Simon McBurney
| Simon McBurney | |
|---|---|
| Born | Simon Montagu McBurney 25 August 1957 Cambridge, UK |
| Occupation | Actor, writer, theatre director |
Simon Montagu McBurney, OBE (born 25 August 1957) is an English actor, writer and director. He is the founder and artistic director of Théâtre de Complicité in England, now called Complicite.
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[edit] Early life
McBurney was born in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England. His father, Charles McBurney, was an American archaeologist and academic. Charles McBurney was the grandson of the American surgeon Charles McBurney (who was credited with describing McBurney's point). His mother, Anne Francis Edmondstone (née Charles), was a British secretary of English, Scots and Irish ancestry; his parents were distant cousins who met during World War II.[1][2] McBurney studied English literature at Peterhouse, Cambridge, graduating in 1980. After his father died, he went to France and trained for the theatre at the Jacques Lecoq Institute in Paris.
[edit] Career
McBurney is a founder and artistic director of the UK-based theatre company Complicite, which performs throughout the world. He directed their productions of Street of Crocodiles (1992), The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol (1994), Mnemonic (1999) and The Elephant Vanishes (2003).
A Disappearing Number was a devised piece conceived and directed by McBurney, taking as its inspiration the story of the collaboration between two of the 20th century's most remarkable pure mathematicians, Srinivasa Ramanujan, a poor Brahmin from South India and Cambridge don G. H. Hardy.[3] It played at the Barbican in autumn 2008 and toured internationally. In February 2009 McBurney directed the Complicite production Shun-kin, based on two texts by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki. It was produced in London and Tokyo in 2010.
On a freelance basis, McBurney directed the following: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and All My Sons (2008) (both in New York), and live comedy shows, including Lenny Henry's So Much Things To Say and French and Saunders Live in 2000.
McBurney is an established screen actor: he played the recurring role of Cecil the choirmaster in The Vicar of Dibley, CIA computer whiz Garland in Body of Lies, Dr. Atticus Noyle in The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Stone in The Last King of Scotland, the metrosexual husband Aaron in Friends with Money, Fra Pavel in The Golden Compass, and Charles James Fox in The Duchess. He also wrote the story and was an executive producer for Mr. Bean's Holiday. He has also played the recurring character of Archdeacon Robert in the BBC2 sitcom Rev.
He stars in the BBC comedy series Rev., where he plays Archdeacon Robert.
He provides the voice of Kreacher in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010).
[edit] Legacy and honours
- 2005, appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE).[4]
[edit] References
- ^ Anarchy in the UK | Review | Guardian Unlimited Books
- ^ "The rhino now standing on platform two", The Guardian, Unlimited Arts
- ^ Productions – Complicite
- ^ London Gazette: no. 57509. p. 12. 31 December 2004.
[edit] External links
- Simon McBurney at the Internet Movie Database
- Guardian Article
- Complicite
- Simon McBurney's profile page at the Complicite website
- A Disappearing Number at the Barbican
| Preceded by Sarah Palmer |
Footlights Vice President 1979–1980 |
Succeeded by Emma Thompson |
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- 1957 births
- Living people
- Anglo-Scots
- English film actors
- English stage actors
- English television actors
- English people of American descent
- American people of English descent
- English people of Scottish descent
- English people of Irish descent
- Shakespearean actors
- English theatre directors
- Laurence Olivier Award winners
- People from Cambridge
- Royal National Theatre Company members
- Alumni of Peterhouse, Cambridge
- Officers of the Order of the British Empire
