Bill Nighy Biography

William Francis "Bill" Nighy (pronounced  ; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womaniser Prof. Mark Carleton, whose extramarital affairs kept him "vital".

He became known around the world in 2003 for his critically acclaimed performance in Love Actually. Other notable roles in cinema include his portrayal of Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, as well as Viktor in the Underworld film series.

He is also known for his roles in the films Lawless Heart, I Capture the Castle, the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy (most prominently in Shaun of the Dead), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Notes on a Scandal, Hot Fuzz, Valkyrie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows " Part 1, Rango and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. His performances were also acclaimed in the State of Play series and in the TV films The Girl in the Café, Gideon's Daughter and Page Eight, for which he earned Golden Globe nominations, winning one for Gideon's Daughter.

Early life and education

Nighy was born in Caterham, Surrey. His mother, Catherine Josephine Nighy (née Whittaker), was a psychiatric nurse who was born in Glasgow, and his father, Alfred Martin Nighy, managed a car garage after working in the family chimney sweeping business. Of part Irish descent, Nighy was brought up as a Roman Catholic, serving as an altar boy.

He has two elder siblings, Martin and Anna. Nighy attended the John Fisher School, a Roman Catholic grammar school in Purley, where he was a member of the school theatre group. He left the school with two O-levels and then took a job with the Croydon Advertiser as a messenger boy. He went on to train at the Guildford School of Acting.

Career

After two seasons at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, Nighy made his London stage debut at the National Theatre in an epic staging of Ken Campbell and Chris Langham's Illuminatus!, which opened the new Cottesloe Theatre on 4 March 1977, and went on to appear in two David Hare premieres, also at the National. During the 1980s, he appeared in several television productions, among them Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil, alongside John Shea and Tony Randall.

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 novel adapted by Laura Lamson, 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 in the 1981 BBC Radio dramatisation of The Lord of the Rings (where he was credited as William Nighy), and appeared in the 1980s BBC Radio versions of Yes Minister episodes. He starred alongside Stephen Moore and Lesley Sharp in the acclaimed short radio drama Kerton's Story first aired in 1996. He had a starring role in the 2002 return of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, portraying crooked politician Jeffrey Grainger. He has also made a guest appearance in the BBC Radio 4 series Baldi.

Two of Nighy's most acclaimed stage performances were in National Theatre productions. Taking the role of Bernard Nightingale, an unscrupulous university don, in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia (1993), he engaged in witty exchanges with Felicity Kendal, playing the role of Hannah Jarvis, an author; and he played a consultant psychiatrist in Joe Penhall's Blue/Orange (2000), for which he won an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor, and which transferred to the West End at the Duchess Theatre the following year.

Nighy received some recognition by American audiences for his acclaimed portrayal of overaged rock star Ray Simms in the 1998 film Still Crazy. In 1999 he gained further prominence in the UK with the starring role in "The Photographer", an episode of the award-winning BBC-TV mockumentary comedy series People Like Us, playing Will Rushmore, a middle aged man who has abandoned his career and family in the deluded belief that he can achieve success as a commercial photographer.

In 2003, Nighy played the role of the Vampire Elder Viktor in the American production Underworld and returned in the same role for the sequel Underworld: Evolution in 2006 and again in the prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans in 2009. In February 2004, he was awarded the BAFTA Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as shameless, washed-up rocker Billy Mack in Love Actually (a role foreshadowed by his Still Crazy character) and followed this up at the BAFTA Television Awards in April with the Best Actor award for State of Play. He also appeared in the comedy Shaun of the Dead.

In early 2004, The Sunday Times reported that Nighy was on the shortlist for role of the Ninth Doctor in the 2005 revival of the BBC television series Doctor Who. Christopher Eccleston ultimately filled the role.

In 2005, he appeared as Slartibartfast in the film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He also appeared in the one-off BBC One comedy-drama The Girl in the Café. In February 2006, he appeared in scriptwriter Stephen Poliakoff's one-off drama, Gideon's Daughter. 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 for Best Actor in a Mini-series or TV Film in January 2007. Also in 2006, Nighy made his Broadway debut at the Music Box Theatre alongside Julianne Moore in The Vertical Hour, directed by Sam Mendes.

In 2006, Nighy featured in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, where he played the principal villain, Davy Jones, although his face was entirely obscured by computer-generated makeup and he voiced the character with a Scots accent. He reprised the role in the 2007 sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, in which his real face was briefly revealed in one scene. He also provided the narration for the Animal Planet series Meerkat Manor. In 2006 he played the role of Richard Hart in Notes on a Scandal, for which he was nominated for a London Film Critics Circle award. Nighy also appeared as General Friedrich Olbricht, one of the principal conspirators, in the 2008 film Valkyrie. He had played an SS officer in the 1985 Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil. Nighy has starred in the film Wild Target.

In July 2009, he announced that he would play Rufus Scrimgeour in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows " Part 1. Nighy had already worked with director David Yates twice, and with the majority of the Harry Potter cast in previous films. He has said of his role as Rufus Scrimgeour that it meant he was no longer the only English actor not to be in Harry Potter.

Nighy voiced Grandsanta in the 2011 CGI animated film Arthur Christmas. In 2012, he starred in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Wrath of the Titans, and the remake of Total Recall. In 2013, he played a role in Darkside, Tom Stoppard's radio drama based on Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side of the Moon.

Personal life

Nighy had a 27-year-relationship with English actress Diana Quick, with whom he has a daughter, actress Mary Nighy. The couple "amicably separated" in 2008.

He is a supporter of Crystal Palace and is the Patron of the CPFRIS (Crystal Palace F.C. Fast Results & Information Service) Disabled Children's Club, and of the Ann Craft Trust. He is also one of the Honorary Patrons of the London children's charity Scene & Heard. He suffers from Dupuytren's contracture, a condition which causes the ring and little finger of each hand to be permanently bent inwards towards the palm.

Nighy is also a patron for the Milton Rooms, a new arts centre in Malton, North Yorkshire, along with Imelda Staunton, Jools Holland and Kathy Burke.

Nighy is known for his bespoke navy suits; he was listed as one of the fifty best-dressed over 50s by The Guardian in March 2013.

Filmography

Films

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1981	Eye of the Needle	Squadron Leader Blenkinsop
1983	Curse of the Pink Panther	ENT Doctor
1984	The Little Drummer Girl	Al
1985	Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil	Helmut Hoffmann
	Thirteen at Dinner	Ronald Marsh
1989	The Phantom of the Opera: The Motion Picture	Martin Barton
1994	Being Human	Julian
1997	FairyTale: A True Story	Edward Gardner
1998	Still Crazy	Ray Simms	First lead role Peter Sellers Award for Comedy Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture " Comedy or Musical
1999	Guest House Paradiso	Mr. Johnson
2001	Blow Dry	Raymond "Ray" Robertson
	Lawless Heart	Dan	LAFCA Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated"?BIFA Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a British Independent Film
	Lucky Break	Roger "Rog" Chamberlain
2002	AKA	Uncle Louis Gryffoyn	LAFCA Award for Best Supporting Actor
2003	Ready When You Are, Mr McGill	Phil Parish
	Love Actually	Billy Mack	ALFS Award for Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role LAFCA Award for Best Supporting Actor Peter Sellers Award for Comedy Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble Nominated"?Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture " Comedy or Musical
	I Capture the Castle	James Mortmain	LAFCA Award for Best Supporting Actor
	Underworld	Viktor
2004	Shaun of the Dead	Phillip
	Enduring Love	Robin
2005	The Magic Roundabout	Dylan	Voice only (United Kingdom version)
	The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy	Slartibartfast
	Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest	Davy Jones	Teen Choice Award " Choice Sleazebag Nominated"?MTV Movie Award for Best Villain Nominated"?Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
	The Constant Gardener	Sir Bernard Pellegrin	Nominated"?BIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor/Actress
2006	Underworld: Evolution	Viktor
	Stormbreaker	Alan Blunt
	Flushed Away	Whitey
	Notes on a Scandal	Richard Hart	Nominated"?ALFS Award for Best Supporting Actor
2007	Hot Fuzz	Ch. Insp. Kenneth
	Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End	Davy Jones	Teen Choice Award for Best Villain
2008	Valkyrie	Friedrich Olbricht	Nominated"?Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
2009	Underworld: Rise of the Lycans	Viktor
	The Boat That Rocked	Quentin
	G-Force	Leonard Saber
	Astro Boy	Professor Simon Elefun/Robotsky	Voice only
	Statuesque	Mr. Jellaby	Short film
	Glorious 39	Sir Alexander
2010	Wild Target	Victor Maynard
	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows " Part 1	Rufus Scrimgeour
2011	Rango	Rattlesnake Jake	Voice only
	Chalet Girl	Richard
	Arthur Christmas	Grandsanta	Voice only Annie Award for Voice Acting in a Feature Production
	The Man With The Stolen Heart	Narrator	Voice only
2012	The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel	Douglas
	Wrath of the Titans	Hephaestus
	Total Recall	Matthias Lair
2013	Jack the Giant Slayer	Fallon (Big Head)	Voice only
	The World's End	The Network	Voice only
	About Time	Tim's father
2014	I, Frankenstein	TBA	filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Agony	Vincent Flash	Season 2
1982	Minder "Looking for Micky"	Oates
1985	The Last Place on Earth	Cecil Meares
1991	The Men's Room	Mark Carleton	BBC miniseries
1991	Bergerac "All for Love"
1994	Wycliffe "The Four Jacks"	David Cleeve
1995	Llety Piod
1998	Kiss Me Kate	Cameron
2000	Longitude	Lord Sandwich
2002	Auf Wiedersehen, Pet	Jeffrey Grainger	Season 3
	The Inspector Lynley Mysteries "Well Schooled in Murder"
2003	State of Play	Cameron Foster	British Academy Television Award for Best Actor Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actor Nominated"?RTS Television Award for Best Actor " Male
	The Lost Prince	Arthur Bigge, 1st Baron Stamfordham	Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor " Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2004	He Knew He Was Right	Colonel Osborne
2005	The Girl in the Café	Lawrence	Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
	Gideon's Daughter	Gideon Warner	Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television Satellite Award for Best Actor " Miniseries or Television Film
2010	Doctor Who	Dr. Black	Uncredited episode "Vincent and the Doctor"
2011	Page Eight	Johnny Worricker	Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Miniseries or Television Film Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Actor " Miniseries or Television Film

Video game

Year	Serie	Role
2009	G-Force	Leonard Saber

Selected performances

Theatre

• The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore by Tennessee Williams " Watermill Theatre, Newbury
• Landscape and Silence, by Harold Pinter " Gateway Theatre, Chester
• Entertaining Mr Sloane by Joe Orton " Gateway Theatre, Chester
• Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard " Arts Theatre, Cambridge
• The Immoralist, from the novel by André Gide " Hampstead Theatre
• Speak Now, by Olwen Wymark " Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh (1971)
• Freedom of the City, by Brian Friel " Everyman Theatre, Liverpool
• Under New Management, by Chris Bond " Everyman Theatre, Liverpool
• Occupy! " Liverpool Everyman Theatre (1976)
• Illuminatus!, Ken Campbell/Chris Langham " NT Cottesloe (The theatre's first production, 1977)
• Comings and Goings, by Mike Stott " Hampstead Theatre Club (1978)
• The Warp, by Neil Oram/ Ken Campbell " ICA (1979)
• Illuminations, by Arthur Rimbaud " Lyric Hammersmith (1980)
• A Map of the World, by David Hare " NT Lyttelton (1983)
• Pravda, by David Hare/ Howard Brenton " NT Olivier (1985)
• King Lear, by William Shakespeare " NT Olivier (1986)
• Mean Tears, by Peter Gill " NT Cottesloe (1987)
• Betrayal, by Harold Pinter " Almeida Theatre, London (1991)
• Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard " NT Lyttelton (1993)
• The Seagull, by Anton Chekhov/ad. Pam Gems " NT Olivier (1994)
• Skylight, by David Hare " NT production at Vaudeville Theatre, London (1995)/ UK tour (1997)
• A Kind of Alaska, by Harold Pinter " Donmar Warehouse (1998)
• Blue/Orange, by Joe Penhall " NT Cottesloe (2000), Duchess Theatre (2001)
• The Vertical Hour, by David Hare, Broadway production at the Music Box Theater, NY (2006)
• Valkyrie, by Christopher McQuarrie (2008)

Radio

Date	Title	Role	Author	Director	Station
"	The Lord of the Rings	Sam Gamgee	J.R.R. Tolkien dramatised by Brian Sibley and Michael Bakewell	Jane Morgan and Penny Leicester	BBC Radio 4
"	Yes, Minister	Frank Weisel	Antony Jay and Jonathan Lynn adapted for radio by Pete Atkin	Pete Atkin	BBC Radio 4
	Ancient Enemies		Elizabeth North		BBC Radio 4
	So Much Blood	Charles Paris	Simon Brett dramatised by Bert Coules	Gaynor Macfarlane	BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play
	Blue/Orange		Joe Penhall		BBC Radio 4
	Baldi: The Book Case	O'Connor	Simon Brett	Mark Lambert	BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play
	Turtle Diary	William	Russell Hoban	Gaynor Macfarlane	BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play
	A Series of Murders	Charles Paris	Simon Brett dramatised by Jeremy Front		BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play
	All Fingers and Thumbs	Tom	Alan Stafford	Dirk Maggs	BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play
"	A Charles Paris Mystery: Sicken and So Die	Charles Paris	Simon Brett dramatised by Jeremy Front	Sally Avens	BBC Radio 4
"	A Charles Paris Mystery: Murder Unprompted	Charles Paris	Simon Brett dramatised by Jeremy Front	Sally Avens	BBC Radio 4
	I Wish to Apologise for My Part in the Apocalypse	Keith	Duncan Macmillan	Sam Hoyle	BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play
"	A Charles Paris Mystery: Dead Side of the Mic	Charles Paris	Simon Brett dramatised by Jeremy Front	Sally Avens	BBC Radio 4
	Educating Rita	Frank	Willy Russell	Kirsty Williams	BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play
	Private Lives	Elyot	Noël Coward	Sally Avens	BBC Radio 4 Saturday Play
"	A Charles Paris Mystery: Cast in Order of Disappearance	Charles Paris	Simon Brett dramatised by Jeremy Front	Sally Avens	BBC Radio 4
"	A Charles Paris Mystery: Murder in the Title	Charles Paris	Simon Brett dramatised by Jeremy Front	Sally Avens	BBC Radio 4
	The Bat Man	Christopher	Amelia Bullmore	Mary Peate	BBC Radio 4 Afternoon Play
	Darkside	The Witch Finder / Doctor Antrobus	Tom Stoppard		BBC Radio 2