Andrew Lincoln Biography

Andrew James Clutterbuck (born 14 September 1973), better known by his stage name Andrew Lincoln, is an English actor. He is most recognised for his portrayal of Rick Grimes, the lead character on the AMC horror drama series The Walking Dead. His first major role was in the BBC drama This Life, followed by roles such as Simon in the Channel 4 sitcom Teachers and Mark in the romantic comedy film Love Actually (2003).

Early life

Andrew Clutterbuck was born in London, the son of an English civil engineer and a South African nurse. His family moved to Hull when he was 18 months old, and then to Bath when he was eight or nine. He attended Beechen Cliff School, where at age 14 he had his first acting role as the Artful Dodger in a school production of Oliver!. He spent a summer at the National Youth Theatre in London and became interested in acting as a career. After leaving school, he studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and began to use "Andrew Lincoln" as his stage name.

Career

Lincoln made his first on-screen appearance in "Births and Deaths", a 1994 episode of Channel 4 sitcom Drop the Dead Donkey. In 1995, soon after finishing drama school, he was offered his first major role playing Edgar "Egg" Cook, one of the leading characters in the acclaimed BBC drama This Life. He went on to star in a number of British television series and dramas such as The Woman in White, The Canterbury Tales and Wuthering Heights, most notably as probationary teacher Simon Casey in the successful Channel 4 sitcom Teachers. He also had a lead role as university lecturer and psychologist Robert Bridge in Afterlife, and starred in the 2010 Sky One series Strike Back with Richard Armitage.

Lincoln appeared in several films such as Human Traffic and Gangster No. 1 and starred alongside Vanessa Paradis in Pascal Chaumeil's Heartbreaker. In particular, his role as Mark in the 2003 film Love Actually gained him wider recognition.

Lincoln has also performed in plays, including Hushabye Mountain in 1999, the widely praised Blue/Orange in 2000 and 2001, The Late Henry Moss in 2006, the Parlour Song in 2009, as well as radio productions. He has done voice-overs for documentaries, advertisements, and government campaigns. He directed two episodes in the third series of Teachers for which he won a BAFTA nomination for Best New Director (Fiction) in 2004.

The Walking Dead

In April 2010, Lincoln was cast as Rick Grimes, the protagonist of AMC's live-action adaptation of the comic book series The Walking Dead. Grimes is a sheriff's deputy who awakens from a months-long coma in the midst of a violent zombie apocalypse caused by an unknown pathogen. He becomes the leader of a group of family and friends who are forced to relentlessly fight off flesh-eating zombies and evil humans. The drama has the highest Nielsen ratings in cable television history, including the most 18- to 49-year-old viewers of any cable or broadcast television series during its third through (current) sixth seasons. In 2010, Lincoln signed up for the show for a potential six years. He has since renegotiated a deal for two further seasons.

Lincoln has received critical acclaim for his portrayal of Rick Grimes in The Walking Dead and has been nominated for numerous awards. Jacob Stolworthy from the independent, whilst commenting on his performance in the first episode of season 7 said: "It's a moment where Andrew Lincoln excels, his character coming full circle: between his snot-nosed splutters of mercy and Carl"?s resigned plea ("Dad, just do it), this scene - when bookended with the first time we see Rick in season 1 episode 'Days Gone Bye', unaware of the tribulations this "new world order" will bring - causes your bones to cool several degrees." TVLine spotlighted Lincoln as "performer of the week" for his performance in season 5 episode 15, saying "We always knew that Lincoln could play the living daylights out of anything that was thrown at him. But until this week"?s episode of The Walking Dead, we didn"?t realize that he could act his way from A to Z all within the span of a single hour."

Personal life

On 10 June 2006, Lincoln married Gael Anderson, daughter of Ian Anderson, former flutist and vocalist in Jethro Tull. They have two children, Matilda and Arthur. Apple Martin (daughter of Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin) was the flower girl at their wedding.

Lincoln's older brother, Richard Clutterbuck, was formerly deputy head of St Laurence School in Bradford on Avon, before becoming head of the Bristol Free School. He is now the head of Kings Oak Academy in Kingswood.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1995	Boston Kickout	Ted
1998	Understanding Jane	Party Stoner
1999	A Man's Best Friend	Man	Short film
1999	Human Traffic	Felix
2000	Gangster No. 1	Maxie King
2000	Offending Angels	Sam
2003	Love Actually	Mark
2004	Enduring Love	TV producer
2006	These Foolish Things	Christopher Lovell
2006	Hey Good Looking!	Paul
2006	Scenes of a Sexual Nature	Jamie
2010	Heartbreaker	Jonathan
2010	Made in Dagenham	Mr. Clarke

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Drop the Dead Donkey	Terry	Episode: "Births and Deaths"
1995	N7	Andy	Pilot
1996	Over Here	Caddy	2 episodes
1996	Bramwell	Martin Fredericks	Episode 2.3
1996-97	This Life	Edgar "Egg" Cook	32 episodes
1997	The Woman in White	Walter Hartright	2 episodes
2000	Bomber	Captain Willy Byrne	Television film
2000	A Likeness in Stone	Richard Kirschman	Television film
2001-03	Teachers	Simon Casey	20 episodes; also directed 2 episodes
2003	Trevor's World of Sport	Mark Boden	Episode 1.1
2003	State of Mind	Julian Latimer	3 episodes
2003	The Canterbury Tales	Alan King	Episode: "The Man of Law's Tale"
2004	Holby City	Patient's Boyfriend	Episode: "Letting Go"
2004	Lie With Me	DI Will Tomlinson	2 episodes
2004	Whose Baby?	Barry Flint	Television film
2005-06	Afterlife	Robert Bridge	14 episodes
2007	This Life + 10	Edgar "Egg" Cook	Television special
2009	Wuthering Heights	Edgar Linton	2 episodes
2009	The Things I Haven't Told You	DC Rae	Television film
2009	Moonshot	Michael Collins	Television film
2010	Strike Back	Hugh Collinson	6 episodes
2010-present	The Walking Dead	Rick Grimes	Lead role
2017	Red Nose Day, Actually	Mark	Television special

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Location	Playwright
1998	Sugar Sugar	Joe	Bush Theatre	Simon Bent
1999	Hushabye Mountain	Danny	Hampstead Theatre	Jonathan Harvey
2000, 2001	Blue/Orange	Bruce	Cottesloe Theatre (2000) Duchess Theatre (2001)	Joe Penhall
2002	Free	Alex	Loft (Lyttelton Theatre)	Simon Bowen
2006	The Late Henry Moss	Ray	Almeida Theatre	Sam Shepard
2009	Parlour Song	Dale	Almeida Theatre	Jez Butterworth

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Result	Work
2004	British Academy Film Award	Best New Director (Fiction)		Teachers
	Phoenix Film Critics Society Award	Best Ensemble Acting		Love Actually
	Empire Award	Best Newcomer
2007	Golden Nymph Award	Outstanding Actor - Drama Series		Afterlife
2010	IGN Summer Movie Award	Best TV Hero		The Walking Dead
2011	Saturn Award	Best Actor on Television
	Scream Award	Best Horror Actor
2012	Satellite Award	Best Cast
2013	Saturn Award	Best Actor on Television
	Critics' Choice Television Award	Best Actor in a Drama Series
	TV Guide Award	Favorite Actor
2014	People's Choice Award	Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor
		Favorite TV Anti-Hero
2015	Saturn Award	Best Actor on Television
	Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	Best TV Actor
2016	Saturn Award	Best Actor on Television
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice TV Actor: Fantasy/Sci-Fi
2017	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy TV Actor
	Saturn Awards	Best Actor on a Television Series