| 1992 | Freddie as F.R.O.7. | Brigadier G | Voice |
| 1993 | Demolition Man | Dr. Raymond Cocteau | |
| 1994 | The Madness of King George | George III | |
| 1995 | Richard III | Clarence | |
| 1996 | Twelfth Night or What You Will | Malvolio | |
| 1997 | Murder in Mind | Dr. Ellis | also Associate Producer |
| 1997 | Amistad | Martin Van Buren | |
| 1998 | The Object of My Affection | Rodney Fraser | |
| 1998 | Madeline | Lord Covington | (segment "Lord Cucuface") |
| 1998 | At Sachem Farm | Uncle Cullen | also Executive Producer |
| 1999 | The Big Brass Ring | Kim | |
| 1999 | The Winslow Boy | Arthur Winslow | |
| 1999 | A Reasonable Man | Judge Wendon | |
| 1999 | Tarzan | Professor Porter | Voice |
| 1999 | The Clandestine Marriage | Lord Ogleby | also Associate Producer |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1956 | Cry Wolf! | PC Bray | Television Movie television debut |
| 1956 | The Goose Girl | unknown role | Television Movie |
| 1957 | The Royal Astrologers | Third Thief | Television Movie |
| 1957 | Bonehead | Bit Part | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1957 | Huntingtower | Sinister man | Episode: "#1.3" |
| 1957 | Villette | Second Footman | Television Miniseries; 2 episodes |
| 1962 | The Last Man Out | Gestapo Man | Episode: "The Way Out" |
| 1963 | The Desperate People | Cliff Fletcher | recurring role; 4 episodes |
| 1963 | Man of the World | Assistant director | Episode: "The Bandit" |
| 1963 | Bud | Trefor Jones | Episode: "#1.5" |
| 1964 | Detective | Temple Doorkeeper | Episode: "Death in Ecstacy" |
| 1964 | Emergency-Ward 10 | Colin Davies | Episode: "#1.769" |
| 1965 | Jury Room | David Hemming - Jurror | Episode: "The Dilke Affair" |
| 1969 | Mrs. Wilson's Diary | Roy Jenkins | Television Movie |
| 1969 | The Gnomes of Dulwich | Gnome | Episode: "#1.6" |
| 1969 | Dad's Army | the Angry Man | Episode: "The Armoured Might of Lance Corporal Jones" |
| 1971 | The Last of the Baskets | Mr. Snodgrass | Episode: "For Richer, for Poorer" |
| 1971 | Hine | Freddy Ambercourt | Episode: "Everything I Am I Owe" |
| 1973 | Hadleigh | Oliver Mason | 2 episodes |
| 1974 | Occupations | Libertini | Television Movie |
| 1974 | Miss Nightingale | Dr. Lewis | Television Movie |
| 1976 | Couples | Mr. Laker | recurring role; 3 episodes |
| 1976 | Bill Brand | Browning | Television Miniseries; Episode: "Yarn" |
| 1977 | Crown Court | Dr. William Ranford | Episode: "Beauty and the Beast (Part 1)" |
| 1977 | Eleanor Marx | Engels | 2 episodes |
| 1977 | Marie Curie | Pierre Curie | Television Miniseries; 4 episodes |
| 1977 | Just William | Mr. Croombe | Episode: "The Great Detective" |
| 1978 | Warrior Queen | Catus Decianus | recurring role; 4 episodes |
| 1978 | Breakaway Girls | Derek Carter | Episode: "Sarah Carter" |
| 1978 | Going Straight | Worm Wellings | Episode: "Going Going Gone" |
| 1978 | Holocaust | Ohldendorf | Television Miniseries; Episode: "Part 2" |
| 1978 | Edward & Mrs. Simpson | Walter Monkton | recurring role; 5 episodes |
| 1979 | Thomas and Sarah | Wilson | Episode: "The New Rich" |
| 1979 | The Other Side | Skellow | Episode: "Underdog" |
| 1979 | The Knowledge | Mr. Burgess | Television Movie |
| 1980 | Festival: The Misanthrope | Philinte | Television Movie |
| 1980 | The Tempest | Stephano | Television Movie |
| 1980 | Jukes of Piccadilly | Brinsley Jukes | recurring role; 6 episodes |
| 1980 | The Good Companions | Reverend Chillingford | Television Miniseries; Episode: "Miss Trant Pays the Bill" |
| 1980 | A Tale of Two Cities | Mr. CJ Stryver | Television Movie |
| 1980-1984 | Yes Minister | Sir Humphrey Appleby | series regular; 22 episodes |
| 1981 | Tales of the Unexpected | Charles Drummond | Episode: "The Last Bottle in the World" |
| 1982 | The Hunchback of Notre Dame | Magistrate at Esmeralda's Trial | Television Movie |
| 1982 | A Woman Called Golda | King Abdullah | Television Movie |
| 1982 | The World Cup: A Captain's Tale | John Westwood | Television Movie |
| 1982 | The Barchester Chronicles | Archdeacon Theophilus Grantly | Television Miniseries; 7 episodes |
| 1983 | Tartuffe, or the Imposter | Orgon | Television Movie |
| 1984 | Pope John Paul II | Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski | Television Movie |
| 1984 | The House | General Fagg | Television Movie |
| 1985-1986 | Mapp & Lucia | Georgie Pillson | recurring role; 10 episodes |
| 1985 | Jenny's War | Colonel | recurring role; 4 episodes |
| 1986-1988 | Yes, Prime Minister | Sir Humphrey Appleby | series regular; 16 episodes |
| 1989 | The Play on One | John | Episode: "The Shawl" |
| 1990 | Relatively Speaking | Philip Carter | Television Movie |
| 1994 | Late Flowering Lust | Cousin John | Television Movie |
| 1996 | Inside | Colonel | Television Movie |
| 1996 | The Fragile Heart | Dr. Edgar Pascoe | unknown episode |
| 1996 | The Happy Prince | Narrator | Television Movie |
| 1997 | Forbidden Territory: Stanley's Search for Livingstone | David Livingstone | Television Movie |
| 1998 | Animal Stories | Narrator | unknown episode |
| 2000 | The Last Polar Bears | Narrator | Television Short |
| 2001 | Victoria & Albert | Lord William Lamb | Television Movie |
| 2001 | Call Me Claus | Nick | Television Movie, (final film role) |
Video Games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Jeff Wayne's the War of the Worlds | The General | Voice |
| 2001 | Tarzan | Professor Porter | Voice |
Stage
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Company | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | The Shop at Sly Corner | Archie | Hofmeyr Theatre | |
| 1951 | You Can't Take It With You | Donald | Embassy Theatre | |
| 1957 | His Excellency | Captain the Contino Sevastein Jacono de Piero | ||
| 1957 | Talking To You | Fancy Dan | Duke or York's Theatre | |
| 1967 | Mrs Wilson's Diary | Roy | Criterion Theatre | |
| 1967 | The Marie Lloyd Story | Sir Oswald Stoll | Theatre Royal, Stratford | |
| 1970 | Curtains | Niall | Edinburgh Festival | |
| 1971 | Curtains | Niall | Open Space | |
| 1971 | Alma Mater | Major | ||
| 1972 | The Trial of St George | Judge | Soho Poly | |
| 1973 | A Question of Everything | Hugh | ||
| 1973 | The Emergency Channel | Graham | ||
| 1973 | The Philannthropist | Philip | May Fair | |
| 1975 | A Child of Hope | Police Captain | ||
| 1975 | The Floater | Morris Shelman | ||
| 1975 | Otherwise Engaged | Stephen | Queens Theatre | |
| 1975 | The Doctor's Dilemma | Culter Walpole | Mermaid Theatre | |
| 1976 | Play Things | Tenby | ||
| 1976 | Buffet | Jack | ||
| 1976 | As You Like It | Touchstone | Riverside Studios | |
| 1977 | The Fire That Consumes | Abbe de Pradts | Mermaid Theatre | |
| 1977 | Blind Date | Brian | King's Head Theatre | |
| 1977 | Privates on Parade | Major Gliles Flack | ||
| 1978 | Destiny | Major Lewis Rolfe | ||
| 1978 | The Millionairess | Julius | Theatre Royal Haymarket | |
| 1980 | The Enigma | Fenton | ||
| 1980 | A Rod of Iron | Trevor | ||
| 1980 | Jessie | Mr. Edmonds | ||
| 1981 | A Brush with Mr. Porter on the Road to Eldorado | Fulton | ||
| 1981 | Protest | Vaclav Havel | ||
| 1982 | The Critic | Mr. Sneer | ||
| 1986 | Across from the Garden of Allah | Douglas | Comedy Theatre | |
| 1988 | The Miser | Harpagon | ||
| 1988 | Hapgood | Blair | Aldwych Theatre | |
| 1989 | The Spirit of Man | Reverend Jonathan Guerdon | ||
| 1989 | Shadowlands | C.S. Lewis | Queens Theatre | |
| 1990 | Shadowlands | C.S. Lewis | Brooks Atkins Theatre | |
| 1991 | The Trials of Oz | Brian Leary | ||
| 1992 | Flea Bites | Kryst | ||
| 1999 | King Lear | Lear | RSC | Barbican |
Awards and nominations
References
- ^ "Nigel Hawthorne Biography (1929–2001)" FilmReference.com (Retrieved: 18 August 2009)
- ^ a b Kathleen Riley (2004) Nigel Hawthorne on Stage, Univ. of Hertfordshire Press, Hatfield ISBN 978-1-90280-629-7
- ^ a b "Biography for Nigel Hawthorne" TCM.com (Retrieved: 18 August 2009)
- ^ Michael Green (2004) Around and About: Memoires of a South African Newspaperman, David Philip Publishers, Cape Town ISBN 0-86486-660-7
- ^ [Aronson, Theo, Royal Subjects (2001), p.152]
- ^ Staff (26 December 2001). "Actor Sir Nigel Hawthorne dies". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 17 October 2017.
- ^ Nigel Hawthorne (2002) Straight Face, Hodder & Stoughton, London ISBN 978-0-34076-942-3
- ^ Hubbard, Michael; "Straight Face by Nigel Hawthorne" MusicOMH.com (Retrieved: 18 August 2009)
- ^ Payne, Stewart (27 December 2001). "Sir Nigel Hawthorne dies of heart attack aged 72". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
- ^ Wilson, Scott. Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed.: 2 (Kindle Locations 20441-20442). McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers. Kindle Edition.
- ^ 'Friends pay tribute to Nigel Hawthorne' - The Guardian 10 January 2002
- ^ Alan Bennett, Untold Stories (Faber & Faber, London, 2005), at page 302.
- ^ Barker, Dennis; "Sir Nigel Hawthorne" Guardian.co.uk, 27 December 2001 (Retrieved: 18 August 2009)
External links
- 1929 births
- 2001 deaths
- 20th-century English male actors
- Actors awarded British knighthoods
- BAFTA winners (people)
- Best Actor BAFTA Award winners
- Best Actor Empire Award winners
- Burials in Hertfordshire
- Deaths from cancer in England
- Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
- Critics' Circle Theatre Award winners
- Deaths from pancreatic cancer
- English male film actors
- English male stage actors
- English male television actors
- English male voice actors
- Gay actors
- Knights Bachelor
- Laurence Olivier Award winners
- LGBT entertainers from England
- Male actors from Warwickshire
- University of Cape Town alumni
- English male Shakespearean actors
- People from Coventry
- Royal Shakespeare Company members
- Tony Award winners