Biography
Simon Russell Beale was born in Penang, Malaysia. He became a chorister at St. Paul’s Cathedral then went to Clifton College before going to Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge were he received a First in English.
An Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre, his performances for the RSC include ‘Konstantin’ in The Seagull; ‘Ariel’ in The Tempest, ‘Edgar’ in King Lear, ‘Oswald’ in Ghosts, Edward II and Richard III. For the National Theatre his extensive work includes ‘Iago’ in Othello, ‘Mosca’ in Volpone , ‘Guildenstern’ in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, ‘Alfred Evelyn’ in Money, Hamlet, for which he won the Evening Standard Best Actor Award and the John & Wendy Trewin Award for Best Shakespearean Performance from the Critics Circle; the lead in Humble Boy (also West End), ‘George’ in Jumpers (also West End and on Broadway), Candide for which he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical, ‘Face’ in The Alchemist, ‘Benedick’ in Much Ado About Nothing, ‘Undershaft’ in Major Barbara, ‘Edward’ in A Slight Ache and in 2010 he starred as ‘Sir Harcourt Courtly’ in London Assurance.
Performances as ‘Vanya’ in Uncle Vanya and ‘Malvolio’ in Twelfth Night at the Donmar Warehouse and the Brooklyn Academy New York won him Best Actor at the 2002 Olivier, Critics’ Circle and Evening Standard Awards as well as a Village Voice Obie in America. Simon also played ‘Philip’ in The Philanthropist at the Donmar Warehouse, for which he won the 2005 Evening Standard Award for Best Actor.
He starred as ‘King Arthur’ in Spamalot on Broadway and in the West End. He was part of Sam Mendes’ first British/American Theatre Company, the Bridge Project, and appeared in A Winter’s Tale and The Cherry Orchard at the Brooklyn Academy, on an International Tour, at the Old Vic Theatre in London and finally at Epidaurus, throughout 2009. Television includes A Dance To The Music of Time for which he won the 1997 Royal Television Society Award and the BAFTA Best Actor Award, Persuasion, The Young Visiters, Dunkirk and two series of Spooks. He has also presented two series and a Christmas Special of Sacred Music for BBC4.
His film credits include Simon Curtis' My Week with Marilyn, Brian Gilbert's The Gathering and Oliver Parker's An Ideal Husband. Extensive Radio credits include ‘George Smiley’ in The Complete Smiley for BBC Radio 4. Simon was made a CBE in 2003 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his services to the Arts.
He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, an Honorary Fellow of Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge and of the British Institute of Psychoanalysis and he holds Honorary Doctorates from Warwick University and City University, London.
Protagonist Pictures
Actor
Movies | |
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2023 |
Firebrand |
2022 |
Operation Mincemeat |
The Outfit |
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Thor: Love and Thunder |
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2021 |
Benediction |
2020 |
A Christmas Carol |
2019 |
Radioactive |
2018 |
Mary Queen of Scots |
Museum |
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Operation Finale |
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2017 |
My Cousin Rachel |
The Death of Stalin |
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2016 |
The Legend of Tarzan |
2014 |
Into the Woods |
2013 |
Legacy (TV movie) |
2011 |
1320 |
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (TV movie) |
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My Week with Marilyn |
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The Deep Blue Sea |
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2004 |
Dunkirk (TV movie) |
2003 |
The Young Visiters (TV movie) |
2002 |
The Gathering |
1999 |
Alice in Wonderland (TV movie) |
An Ideal Husband |
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1997 |
The Double Life of Franz Schubert (TV movie) |
1996 |
Hamlet |
1995 |
Persuasion |
1992 |
Orlando |
1985 |
Time and the Conways (TV movie) |
Series | ||
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2024 |
Mary & George |
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2018 |
Vanity Fair |
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Endings and Beginnings (E07) |
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In Which a Painter's Daughter Meets a King (E06) |
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In Which Battles Are Won and Lost (E05) |
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more episodes (4) | ||
2016 |
Penny Dreadful |
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No Beast So Fierce (S03E06) |
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The Day Tennyson Died (S03E01) |
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2015 |
Penny Dreadful |
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And They Were Enemies (S02E10) |
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And Hell Itself My Only Foe (S02E09) |
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Memento Mori (S02E08) |
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more episodes (5) | ||
2014 |
Penny Dreadful |
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Séance (S01E02) |
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Night Work (S01E01) |
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2012 |
The Hollow Crown |
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Henry IV, Part 2 (S01E03) |
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Henry IV, Part 1 (S01E02) |
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2011 |
MI-5 |
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Episode 6 (S10E06) |
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Episode 5 (S10E05) |
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Episode 4 (S10E04) |
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more episodes (3) | ||
2010 |
MI-5 |
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Cat and Mouse (S09E08) |
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Cybershell (S09E06) |
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Hotel Lockdown (S09E05) |
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more episodes (4) | ||
1997 |
A Dance to the Music of Time |
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Post War (E04) |
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The War (E03) |
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The Thirties (E02) |
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The Twenties (E01) |
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1993 |
The Mushroom Picker |
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1992 |
Downtown Lagos |
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1986 |
A Very Peculiar Practice |
Documentaries | |
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2014 |
Matisse Live |
2013 |
Muse of Fire |
National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage (TV movie) |
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2012 |
Simon Schama's Shakespeare (TV movie) |
2010 |
Ancient Worlds (series) |
2006 |
Deep Water |
1999 |
Independent Lens (series) |
1987 |
American Experience (series) |
Theatrical recording | |
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2019 |
National Theatre Live: The Lehman Trilogy |
The Tragedy of King Richard the Second |
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2016 |
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC |
2011 |
Collaborators |
2009 |
National Theatre Live |
Short | |
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1999 |
Blackadder Back and Forth |
Performer
Shows | |
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2022 |
The 75th Annual Tony Awards |
2010 |
BBC Proms |
2004 |
The 58th Annual Tony Awards |