Richard Harrington (actor)

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Richard Harrington
Born (1975-03-12) 12 March 1975 (age 49)
OccupationActor
Years active1975–present
Children4

Richard Harrington (born 12 March 1975) is a Welsh actor.

Early and personal life[edit]

Harrington was born in Gurnos and brought up in Heolgerrig, Merthyr Tydfil.[1] Harrington speaks Welsh as a second language; he came from an English-speaking family but studied in a Welsh Medium school in Merthyr. He has said that filming Y Gwyll improved his fluency significantly.[2][3]

Harrington has two children with a former girlfriend and two with his partner Hannah Daniel,[4] with whom he lives in Crystal Palace, London.[3][5]

Harrington took part in the 2012 and 2013 Snowdonia Marathon alongside his friend and fellow actor Mark Lewis Jones.[6] They both ran Marathon des Sables in 2014.

Career[edit]

Harrington has had starring roles in the Welsh show Hinterland (known as Y Gwyll in Welsh),[7][8] Bleak House, Jimmy McGovern's Gunpowder, Treason & Plot, and Gavin Claxton's comedy feature film The All Together. He has also had roles in Coronation Street, Spooks, Casualty, Holby City, Hustle, Dalziel and Pascoe, Silent Witness, Lark Rise to Candleford, and Poldark. He won a BAFTA Cymru Award for his portrayal of a young gay hustler in the BBC film Dafydd, part of the Wales Playhouse programme.[9]

On stage, Harrington has toured with Fiction Factory/Y Cwmni's productions of Ed Thomas's plays House of America, Gas Station Angel and Stone City Blue. He also appeared in the 1997 film version of House of America.

In 2015, Harrington won another BAFTA Cymru Award for his role as DCI Tom Matthias in Y Gwyll / Hinterland.[10]

In April 2017, Harrington presented the BBC Two Wales programme Richard Harrington: My Grandfather's War, in which he followed the journey his grandfather had made through Spain in 1937 in order to fight against fascism in the Spanish Civil War.[11][12]

In 2018 he appeared at the National Theatre in London in Home I'm Darling, a co-production with Theatr Clwyd.[13]

In February 2021, speaking of the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, Harrington revealed that he had worked as a Deliveroo driver to supplement his income during lockdown, due to the lack of work.[14]

Filmography[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1987 The District Nurse Donald Turner TV series (1 episode: "A Blind Eye")
1989 Screen One TV series (Series 1: episode 2: "Nineteen 96")
1992 Civvies Taffy's neighbour TV series (1 episode)
1993 Gadael Lenin (Leaving Lenin) Charlie
1993, 1995 Wales Playhouse Sion / Dafydd TV series (2 episodes: "Broken Glass" & "Dafydd")
BAFTA Cymru Award - Best Actor (Yr Actor Gorau)
1995 Oliver's Travels Student TV mini-series
1995-1997 A Mind to Kill Paul Tam TV series (3 episodes)
1996 The Proposition Evan
1996 Pobol y Cwm Ossie
1997 House of America Cat
Tiger Bay Warwick TV series (3 episodes)
Breeders Jack
Motor Driving Made Easy Reflex Action Short
1998 A Light in the Valley Cast member
1999 Oh Little Town of Bethlehem Martin Short
Coronation Street Owen Williams TV series (4 episodes)
2000 Care Tony Collins TV film
2001 Score Neil TV film
A Day Out Girl's Father Short
2002 High Speed Spike
The Hidden City Barney TV series
Mule Ray Short
2003 Rehab Powell TV film
Holby City Lee Walmsley TV series (1 episode: "By Any Other Name")
The Ride Spike
2004 Secret Passage Joseph
Mathilde Babyface
Gunpowder, Treason & Plot Thomas Percy TV film
Hustle Sam Richards TV series (1 episode: "Cops and Robbers")
Silent Witness Stephen Barnes TV series (2 episodes: "Nowhere Fast: Parts 1 & 2")
Spooks Will North TV series (6 episodes)
2005 Dalziel and Pascoe Gary Mileham TV series Series 9: episode 33: "Heads You Lose: Parts 1 & 2")
Fatigue
Bleak House Allan Woodcourt TV mini-series (7 episodes)
2006 Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire Yohanon TV series (1 episode: "Rebellion")
Daddy's Girl Stephen
Casualty Jerry Goater TV series (1 episode: "Last Orders")
2007 Five Days Daf Parry TV series (3 episodes)
The All Together Jerry Davies
The Contractor Terry Winchell Video
Y Pris Stuart TV series (1 episode: "Parch (Respect)")
Sold Paul Bamforth TV series (1 episode)
2007–2008 HolbyBlue DS Luke French TV series (20 episodes)
2008 Strap-on Owl Beak Actor Short
Hope Eternal Evan
New Tricks Ash TV series (1 episode: "Communal Living")
2009 Missing Ryan Long TV series (1 episode: "Deeper Problems")
Land Girls Adam Blackfield TV series (2 episodes: "Trekkers" & "Destinies")
Collision James Taylor / Ben Hickman TV mini-series (3 episodes)
2010 M.I. High Tommy Blumenheck TV series (1 episode: "Don't Cook Now")
Midsomer Murders Leo Fincher TV series (1 episode: "Blood on the Saddle")
Pen Talar Defi Lewis TV series (7 episodes)
2011 Lark Rise to Candleford Gabriel Cochrane TV series (Series 4: 6 episodes)
Little Munchkin Mr. Jones Short
Burton: Y Gyfrinach Richard Burton TV film
My Times Short
2012 Casualty Chris Johnson TV series (2 episodes: "Duty of Care" & "Death and Doughnuts")
Elfie Hopkins Timothy Jenkins
Alys Simon TV series (8 episodes)
2013–2016 Y Gwyll / Hinterland DCI Tom Mathias TV series - lead role
2014 Under Milk Wood Neighbour TV film
Wolfblood Gerwyn TV series (4 episodes)
2015 Just Jim Headmaster
2015–2016 Poldark Captain Andrew Blamey TV series (5 episodes)
2016 Royal Wives at War Narrator TV film
Stella Ian Meyer TV series
My Grandfather's War Himself BBC TV documentary about the International Brigades during the Spanish Civil War[15]
2017 Inspector George Gently Michael Clements TV series (1 episode: "Gently and the New Age")
2018 Requiem Aron Morgan TV mini-series (6 episodes)
Father Brown Benedict Northam TV series (1 episode: "The Face of the Enemy")
Death in Paradise Bryn Williams TV series (1 episode: "Meditated in Murder")
Hatchback John Short
On the Edge DI Nolan TV mini-series (1 episode: "A Mother's Love")
Gwen Edward Morris
Last Summer Dai Hop
2019 The Crown Fred Phillips TV series (Season 3: episode 3: "Aberfan")
Bitter Sky Roy Short
2020 Gangs of London Mal TV series (4 episodes)
2020 Endeavour Dr. Dai Ferman TV series (2 episodes: "Oracle" & "Zenana")
2021 Fflam Bedwyr Neale S4C series; 6 episodes
2022 Fisherman's Friends: One and All Morgan Jenkins
2023 Consent Headmaster Channel Four

Theatre

  • House of America – Fiction Factory
  • Gas Station Angel – Royal Court
  • Stone City Blue – Theatre Clwyd
  • Art and Guff – Soho Theatre
  • Other Hands – Soho Theatre
  • Look Back in Anger – Theatre Royal, Bath
  • Coriolanus – NTW
  • Home I'm Darling – National Theatre

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Gurnos-born actor Harrington nominated for S4C drama role". walesonline.co.uk. Media Wales. 21 April 2011. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Scandi-style crime thriller showcases the land of my fathers, says Richard Harrington". Wales Online. 4 January 2014. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  3. ^ a b Andrew Collins (11 September 2015). "Hinterland / Y Gwyll's Richard Harrington: 'Everybody around me sounded like Pingu'". The Guardian.
  4. ^ "Hannah Daniel: Gwaith, gyrfa a bod yn fam". BBC Cymru Fyw (in Welsh). Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  5. ^ Vicki Power (23 April 2016). "Hinterland star Richard Harrington on DCI Tom Mathias: He is his own worst enemy". Daily Express.
  6. ^ "31st Snowdonia Marathon Eryri 2013". Welsh Athletics. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  7. ^ Theatre-Wales (25 November 2013). "Y Gwyll-Fanfare for Fiction Factory".
  8. ^ "Hinterland star Richard Harrington 'hated everything' about the hit show". Wales Online. 10 September 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
  9. ^ "Cymru: Actor in 1995". bafta.org. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  10. ^ "Winners Announced - British Academy Cymru Awards 2015". bafta.org. British Academy of Film and Television Arts. 27 September 2015. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  11. ^ Presenter: Richard Harrington; Producers: Alan Golding, Dylan Wyn Richards; Director: Dylan Wyn Richards (15 April 2017). "Richard Harrington: My Grandfather's War". My Grandfather's War. BBC. BBC Two Wales. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  12. ^ "The men who left the Valleys to fight fascism in Spain". BBC News Online. BBC. 15 April 2017. Retrieved 13 May 2017.
  13. ^ Theatre-Wales (7 July 2018). "Richard Harrington Gives a Beautiful, Unshowy Performance".
  14. ^ "Covid: Poldark's Richard Harrington took Deliveroo job in lockdown". BBC News. 28 February 2021. Retrieved 28 February 2021.
  15. ^ "The men who left the Valleys to fight fascism in Spain". BBC News. 15 April 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017.