Leigh Lawson

Leigh Lawson
Born	21 July 1945 (1945-07-21) Atherstone, Warwickshire, England
Occupation	Actor, director, writer
Years active	1969 - present
Spouse	Twiggy (m. 1988) «start: (1988)»"Marriage: Twiggy to Leigh Lawson" Location: (linkback://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leigh_Lawson)
Partner	Hayley Mills (1975 - 1984)

Leigh Lawson (born 21 July 1945 in Atherstone, Warwickshire, England) is a film and stage actor, director, and writer.

Career

Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Lawson has acted in film and television since the early 1970s, directed plays in the West End and on Broadway. He worked with National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), and with film directors such as Roman Polanski and Franco Zeffirelli. He was quoted as saying that the only time in his career when he didn't feel he should be somewhere else doing something else was when he was with the RSC. Lawson's portrayals in films include Bernardo in Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972) and Alec d'Urberville in Tess (1979). He played the leading role as Alan Lomax in the television drama series, Travelling Man (1984–1985), and guest starred in a variety of television series, such as The Duchess of Duke Street (1976), Disraeli (1978), Feuer und Schwert - Die Legende von Tristan und Isolde (1982), The Ray Bradbury Theatre (1988), and Silent Witness (2005–2007).

Lawson's talents also lay in writing and directing. In 1999, he co-wrote and directed the musical If Love Were All, which tells of the friendship between Gertrude Lawrence and Noël Coward. Most recently, Lawson authored The Dream: An Actor's Story, a theatrical memoir about the day-to-day life of a working actor, which was published in September 2009. (ISBN 978-1-84002-867-6)

He also co-starred with his wife Twiggy in 2001, playing themselves in an episode of the British hit comedy series, Absolutely Fabulous.

Personal life

In 1976, Lawson and his first wife, Mondy, were divorced. He met actress Hayley Mills in 1975 when they performed in London's West End in A Touch of Spring, and the following year, she bore him a son, Jason. Lawson also became stepfather to Crispian Mills, Hayley's son with director Roy Boulting. Lawson and Mills' liaison ended in the early 1980s.

He met former model Twiggy in 1984. In 1988, they both worked in the film Madame Sousatzka, and were married on 23 September that year in Tony Walton's back yard in Sag Harbor, Long Island. The couple resides in west London, where Lawson looks after his wife's business affairs and her involvement with Littlewoods catalogue. Lawson and Twiggy also own a home in Southwold, Suffolk.

He adopted Twiggy's daughter Carly, who took his surname. Lawson has played an active role in his children's lives, including his nephew, club DJ Saul Dismont, who is the son of Lawson's sister and Bermuda politician Russell Dismont.

Partial filmography

• Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
• Percy's Progress (1974)
• Love Among the Ruins (1975)
• Duchess of Duke Street (1976) Episode 8
• Golden Rendezvous (1977)
• Tess (1979)
• Why Didn't They Ask Evans? (1980)
• Fire and Sword (1982)
• Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (1984)
• Madame Sousatzka (1988)
• Out of Depth (2000)
• Back to the Secret Garden (2001)
• Being Julia (2004)
• Casanova (2005)
• Silence Becomes You (2005)
• The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler (2009)

Stage appearances

• Ivan Kaliayev, The Price of Justice, Mermaid Theatre, London, (1972).
• A Touch of Spring, with Hayley Mills, Comedy Theatre, London's West End, (1975–78).
• Aubrey Tanqueray, The Second Mrs. Tanqueray, Royal National Theatre (1981).
• Louis Dubedat, The Doctor's Dilemma, Greenwich Theatre, London, 1981
• Amnon, Yonadab, directed by Peter Hall, Royal National Theatre (1985).
• Antonio, The Merchant of Venice in London's West End and on Broadway (1989).
• Oberon, A Midsummer Night's Dream, produced by Adrian Noble, Royal Shakespeare Company, (1990).
• Loveless, The Relapse, Royal Shakespeare Company, (1996).
• Marc, Art, London's West End and UK Tour, (2002).
• Lloyd, Noises Off, London's West End and on Broadway (2003).
• Death and the Maiden, King's Head Theatre, London (2004).
• Nicholas Nickleby, Chichester Festival Theatre, (2006).
• Shoreditch Madonna, with Francesca Annis, Soho Theatre, (2006).
• Messerschmann, Ring Round the Moon, Playhouse Theatre, London, (2008)

Directed

• If Love Were All, (1999), opened off-Broadway at the Lucille Lortel Theater with Twiggy as Gertrude Lawrence and Harry Groener as Noël Coward, written by Sheridan Morley & Leigh Lawson, directed by Leigh Lawson.
• The Restaurant, New York
• The Cherry Orchard, USA
• Death and the Maiden, King's Head Theatre, Islington, (2004)
• Jack and the Beanstalk, Pantomime, Brighton Theatre Royal, (2005), starring Twiggy

External links

• Leigh Lawson at the Internet Movie Database
• Leigh Lawson at AllRovi
• Fandango: Leigh Lawson filmography
• United Agents
• Image of Leigh Lawson and Twiggy
• Leigh Lawson NNDB