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Peter Firth

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For the Bishop of Malmesbury, see Peter Firth (bishop).
Peter Firth
Firth at the 2009 BAFTA Awards ceremony, with fellow Spooks cast member, Miranda Raison.
Born
Peter Macintosh Firth

(1953-10-27) 27 October 1953 (age 71)
Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK
NationalityBritish
OccupationActor
Years active1958–present

Peter Macintosh Firth (born 27 October 1953) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Sir Harry Pearce in the BBC One show Spooks; he is the only actor to have appeared in every episode of the show's ten-series lifespan. He has given a myriad of additional television and film performances, most notably as Alan Strang in Equus (1977), earning a Golden Globe and an Academy Award nomination for the role.

Early career

Firth was born in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England, the son of publicans Mavis (née Hudson) and Eric Macintosh Firth.[1] He attended Hanson School in Bradford.[2]

He was a leading child actor by the middle of 1970, having starred in the first series of The Flaxton Boys as Archie Weekes and in the series Here Come the Double Deckers, which featured child actors in the leading roles. Firth played Scooper, the leader of the gang.

In July 1973 Firth appeared at Laurence Olivier's National Theatre,[3] starring in the stage version of Peter Shaffer's play Equus as a teenager being treated by a psychiatrist, and in October 1974 repeated the role in the Broadway production, receiving a Tony Award nomination for his performance as Alan Strang.

His first major role as an adult was the title part in a BBC Television Play of the Month adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1976). The script was based on a stage adaptation by John Osborne, and also starred Jeremy Brett and John Gielgud. That same year saw the release of the World War I film Aces High which featured Firth as the inexperienced RFC pilot Lt. Stephen Croft.

Firth played the lead role in the unsuccessful film adaptation of Henry Fielding's Joseph Andrews (1977). That same year he starred with Richard Burton in the film adaptation of Equus. The film was only a moderate box-office success, but earned Firth a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe award in the same category. Further film work quickly followed, most notably Roman Polanski's Tess (1979).

In May 1981 he appeared on Broadway again in Peter Shaffer's Amadeus as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, replacing Tim Curry. Shaffer had offered him the role in the original London production, but he was unavailable due to film commitments.

Film

Other film work has included roles in Diamonds on Wheels (1973); When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? (1979); Lifeforce (1985); Letter to Brezhnev (1985); Northanger Abbey (1986), playing Henry Tilney; The Hunt for Red October (1990); White Angel (1993), playing mild-mannered dentist Leslie Steckler; Amistad (1997); Mighty Joe Young (1998); Pearl Harbor (2001); and The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005), playing Lord Northcliffe.

Television

Along with his film career, Firth has continued to appear in various television productions, with several notable credits in various high-profile dramas. He starred in two science-fiction episodes of the BBC's Play for Today anthology series as the eponymous time-traveller in the romantic The Flipside of Dominick Hide (1980), and its sequel, Another Flip for Dominick (1982). In 1994, in the Fourth Series of Heartbeat, he played Dr. Radcliffe who partnered with Dr. Rowan (Niamh Cusack) in Whitby. He also portrayed the Emperor Vespasian in "The Jewish Revolt" episode of the BBC series Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire.

For many years he had played a primary role as senior MI5 officer Harry Pearce in the BBC's popular spy drama series Spooks (2002–2011), and played Fred Hoyle in Hawking, a BBC dramatisation of the early career of Stephen Hawking. He was also Snaith in the three-part series "South Riding" in 2011. Firth has also appeared on American and Canadian television, on programmes such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Total Recall 2070, as well as in television films such as The Incident starring Walter Matthau.

In 2014 Firth played the part of the character Andrew Rawlins in Undeniable, a two-part series made for the ITV network. In 2015 he played Jacob Marley in four episodes of the BBC television series Dickensian.

In 2016 Firth played the part of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and King of Hanover in ITV's sumptuous drama series 'Victoria'.

Audiobooks

Firth is also a narrator of audiobooks. He has been responsible for performances reading Pat Barker's Regeneration, The Ghost Road and The Eye in the Door, Suspicion by Robert McCrum, Maurice by E. M. Forster, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong and Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles.

Personal life

Firth has been married twice and has four children; Rory Firth, from his first marriage, Amy, Alex and James Firth from his second. On 17 July 2009 he was awarded an Honorary degree by the University of Bradford as a Doctor of Letters for his services to acting, having been nominated by the School of Computing, Informatics & Media; he received his award during the school's degree ceremony.[4]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1972 Daniel and Maria
1973 Diamonds on Wheels Robert 'Bobby' Stewart TV Movie
1975 King Arthur, the Young Warlord Corin
1976 Aces High Lt Stephen Croft
1976 The Lady of Camellias Armand
1977 Joseph Andrews Joseph Andrews
1977 Equus Alan Strang
1979 When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? Stephen Ryder
1979 Tess Angel Clare
1982 Fire and Sword Dinas
1984 Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Sir Gawain Voice; Uncredited
1984 White Elephant Peter Davidson
1985 Lifeforce Col Colin Caine
1985 Letter to Brezhnev Peter
1986 A State of Emergency Dr Kenneth Parrish
1987 Born of Fire Paul Bergson
1988 Prisoner of Rio Clive Ingram
1989 Tree of Hands Terence
1989 Trouble in Paradise Adriaan
1990 Blood Royal: William the Conqueror William Rufus TV movie
1990 The Hunt for Red October Senior Lieutenant Ivan Putin
1990 The Incident Geiger TV movie
1990 Burndown Jake Stern
1990 The Rescuers Down Under Red Voice
1991 Prisoner of Honor Maj Henry
1992 The Pleasure Principle Dick
1993 El marido perfecto Franz
1993 Shadowlands Dr Craig
1994 White Angel Leslie Steckler
1995 An Awfully Big Adventure Bunny
1996 Merisairas 1st Officer Ronald Jensen
1997 The Garden of Redemption Nazi Commandant TV movie
1997 Marco Polo: The Missing Chapter Rusticello
1997 Gaston's War Major Smith
1997 Amistad Captain Fitzgerald
1998 Mighty Joe Young Garth
1999 Chill Factor Colonel Andrew Brynner
2000 The Magicians Simon Magus TV movie
2001 Pearl Harbor Capt. Mervyn Bennion
2002 - 2011 Spooks Harry Pearce
2005 The Greatest Game Ever Played Lord Northcliffe
2006 Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire Vespasian
2010 World Without End Sir Roland
2013 Mayday Malcolm Spicer
2014 Undeniable Andrew Bolton
2015 Spooks: The Greater Good Harry Pearce
2015 - 2016 Dickensian Jacob Marley
2016 Risen Pontius
2016 Victoria Duke of Cumberland

References

  1. ^ "Peter Firth Biography (1953–)". Film Reference Library. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  2. ^ "My Yorkshire: Peter Firth". The Yorkshire Post. 19 November 2010.
  3. ^ "National Theatre: 1970s". Rob Wilton Theatricalia. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Honorary graduations at the University of Bradford". University of Bradford. Retrieved 17 July 2009.

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