Jeremy Northam Biography
Jeremy Philip Northam (born 1 December 1961) is an English actor.
Northam has featured in notable films including Emma, An Ideal Husband, Gosford Park, The Winslow Boy and Enigma. In television, he also played Thomas More in the Showtime series The Tudors and from 2016 to 2017 he appeared as Anthony Eden in the Netflix series The Crown.
Early life and education
Northam was born on 1 December 1961, in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. His father was John Northam, a professor of literature and theatre. Northam studied English at Bedford College, London (B.A. English, 1984) and acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
Career
Screen and stage
Northam performed at the Royal National Theatre:– he replaced both Ian Charleson and Daniel Day-Lewis in the role of Hamlet (1989) when they had to withdraw and won the Olivier Award in 1990 for "most promising newcomer" for his performance in The Voysey Inheritance.
He has appeared frequently in British films such as Carrington (1995), Emma (1996), The Winslow Boy (1999), An Ideal Husband (1999), Enigma (2001) and as Welsh actor and singer Ivor Novello in Gosford Park (2001). He made his American film debut in The Net (1995).
In 2002, he starred in the film Cypher. That same year, he portrayed singer Dean Martin in the CBS film Martin and Lewis and golfer Walter Hagen in Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius in 2004.In 2007 and 2008, he portrayed Thomas More on the Showtime series, The Tudors. He played John Brodie Innes in the 2009 film Creation, based on the life of Charles Darwin. In the 2015 film The Man Who Knew Infinity, he portrayed the philosopher Bertrand Russell. He played British Prime Minister Anthony Eden in the 2016 Netflix drama series The Crown.
Other work
His audiobook work includes The Silver Chair by C. S. Lewis for Harper Audio and A Death Divided by Clare Francis for Macmillan. For SilkSoundBooks, he recorded The Real Thing and Other Short Stories and The Aspern Papers, both written by Henry James. In 2007 he recorded Gerard Manley Hopkins poems for "The Great Poets" edition for Naxos Audiobooks. In 2009, he recorded Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene for CSA Word. He recorded the audio book Dark Matter, a ghost story by Michelle Paver, in September 2010; it was released on 21 October 2010, by Orion.
In the Gosford Park soundtrack, Northam sings the Ivor Novello songs "And Her Mother Came Too", "What a Duke Should Be", "Why Isn't It You", "I Can Give You the Starlight" and "The Land of Might Have Been" accompanied by his brother Christopher on piano.
Personal life
Northam married Canadian film/television make-up artist Liz Moro in April 2005; they later divorced.
Filmography
Theatre
- Edward Voysey, The Voysey Inheritance, National Theatre Company, Cottesloe Theatre, London, 1989
- Also appeared in productions of School for Scandal and The Shaughraun, National Theatre Company.
- Osric, then later *le role, Hamlet, National Theatre Company, Olivier Theatre, London, 1989
- The Three Sisters, 1991
- The Way of the World, 1992
- Philip, The Gift of the Gorgon, Royal Shakespeare Company, The Pit (theatre), London, 1992
- Elomire, La Bête, Really Useful Theatre Company, 1993
- Berowne, Love's Labour's Lost, Royal Shakespeare Company, Barbican Theatre, London, 1994
- Mr. Horner, The Country Wife, Royal Shakespeare Company, Pit Theatre, 1994
- Obstetrician, Certain Young Men, Almeida Theatre, London, 1999
- Old Times, Donmar Warehouse Theatre, London, 2004
- Richard Greatham, Hay Fever, Noël Coward Theatre, London, 2012
Further reading
- Larman, Alexander (2014). "Northam, Jeremy (1961-)—Actor". ScreenOnline.org.uk. London, England: British Film Ins*ute. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
- BFI Staff (2023). "Jeremy Northam". BFI.org.uk. London, England: British Film Ins*ute. Archived from the original on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2023.
References
External links
- Jeremy Northam at IMDb
- Jeremy Northam at the BFI's Screenonline
