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Leigh Lawson

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Leigh Lawson
Born (1945-07-21) 21 July 1945 (age 79)
Atherstone, Warwickshire, England
Occupation(s)Actor, director, writer
Years active1969–present
Spouse
​
(m. 1988)​
PartnerHayley Mills (1975–1984)
Children2

Allan Leigh Lawson (born 21 July 1945) is an English actor, director and writer.

Early life

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Lawson was born in Atherstone, Warwickshire. He initially studied at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts[1] before training further at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Career

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Lawson has acted in film and television since the early 1970s, and has directed plays in the West End and on Broadway. He has worked with the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and with film directors such as Roman Polanski and Franco Zeffirelli. He has been 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.[2] 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 (1984–85), and guest starred in 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). He also guested, with his wife Twiggy, playing themselves in an episode of the comedy series, Absolutely Fabulous (2001).

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

Personal life

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In 1976, Lawson and his first wife, Mondy, were divorced. He met the actress Hayley Mills in 1975, when they performed in London's West End in A Touch of Spring; the following year, they had a son, Jason.[3] Lawson also served as a stepfather to Crispian Mills, Mills's son with director Roy Boulting. During that time, he appeared with Mills's father, John Mills, in the film The Devil's Advocate (1977). Lawson and Mills ended their relationship in the mid-1980s.

Lawson met the 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.[4] The couple reside in West London and also own a home in Southwold, Suffolk.[5]

He adopted Twiggy's daughter, Carly, who took his surname.[6] Lawson has played a large part in the lives of his children and of his nephew, Saul Dismont, who is the son of Lawson's sister and Bermuda politician Russell Dismont.[7]

Partial filmography

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Stage appearances

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  • 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

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References

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  1. ^ "Obituary: Peter Coxhead". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 30 November 2015.
  2. ^ "Profile of Hamlet actor Sam West". The Guardian. 28 March 2001. Archived from the original on 19 September 2021.
  3. ^ Seedship http://www.seedship.com/hayley/
  4. ^ Twiggy http://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/participant.jsp?spid=195353&apid=0 [permanent dead link‍]
  5. ^ "Famous People from Suffolk". May 2018.
  6. ^ Twiggy and Daughter Carly Lawson http://www.theinsider.com/news/1030653_Twiggy_and_daughter_Carly_Lawson [permanent dead link‍]
  7. ^ Twiggy in Black and White: An Autobiography by Twiggy Lawson. 1998
  8. ^ The Noël Coward Society http://www.noelcoward.net/html/chronology.html
  9. ^ Leigh Lawson Biography http://www.twiggylawson.co.uk/leighlawson.html
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