All Topics  
Bill Nighy

 
Bill Nighy

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Bill Nighy
 
 
  Topics Bill Nighy Topic Home

William Francis "Bill" Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is a Golden Globe- and BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation....
-award winning English
English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England who speak English language in England. The English identity as a people is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn....
 actor. He started working in theatre
Theatre

Theatre is the branch of the performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one or more actor, isolated in time and/or Theater , present themselves to Audience." By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of human tendency for story telling....
 and television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
, before his first cinema
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
 role in 1981, and is perhaps best known to international film audiences for his roles in Love Actually
Love Actually

Love Actually is a 2003 in film United Kingdom romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are linked as their tales progress....
, Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 in film Cinema of the United Kingdom zombie comedy comedy film directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright....
, Notes on a Scandal
Notes on a Scandal (film)

Notes on a Scandal is an Academy Award and BAFTA-nominated 2006 in film United Kingdom film adapted from the 2003 novel Notes on a Scandal by Zo? Heller....
, Underworld
Underworld (2003 film)

Underworld is a 2003 in film action film-horror film film about the secret history of Races of Underworld universe#Vampires and a type of werewolf known as Races of Underworld universe#Lycans ....
, Hot Fuzz
Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz is a British films of 2007 Cinema of the United Kingdom action film comedy film written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright and starring Pegg and Nick Frost....
, The Constant Gardener
The Constant Gardener (film)

The Constant Gardener is a 2005 in film drama film directed by Fernando Meirelles. The screenplay by Jeffrey Caine is based on the John le Carr? The Constant Gardener....
 and Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)

Pirates of the Caribbean is a series of adventure films directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer....
.

y was born in Caterham
Caterham

Caterham is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. It lies on the A22 road Eastbourne road south of Croydon in a valley cut into the dip slope of the North Downs....
, Surrey
Surrey

Surrey is a counties of England in the South East England of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire....
, the son of Catherine Josephine (née
Married and maiden names

A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage, and in speaking of the many cultures where the practice is traditional for women, the maiden name is the family name that the married name replaces....
 Whittaker), a psychiatric nurse, and Alfred Martin Nighy, who managed a car garage and worked as a mechanic
Mechanic

A mechanic is a person who uses tools to repair things or works to keep things operating properly.Many mechanics are specialized in a particular field such as auto mechanics, bicycle mechanics, boiler mechanics, industrial maintenance mechanics , air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics, aircraft mechanics, diesel mechanics and tank m...
.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Bill Nighy'
Start a new discussion about 'Bill Nighy'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Recent Posts

I think bill is great but can bill extend his fingers








Encyclopedia


William Francis "Bill" Nighy (; born 12 December 1949) is a Golden Globe- and BAFTA
British Academy of Film and Television Arts

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is a British charity that hosts annual awards shows for excellence in film, television, television craft, video games and forms of animation....
-award winning English
English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England who speak English language in England. The English identity as a people is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn....
 actor. He started working in theatre
Theatre

Theatre is the branch of the performing arts defined by Bernard Beckerman as what "occurs when one or more actor, isolated in time and/or Theater , present themselves to Audience." By this broad definition, theatre has existed since the dawn of man, as a result of human tendency for story telling....
 and television
Television

Television is a widely used telecommunication mass-media for transmitting and receiving moving , either monochrome or color, usually accompanied by sound....
, before his first cinema
Film

Film encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the film industry. Films are produced by recording images from the world with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or special effects....
 role in 1981, and is perhaps best known to international film audiences for his roles in Love Actually
Love Actually

Love Actually is a 2003 in film United Kingdom romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are linked as their tales progress....
, Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 in film Cinema of the United Kingdom zombie comedy comedy film directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright....
, Notes on a Scandal
Notes on a Scandal (film)

Notes on a Scandal is an Academy Award and BAFTA-nominated 2006 in film United Kingdom film adapted from the 2003 novel Notes on a Scandal by Zo? Heller....
, Underworld
Underworld (2003 film)

Underworld is a 2003 in film action film-horror film film about the secret history of Races of Underworld universe#Vampires and a type of werewolf known as Races of Underworld universe#Lycans ....
, Hot Fuzz
Hot Fuzz

Hot Fuzz is a British films of 2007 Cinema of the United Kingdom action film comedy film written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright and starring Pegg and Nick Frost....
, The Constant Gardener
The Constant Gardener (film)

The Constant Gardener is a 2005 in film drama film directed by Fernando Meirelles. The screenplay by Jeffrey Caine is based on the John le Carr? The Constant Gardener....
 and Pirates of the Caribbean
Pirates of the Caribbean (film series)

Pirates of the Caribbean is a series of adventure films directed by Gore Verbinski, written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer....
.

Biography


Early life

Nighy was born in Caterham
Caterham

Caterham is a town in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. It lies on the A22 road Eastbourne road south of Croydon in a valley cut into the dip slope of the North Downs....
, Surrey
Surrey

Surrey is a counties of England in the South East England of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire, and Berkshire....
, the son of Catherine Josephine (née
Married and maiden names

A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage, and in speaking of the many cultures where the practice is traditional for women, the maiden name is the family name that the married name replaces....
 Whittaker), a psychiatric nurse, and Alfred Martin Nighy, who managed a car garage and worked as a mechanic
Mechanic

A mechanic is a person who uses tools to repair things or works to keep things operating properly.Many mechanics are specialized in a particular field such as auto mechanics, bicycle mechanics, boiler mechanics, industrial maintenance mechanics , air conditioning and refrigeration mechanics, aircraft mechanics, diesel mechanics and tank m...
. He has two older siblings, Martin and Anna. Nighy attended the John Fisher School in Purley
Purley, London

Purley is a place in the London Borough of Croydon. It is a suburban development situated 11.7 miles south of Charing Cross.The name derives from "pirlea", which means 'Peartree lea'....
. He trained at the Guildford School of Acting
Guildford School of Acting

Guildford School of Acting is a drama school located in Guildford, Surrey, England. GSA has built an international reputation for excellence in training for actors and technicians in all areas of theatre and the recorded media....
, formerly known as The Guildford School of Dance and Drama.

Career

After two seasons at the Everyman Theatre
Everyman Theatre

The Everyman Theatre is a theatre on Hope Street, Liverpool in Liverpool, England. It was established in 1964 to perform works of relevance to the inhabitants of Liverpool....
, Liverpool
Liverpool

Liverpool [] is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a History of borough status in England and Wales in 1207 and was granted City status in the United Kingdom in 1880....
, Nighy made his London
London

London is the capital of both England and the United Kingdom, and the most populous municipality in the European Union. An important settlement for two millennia, History of London goes back to its founding by the Roman Empire....
 stage debut at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre

The Royal National Theatre, London, England, is generally known as the National Theatre and commonly as The National. It is located on the The South Bank in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, immediately east of the southern end of Waterloo Bridge....
 in an epic staging of Ken Campbell
Ken Campbell (actor)

Kenneth Victor Campbell was an England writer, actor, theatre director and comedian known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre." ...
 and Chris Langham
Chris Langham

Christopher Langham is a BAFTA award-winning United Kingdom writer, actor and comedian. He is most famous for playing MP Hugh Abbot in BBC Four Situation comedy The Thick of It and as presenter Roy Mallard in People Like Us, first on BBC Radio 4 and later on its transfer to television on BBC Two, where Mallard is almost entirely an u...
's Illuminatus!, which opened the new Cottesloe Theatre on 4 March 1977, and went on to appear in two David Hare
David Hare (dramatist)

Sir David Hare is an English people playwright and Theatre director and film director....
 premieres, also at the National.

He has starred in many radio and television dramas, notably the BBC serial The Men's Room (1991). He claimed that the serial, an Ann Oakley
Ann Oakley

Ann Oakley is a distinguished British sociologist, feminist, and writer. She is Professor and Founder-Director of the Social Science Research Unit at the Institute of Education, University of London and in 2005 partially retired from full-time academic work to concentrate on her writing and especially new novels....
 novel adapted by Laura Lamson
Laura Lamson

Laura Lamson was an American screenwriter and university lecturer who was based in England throughout her career. Her most successful work was her adaptation of Ann Oakley#Fiction for the BBC....
, was the job which launched his career. More recently he has featured in the thriller State of Play (2003) and costume drama He Knew He Was Right (2004). He played Samwise Gamgee
Samwise Gamgee

Samwise Gamgee, later known as Samwise Gardener and commonly known as Sam, is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium....
 in the 1981 BBC Radio
BBC Radio

BBC Radio is a service of the BBC which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company, Ltd....
 dramatization of The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series)

In 1981 the UK radio station BBC Radio 4 broadcast a dramatisation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings in 26 half-hour stereophonic sound installments....
 (where he was credited as William Nighy), and appeared in the 1980s BBC Radio
BBC Radio

BBC Radio is a service of the BBC which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927. For a history of BBC radio prior to 1927 see British Broadcasting Company, Ltd....
 versions of Yes Minister
Yes Minister

Yes Minister is a satire British sitcom written by Sir Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn that was first transmitted by BBC television and BBC Radio between 1980 and 1984, split over three seven-episode series....
 episodes. He starred alongside Stephen Moore
Stephen Moore (actor)

Stephen Moore is an England actor, known for his work on United Kingdom television in the 80s and 2000s.He is best recognised for his appearances in "Rock Follies " and other TV series such as The Last Place on Earth, the chidren's series The Queen's Nose and Chief Constable Mike Bishop in the TV drama Merseybeat and as Danny Tyrrell...
 and Lesley Sharp
Lesley Sharp

Lesley Sharp is an England actor from Formby, Merseyside. She is best known for various starring roles in British television productions, most notably Clocking Off, The Second Coming and Afterlife ....
 in the acclaimed short radio drama first aired in 1996. He had a starring role in the 2002 return of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet is a United Kingdom comedy-drama series about a group of seven British migrant construction workers: Wayne Winston Norris, Dennis Patterson , Leonard "Oz" Osborne, Brian "Bomber" Busbridge , Barry Taylor , Neville Hope and Albert Arthur Moxey, who, in Series 1, are living and working on a German building site....
, portraying crooked politician
Politician

A politician is an individual who is involved in influencing public decision making through the influence of politics or a person who influences the way a society is governed....
 Jeffrey Grainger. He has also made a guest appearance in the BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a domestic UK radio station that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history....
 series Baldi
Baldi (radio)

Baldi is a BBC Radio 4 murder mystery series whose central character is Paolo Baldi , a Franciscan priest on sabbatical, lecturing on semiotics at a university in contemporary Dublin....
.

Two of Nighy's most acclaimed stage performances were in National Theatre
Royal National Theatre

The Royal National Theatre, London, England, is generally known as the National Theatre and commonly as The National. It is located on the The South Bank in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, immediately east of the southern end of Waterloo Bridge....
 productions. Taking the role of Bernard Nightingale, an unscrupulous university don, in Tom Stoppard
Tom Stoppard

Sir Tom Stoppard Order of Merit , Order of the British Empire, FRSL is a British screenwriter and playwright. He has written plays such as The Coast of Utopia, Arcadia , Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, and Rock 'n' Roll ....
's Arcadia
Arcadia (play)

Arcadia is a 1993 Play by Tom Stoppard concerning the relationship between past and present and between order and disorder and the certainty of knowledge....
 (1993), he engaged in witty exchanges with Felicity Kendal
Felicity Kendal

Felicity Ann Kendal, Order of the British Empire is an English actor who is well known in the United Kingdom for her television work.Born in 1946, Kendal spent much of her childhood in India, where her father managed a touring repertory company....
, playing the role of Hannah Jarvis, an author; and he played a consultant psychiatrist in Joe Penhall
Joe Penhall

Joe Penhall is a playwright and screenwriter. Born in London, he grew up in Australia before returning to London in his early twenties, where he worked as a news reporter for the Hammersmith Guardian....
's Blue/Orange
BLUE/ORANGE

Blue/Orange is a play by written by English dramatist, Joe Penhall. A sardonically comic piece which touches on race, mental illness, and 21st century British life, it premiered at the Royal National Theatre in April 2000, starring Bill Nighy, Andrew Lincoln and Chiwetel Ejiofor....
 (2000), for which he won an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor, and which transferred to the West End at the Duchess Theatre
Duchess Theatre

The Duchess Theatre is a West End theatre in the City of Westminster, London, located in Catherine Street, near Aldwych.The theatre opened on 25 November, 1929 and is one of the smallest 'proscenium arched' West End theatres....
 the following year.

In 2003, Nighy played the role of the Vampire Elder Viktor
Viktor (Underworld)

Viktor is one of the fictional Vampire Elders in the gothic horror-action Underworld mythos, portrayed by Bill Nighy in Underworld, Underworld: Evolution, and Underworld: Rise of the Lycans....
 in the American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 production Underworld
Underworld (2003 film)

Underworld is a 2003 in film action film-horror film film about the secret history of Races of Underworld universe#Vampires and a type of werewolf known as Races of Underworld universe#Lycans ....
 and returned in the same role for the sequel Underworld: Evolution
Underworld: Evolution

Underworld: Evolution is the second film in the Underworld , following Underworld in 2003. Evolution continues the feud between Vampires and Lycans, but highlights glimpses of their origins some centuries ago....
 in 2006 and again the same role in the prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is the third installment in the Gothic Underworld , focusing primarily on the origins of some characters and the events leading to the Vampire-Lycan war....
. In February 2004, he was awarded the BAFTA Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Best Actor in a Supporting Role is a British Academy Film Awards presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding supporting performance in a film....
 for his role as shameless, washed-up rocker Billy Mack in Love Actually
Love Actually

Love Actually is a 2003 in film United Kingdom romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are linked as their tales progress....
, and followed this up at the BAFTA Television Awards
British Academy Television Awards

The British Academy Television Awards, also known as the BAFTAs — or, to differentiate them from the British Academy Film Awards, the BAFTA Television Awards — are the most prestigious awards given in the United Kingdom television industry, analogous to the Emmy Awards in the United States....
 in April with the Best Actor award for State of Play. He also appeared in the comedy Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead

Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 in film Cinema of the United Kingdom zombie comedy comedy film directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright....
.

In early 2004, the British tabloid press reported Nighy's partner as saying that he had been offered the coveted role of the Doctor
Doctor (Doctor Who)

The Doctor is the central fictional character in the long-running BBC Science fiction on television series Doctor Who, and also features in a vast range of spin-off novels, audio dramas and comic strips connected to the series....
 in the 2005 revival of the BBC television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who

Doctor Who is a British Science fiction on television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a mysterious alien Time travel known as "Doctor " who travels in his space and time-ship, the TARDIS, which normally appears from the exterior to be a blue 1950s police box....
. He is alleged to have told reporters that he had considered but ultimately rejected the offer. The editor of Doctor Who Magazine
Doctor Who Magazine

Doctor Who Magazine is a magazine devoted to the long-running United Kingdom science fiction television series Doctor Who. Its current editor is Tom Spilsbury....
, Clayton Hickman, had earlier mentioned to the press that Nighy was the first choice of executive producer
Executive producer

The title of executive producer , or executive in charge of production, typically describes a film producer, television producer, radio producer, record producer, or similar Stakeholder who doesn't participate in the technical operations of the production process, but who is still responsible for the success of a project....
 and writer Russell T Davies. The role was accepted by Christopher Eccleston
Christopher Eccleston

Christopher Eccleston is an award-winning English theatre, film and television actor. He is well-known for his roles in such high-profile films as Shallow Grave, Elizabeth , 28 Days Later and Gone in Sixty Seconds , and in 2005 became the Ninth Doctor of Doctor in Doctor Who....
 some weeks later and Davies subsequently claimed that Eccleston had always been the first choice for the role.

In 2005, he appeared as Slartibartfast
Slartibartfast

Slartibartfast is a character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a comedy/science fiction series created by Douglas Adams. The character appears in the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Life, the Universe and Everything, the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Primary and Secondary Phases#The Primary Phase and The Hitchhike...
 in the film adaptation
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a Comic science fiction film based on the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Shooting was completed in August 2004 and the movie was released on April 28, 2005 in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and on the following day in the United States....
 of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a Comic science fiction series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon....
, and also in the one-off BBC One comedy-drama The Girl in the Café
The Girl in the Café

The Girl in the Caf? is a British television movie drama, produced by independent production company Tightrope Pictures for BBC Wales, and originally screened on BBC One in the UK on Saturday 25 June 2005....
. In February 2006, he appeared in scriptwriter Stephen Poliakoff
Stephen Poliakoff

Stephen Poliakoff CBE is an acclaimed Great Britain playwright, director and scriptwriter, widely judged amongst Britain's foremost television dramatists....
's one-off drama, Gideon's Daughter
Gideon's Daughter

Gideon's Daughter is the second of two linked BBC television dramas written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff.Produced independently for the BBC by Talkback Thames and starring Bill Nighy, Miranda Richardson, and Emily Blunt, it aired in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 26 February 2006 and in the United States on BBC America a month la...
. Nighy played the lead character, Gideon, a successful events organiser who begins to lose touch with the world around him. This performance won him a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award

The Golden Globe Awards are presented annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to recognize outstanding achievements in the entertainment industry, both domestic and foreign, and to focus wide public attention upon the best in film and television program....
 for Best Actor in a Mini-series or TV Movie
List of Golden Globe Awards: Mini-series, Best Actor

The Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television is one of the annual television award given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association....
 in January 2007. Also in 2006, Nighy made his Broadway
Broadway theatre

Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 39 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City....
 debut alongside Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore

Julianne Moore is an Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning and four time Academy Award-nominated United States actress....
 in The Vertical Hour
The Vertical Hour

The Vertical Hour is a play by David Hare . The play addresses the relationship of characters with opposing views on the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and also explores psychological tension between public lives and private lives....
, which was directed by Sam Mendes
Sam Mendes

Samuel Alexander Mendes Order of the British Empire is an English Theatre director, film and commercial director at RSA US. He is known for his 1998 production of Cabaret , starring Alan Cumming, and his debut film, American Beauty , for which he won an Academy Award for Directing....
 at the Music Box Theatre
Music Box Theatre

The Music Box Theater is a legitimate Broadway theatre theatre located at 239 West 45th Street in midtown-Manhattan.The once most aptly named theater on Broadway, the intimate Music Box was designed by architect C....
.

Nighy appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 in film adventure film of the Pirates of the Caribbean , the sequel to the 2003 in film film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and the first film from Walt Disney Pictures to feature the current logo....
, where he played the principal villain, Davy Jones
Davy Jones (Pirates of the Caribbean)

David Jones is a fictional character from the Pirates of the Caribbean and is loosely based on the old seaman's legend of Davy Jones? Locker....
. He reprised the role in the 2007 sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End.

He also provides the narration for the 2007 BBC series Meerkat Manor
Meerkat Manor

Meerkat Manor is a British television programme produced by Oxford Scientific Films for Animal Planet. Blending more traditional animal documentary film style footage with Dramatic programming narration, the series tells the story of the Whiskers, one of over a dozen families of meerkats in the Kalahari Desert being studied as part of the...
. Recently, he played the role of Richard Hart in Notes on a Scandal
Notes on a Scandal (film)

Notes on a Scandal is an Academy Award and BAFTA-nominated 2006 in film United Kingdom film adapted from the 2003 novel Notes on a Scandal by Zo? Heller....
, for which he was nominated for a London Film Critics Circle
London Film Critics Circle

The London Film Critics' Circle is the name by which the Film Section of the The Critics' Circle is known internationally.The word London was added because it was thought the term Critics' Circle Film Awards lacked meaning ? for people in LA for example ? and the Film Section wished its annual Awards to be recognised on film advertising, es...
 award. He has twice played burned-out rock stars: Ray Simms in Still Crazy
Still Crazy

Still Crazy is a 1998 comedy film about a fictional 1970s rock band named "Strange Fruit", who, after being split up for several years, are convinced to get back together to perform at a reunion of the same concert venue where they played their last gig....
 and Billy Mack in Love Actually
Love Actually

Love Actually is a 2003 in film United Kingdom romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are linked as their tales progress....
.

With the announcement of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is the third installment in the Gothic Underworld , focusing primarily on the origins of some characters and the events leading to the Vampire-Lycan war....
, Nighy will reprise the role of Viktor. Filming began in January 2008. David Yates has said that Nighy would be his first choice for the role of Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, released on 16 July 2005, is the sixth of seven novels in J. K. Rowling's popular Harry Potter series....
. Nighy is also set to star in a film Wild Target
Wild Target

Wild Target is an upcoming 2009 in film comedy film, directed by Jonathan Lynn. It is based on the 1993 French film Cible Emouvante. Lucinda Coxon wrote the screenplay, and Martin Pope and Michael Rose are producing it....
 alongside Helena Bonham Carter
Helena Bonham Carter

Helena Bonham Carter is an Academy Award-nominated England actor. Bonham Carter made her screen debut in the K. M. Peyton film, A Pattern of Roses, before appearing in her first leading role in Lady Jane ....
. It will be filmed on Isle of Man
Isle of Man

The Isle of Man , or Mann , is a self-governing Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea at the geographical centre of the British Isles....
 and London.

Personal life

Nighy shared a 27-year-relationship with actress
Actor

An actor or actress is a person who acting in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio programming in that capacity....
 Diana Quick
Diana Quick

Diana Quick is an England actor. She grew up in Dartford, Kent, the third of a dentist's four children.Quick was born in London, England. She was educated at Dartford Grammar School for Girls, Kent and at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford....
, with whom he has a daughter, Mary
Mary Nighy

Mary Nighy is an England actor and film maker.Nighy was named one of the UK film council's breakthrough Brits in 2005. Her performance as the Franco-Italian courtier Marie-Louise, princesse de Lamballe in the 2006 film Marie Antoinette won her critical praise....
 (born 1984).

He is a supporter of Crystal Palace Football Club and is the Patron of the CPFRIS (Crystal Palace F.C. Fast Results & Information Service) Disabled Children's Club. Nighy lives near the director Richard Curtis
Richard Curtis

Richard Whalley Anthony Curtis, Order of the British Empire is a BAFTA Awards, Primetime Emmy Award- winning and Academy Award - nominated United Kingdom screenwriter, music producer, actor and film director, known primarily for romantic comedy films such as Four Weddings and a Funeral, ''Bridget Jones's Diary , ''Notting Hill and '...
 in Suffolk
Suffolk

Suffolk is a Non-metropolitan counties of England of Historic counties of England in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south....
.

He has Dupuytren's contracture
Dupuytren's contracture

Dupuytren's contracture is a fixed flexion contracture of the hand where the fingers bend towards the palm and cannot be fully extended . It is named after Guillaume Dupuytren, the surgery who described an Surgery to correct the affliction....
, a condition which causes the ring and perhaps other fingers of each hand to be permanently bent inwards towards the palm.

Theatre

  • The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Any More by Tennessee Williams
    Tennessee Williams

    Tennessee Williams was an American playwright who received many of the top theatrical awards. He moved to New Orleans in 1939 and changed his name to "Tennessee", the state of his father's birth....
     - Watermill Theatre
    Watermill Theatre

    The Watermill Theatre is a privately owned repertory theatre. It is a converted watermill with gardens beside the River Lambourn, in Bagnor, near Newbury, Berkshire, Berkshire, England....
    , Newbury
  • Landscape and Silence, by Harold Pinter
    Harold Pinter

    Harold Pinter, Companion of Honour, Order of the British Empire , an English people playwright, screenwriter, actor, Theatre director, poet, author, political activist, and the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature, was at the time of his death considered by many "the most influential and imitated dramatist of his generation."...
     - Gateway Theatre, Chester
    Gateway Theatre (Chester)

    The Gateway Theatre was a small producing and receiving theatre in the city of Chester, England.The theatre has welcomed many acclaimed performers, including Matthew Kelly, Les Dennis and Dennis Waterman....
  • Entertaining Mr Sloane by Joe Orton
    Joe Orton

    Joe Orton , born John Kingsley Orton, was an England playwright.In a short but prolific career lasting from 1964 until his death, he shocked, outraged and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedy....
     - Gateway Theatre, Chester
  • Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead
    Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead

    Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is an Theatre of the Absurd, existentialism tragicomedy by Tom Stoppard, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1966....
    , by Tom Stoppard
    Tom Stoppard

    Sir Tom Stoppard Order of Merit , Order of the British Empire, FRSL is a British screenwriter and playwright. He has written plays such as The Coast of Utopia, Arcadia , Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, and Rock 'n' Roll ....
     - Arts Theatre, Cambridge
  • The Immoralist, from the novel by André Gide
    André Gide

    Andr? Paul Guillaume Gide was a France author and winner of the Nobel Prize in literature in 1947. Gide's career ranged from its beginnings in the Symbolism movement, to the advent of Anti-imperialism between the two World Wars....
     - Hampstead Theatre
    Hampstead Theatre

    Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing....
  • Speak Now, by Olwen Wymark - Traverse Theatre
    Traverse Theatre

    Traverse Theatre is Scotland's new writing theatre. It is situated in Edinburgh, Scotland and was founded in 1963.The Traverse Theatre began as a theatre club in the Lawnmarket....
    , Edinburgh (1971)
  • Freedom of the City, by Brian Friel
    Brian Friel

    Brian Friel is an Irish people dramatist and theatre director from Northern Ireland....
     - Everyman Theatre
    Everyman Theatre

    The Everyman Theatre is a theatre on Hope Street, Liverpool in Liverpool, England. It was established in 1964 to perform works of relevance to the inhabitants of Liverpool....
    , Liverpool
  • Under New Management, by Chris Bond
    Chris Bond

    Chris Bond is an assistant coach for the Western Bulldogs Football Club Australian rules football team. He formerly played as a Rover ....
     - Everyman Theatre, Liverpool
  • Illuminatus!, Ken Campbell/Chris Langham - Liverpool Science Fiction Theatre (1975)
  • Occupy! - Liverpool Everyman Theatre (1976)
  • Illuminatus!, Ken Campbell/Chris Langham - NT Cottesloe
    Royal National Theatre

    The Royal National Theatre, London, England, is generally known as the National Theatre and commonly as The National. It is located on the The South Bank in the London Borough of Lambeth, England, immediately east of the southern end of Waterloo Bridge....
     (1977)
  • Comings and Goings, by Mike Stott
    Mike Stott

    Mike Stott is currently Professor of Interaction Design at Umea Institute of Design, Sweden. He is an industrial designer trained at Leeds College of Art and Design and the Royal College of Art in London where he graduated with a Master's degree in 1968....
     - Hampstead Theatre Club
    Hampstead Theatre

    Hampstead Theatre is a theatre in the vicinity of Swiss Cottage, in the London Borough of Camden. It specialises in commissioning and producing new writing....
     (1978)
  • The Warp, by Neil Oram/ Ken Campbell
    Ken Campbell (actor)

    Kenneth Victor Campbell was an England writer, actor, theatre director and comedian known for his work in experimental theatre. He has been called "a one-man dynamo of British theatre." ...
     - ICA (1979)
  • Illuminations, by Peter Jenkins
    Peter Jenkins

    Peter Jenkins may refer to:*Peter Jenkins , British diplomat*Peter Jenkins , British journalist*Peter Jenkins , Canadian politician*Peter Jenkins , U.S. travel author...
     - Lyric Hammersmith
    Lyric Hammersmith

    The Lyric Hammersmith is a theatre on King Street, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, which takes pride in its original, "groundbreaking" productions....
     (1980)
  • A Map of the World, by David Hare
    David Hare (dramatist)

    Sir David Hare is an English people playwright and Theatre director and film director....
     - NT Lyttelton (1983)
  • Pravda, by David Hare/ Howard Brenton
    Howard Brenton

    Howard John Brenton is an English playwright. He was born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, on 13 December, 1942, son of Donald Henry Brenton and his wife Rose Lilian ....
     - NT Olivier (1985)
  • King Lear, by William Shakespeare
    William Shakespeare

    William Shakespeare was an English people poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist....
     - NT Olivier (1986)
  • Mean Tears, by Peter Gill
    Peter Gill

    Peter Gill , known by the nickname Pedro or Ped, was the drummer with 1980s pop band Frankie Goes to Hollywood .Gill started out as a guitarist but decided to switch instruments because his hands were too small....
     - NT Cottesloe (1987)
  • Betrayal, by Harold Pinter
    Harold Pinter

    Harold Pinter, Companion of Honour, Order of the British Empire , an English people playwright, screenwriter, actor, Theatre director, poet, author, political activist, and the 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature, was at the time of his death considered by many "the most influential and imitated dramatist of his generation."...
     - Almeida Theatre, London (1991)
  • Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard
    Tom Stoppard

    Sir Tom Stoppard Order of Merit , Order of the British Empire, FRSL is a British screenwriter and playwright. He has written plays such as The Coast of Utopia, Arcadia , Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, and Rock 'n' Roll ....
     - NT Lyttelton (1993)
  • The Seagull, by Anton Chekhov
    Anton Chekhov

    Anton Pavlovich Chekhov was a Russian Short story writer, playwright and physician, considered to be one of the greatest short-story writers in world literature....
    /ad. Pam Gems
    Pam Gems

    Pam Gems is an England playwright. She is the author of numerous original plays, as well as of adaptations of works by major European playwrights of the past....
     - NT Olivier (1994)
  • Skylight, by David Hare - NT production at Vaudeville Theatre
    Vaudeville Theatre

    The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on Strand, London in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days....
    , London (1995)/ UK tour (1997)
  • A Kind of Alaska, by Harold Pinter - Donmar Warehouse
    Donmar Warehouse

    Donmar Warehouse is a small not for profit theatre in the Covent Garden area of the London Borough of Camden, with seating for 250 playgoers....
     (1998)
  • Blue/Orange, by Joe Penhall - NT Cottesloe (2000), Duchess Theatre (2001)
  • The Vertical Hour, by David Hare, Broadway production at the Music Box Theatre, NY (2006)


Filmography

  • Agony
    Agony (TV series)

    Agony is a United Kingdom Situation comedy that aired on ITV from 1979 to 1981. Starring Maureen Lipman, it was written by Len Richmond , Anna Raeburn, Stan Hey and Andrew Nickolds....
     (1981)
  • Eye of the Needle
    Eye of the Needle (film)

    Eye of the Needle is a 1981 in film film directed by Richard Marquand, based on the Eye of the Needle by Ken Follett, and starring Donald Sutherland....
     (1981)
  • Curse of the Pink Panther
    Curse of the Pink Panther

    Curse of the Pink Panther is a comedy film, the eighth installment of the Pink Panther series of films started by Blake Edwards in the early 1960s....
     (1983)
  • The Little Drummer Girl
    The Little Drummer Girl

    The Little Drummer Girl is a spy novel by John le Carr?, published in 1983. It does not feature le Carr?'s most famous character George Smiley....
     (1984)
  • Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil
    Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil

    Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil is a 1985 TV film about two Germany brothers, Helmut and Karl Hoffmann, and the paths they take during Nazi Germany....
     (1985)
  • Thirteen at Dinner
    Thirteen at Dinner (film)

    Thirteen at Dinner is a 1985 in film USA-UK television film featuring the Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. Adapted from the novel Agatha Christie Lord Edgeware Dies by Rod Browning it was directed by Lou Antonio and starred Peter Ustinov, Faye Dunaway, Jonathan Cecil, Diane Keen and Bill Nighy....
     (1985)
  • The Last Place on Earth
    The Last Place on Earth

    The Last Place on Earth is a 1985 Central Television seven part serial based on the book Scott and Amundsen by Roland Huntford. The book is a biography of Captain Robert Falcon Scott and his Norwegian rival in polar exploration, Roald Amundsen ....
     (1985) (TV)
  • The Phantom of the Opera: The Motion Picture
    The Phantom of the Opera (1989 film)

    The Phantom of the Opera: The Motion Picture is 1989 in film film based on Gaston Leroux's The Phantom of the Opera and was directed by Dwight H....
     (1989)
  • Being Human (1993)
  • The Maitlands (1993) (TV)
  • FairyTale: A True Story
    FairyTale: A True Story

    FairyTale: A True Story is a 1997 in film film from Paramount Pictures, loosely based on the story of the Cottingley Fairies....
     (1997)
  • Still Crazy
    Still Crazy

    Still Crazy is a 1998 comedy film about a fictional 1970s rock band named "Strange Fruit", who, after being split up for several years, are convinced to get back together to perform at a reunion of the same concert venue where they played their last gig....
     (1998)
  • Kiss Me Kate (1998) (TV)
  • Guest House Paradiso
    Guest House Paradiso

    Guest House Paradiso is a 1999 comedy slapstick film, starring Rik Mayall and Adrian Edmondson, and directed by Edmondson. It is based on their comedy television series Bottom ....
     (1999)
  • Blow Dry
    Blow Dry

    Blow Dry is a comedy film released by Miramax in 2001 in film. The film was directed by Paddy Breathnach and written by Simon Beaufoy.The film was released in US cinemas on 7 March 2001, in the UK on 30 March 2001 and in other countries between May 2001 and May 2002....
     (2001)
  • Lucky Break
    Lucky Break

    Lucky Break is a 2001 in film United Kingdom comedy film starring James Nesbitt and directed by Peter Cattaneo.Tagline: "An escapist comedy from the director of The Full Monty"....
     (2001)
  • Auf Wiedersehen, Pet
    Auf Wiedersehen, Pet

    Auf Wiedersehen, Pet is a United Kingdom comedy-drama series about a group of seven British migrant construction workers: Wayne Winston Norris, Dennis Patterson , Leonard "Oz" Osborne, Brian "Bomber" Busbridge , Barry Taylor , Neville Hope and Albert Arthur Moxey, who, in Series 1, are living and working on a German building site....
     (2002)
  • The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: Well Schooled in Murder
    The Inspector Lynley Mysteries

    The Inspector Lynley Mysteries is a series of BBC television programmes about Detective Inspector Thomas "Tommy" Lynley, 8th Earl of Asherton of Scotland Yard and Detective Sergeant Barbara Havers ....
     (2002) (TV)
  • The Lost Prince
    The Lost Prince

    The Lost Prince is an acclaimed United Kingdom television drama, produced by Talkback Thames for the BBC and originally broadcast in two episodes on BBC One in January 2003....
     (2003) (TV)
  • State of Play (2003) (TV)
  • Ready When You Are, Mr McGill
    Ready When You Are, Mr McGill

    Ready When You Are, Mr McGill is a feature length TV drama, written by Jack Rosenthal. ITV produced two versions, in 1976 and 2003. The 1976 version was the first in a series of six single television plays called "Red Letter Days" each of which showed the events in a single, special day in someone's life....
     (2003)
  • Love Actually
    Love Actually

    Love Actually is a 2003 in film United Kingdom romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. The screenplay delves into different aspects of love as shown through stories involving a wide variety of individuals, many of whom are linked as their tales progress....
     (2003)
  • I Capture the Castle
    I Capture the Castle (film)

    I Capture The Castle is a 2003 in film directed by Tim Fywell. It is I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith and was adapted to screenplay by Heidi Thomas....
     (2003)
  • Underworld
    Underworld (2003 film)

    Underworld is a 2003 in film action film-horror film film about the secret history of Races of Underworld universe#Vampires and a type of werewolf known as Races of Underworld universe#Lycans ....
     (2003)
  • Shaun of the Dead
    Shaun of the Dead

    Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 in film Cinema of the United Kingdom zombie comedy comedy film directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright....
     (2004)
  • He Knew He Was Right
    He Knew He Was Right

    He Knew He Was Right is a 1869 in literature novel written by Anthony Trollope which describes the failure of a marriage caused by the unreasonable jealousy of a husband exacerbated by the stubbornness of a willful wife....
     (2004) (TV)
  • Enduring Love (2004)
  • The Girl in the Café
    The Girl in the Café

    The Girl in the Caf? is a British television movie drama, produced by independent production company Tightrope Pictures for BBC Wales, and originally screened on BBC One in the UK on Saturday 25 June 2005....
     (2005) (TV)
  • The Magic Roundabout
    The Magic Roundabout (film)

    The Magic Roundabout is a film based on the The Magic Roundabout. The film was released on February 11, 2005 in the United Kingdom and France, and on February 24, 2006 in North America....
     (2005) (voice)
  • The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (film)

    The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a Comic science fiction film based on the The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. Shooting was completed in August 2004 and the movie was released on April 28, 2005 in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, and on the following day in the United States....
     (2005)
  • The Constant Gardener
    The Constant Gardener (film)

    The Constant Gardener is a 2005 in film drama film directed by Fernando Meirelles. The screenplay by Jeffrey Caine is based on the John le Carr? The Constant Gardener....
     (2005)
  • Underworld: Evolution
    Underworld: Evolution

    Underworld: Evolution is the second film in the Underworld , following Underworld in 2003. Evolution continues the feud between Vampires and Lycans, but highlights glimpses of their origins some centuries ago....
     (2006)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
    Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

    Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is a 2006 in film adventure film of the Pirates of the Caribbean , the sequel to the 2003 in film film Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and the first film from Walt Disney Pictures to feature the current logo....
     (live action, voice and motion capture) (2006)
  • Flushed Away
    Flushed Away

    Flushed Away is a 2006 in film computer animation British film directed by David Bowers and Sam Fell. It is a partnership between Aardman Animations of Wallace and Gromit fame, and DreamWorks Animation, and is Aardman's first completely computer-animated feature as opposed to the usual stop motion....
     (2006) (voice)
  • Notes on a Scandal
    Notes on a Scandal (film)

    Notes on a Scandal is an Academy Award and BAFTA-nominated 2006 in film United Kingdom film adapted from the 2003 novel Notes on a Scandal by Zo? Heller....
     (2006)
  • Stormbreaker
    Stormbreaker (film)

    Stormbreaker is a 2006 in film spy film based on Anthony Horowitz's Stormbreaker , the first novel in the Alex Rider. It stars newcomer Alex Pettyfer as the teenage spy alongside actors Mickey Rourke and Ewan McGregor....
     (2006)
  • Hot Fuzz
    Hot Fuzz

    Hot Fuzz is a British films of 2007 Cinema of the United Kingdom action film comedy film written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright and starring Pegg and Nick Frost....
     (2007)
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (live acting, voice and motion capture) (2007)
  • Valkyrie
    Valkyrie (film)

    Valkyrie is a 2008 in film Historical fiction thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the 20 July plot by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country....
     (2008)
  • Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
    Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

    Underworld: Rise of the Lycans is the third installment in the Gothic Underworld , focusing primarily on the origins of some characters and the events leading to the Vampire-Lycan war....
     (2009)
Upcoming
  • The Boat That Rocked
    The Boat That Rocked

    The Boat That Rocked is an upcoming ensemble cast period piece comedy film, scheduled for 2009 in film. The film is set in 1966 and tells of the UK pirate radio, which used a legal loophole to broadcast to audiences of up to 25 million from ships anchored off the coast of the UK....
     (2009)
  • 1939
    1939 (film)

    1939 is an upcoming United Kingdom period film drama film written and directed by Stephen Poliakoff and starring Romola Garai, Bill Nighy, Julie Christie, Jeremy Northam, Christopher Lee and David Tennant....
     (2009)
  • G-Force
    G-Force (film)

    G-Force is an announced film to be produced by Jerry Bruckheimer for Walt Disney Pictures in Disney Digital 3-D. Written by Marianne Wibberley & Cormac Wibberley, the film will be directorial debut of Hoyt Yeatman, whose earlier work includes in the area of visual effects....
     (2009)
  • Astro Boy
    Astro Boy (film)

    Astro Boy is a 2009 in film American Computer animation 3-D film based on the highly successful Japanese franchise of the Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka....
     (2009) (voice)
  • Wild Target
    Wild Target

    Wild Target is an upcoming 2009 in film comedy film, directed by Jonathan Lynn. It is based on the 1993 French film Cible Emouvante. Lucinda Coxon wrote the screenplay, and Martin Pope and Michael Rose are producing it....
     (2009)


External links

  • official website* - news, info, photos, media
  • website