George Asprey (born 1 October 1966) is a British stage, film, and televisioncharacter actor. Since 2008, Asprey has played the part ofScar in theWest End theatre production of the musicalThe Lion King.

Of Asprey's origins, theDaily Mirror said that his world had been one of "indecent wealth" and he was not born with asilver spoon in his mouth but a "silver shovel".^[1] The only son of Edward Asprey, ofAsprey the jewellers, he was educated atCharterhouse School and was expected to join the family business on leaving school. Asprey rebelled, wishing instead to pursue an acting career. This was not welcomed by his father, and the pair did not speak for several months.^[1] Asprey subsequentlystudied business in the United States, with a view to joining the family firm, but while there was cast in a stage production ofThe Tempest. This led him to audition for entry to theLondon Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), and at the age of twenty he was one of nineteen new students accepted out of some 2,500 applicants.^[2][3]

Soon after leaving LAMDA, Asprey was cast as Sean Devereux in the television filmThe Dying of the Light (Yorkshire Television, 1992). His character was aUNICEF aid worker who was murdered, and Asprey received good reviews for the performance.^[1] He appeared as a policeman inMary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994).^[4]

In 1995, Asprey was cast as Tony Paterson, a promiscuous hairdresser, in theITV television serialAn Independent Man.^[1] In 2003 he playedDoc Holliday in a BBC production,^[5] in 2016 appeared asWalter Monckton inThe Crown,^[6] and in 2021 played Jonathan Rees QC inFour Lives.

Asprey's longest-running part on stage is asScar in theWest End production ofThe Lion King, which he began to play in 2008 and was still performing in October 2019, when in an interview he described Scar as "probably the greatest baddie that Disney has ever written".^[2] The production had to close in March 2020 due to theCOVID-19 lockdown, but it reopened at theLyceum Theatre in July 2021, with Asprey returning as Scar.^[7]

In 1992, while they were both appearing inThe Sound of Music, Asprey datedAmanda Holden.^[8]

Asprey and his wife Kirsten have three daughters.^[9]

• The Dying of the Light (TV movie, 1992) as Sean Devereux^[1]
• Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) as Policeman^[4]
• Secrets & Lines (2000) as Andrew^[3]
• AKA (2002) as David, Lord Glendening^[10]
• Out of Bounds (2003) as Matthew Van Huet^[3]
• The Wedding Date (2005) as Pat^[3]
• Ian Fleming: Bondmaker (2005) as Officer
• The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005) as Wilfred Reid^[11]
• Riot at the Rite (2005) as Voucher, journalist^[12]
• The Gentlemen (2019) as Lord Snowball^[3]
• Without Remorse (2021) as Denis Stewart^[13][3]

• A Breed of Heroes (BBC, 1994) as Second Lieutenant^[3]
• An Independent Man (1995) as Tony Patterson^[1][3]
• The Peter Principle (1995) as Frank^[3]
• Supply and Demand (1997) as Barry Guard^[3]
• Coming Home (1998) as Dr Jeremy Wells^[3]
• Trial & Retribution (1998) as DC Jack Hutchens^[3]
• The Bill (1998) as Andrew Stirling^[3]
• Nancherrow (1999) as Dr Jeremy Wells^[3]
• Holby City (2003) as Simon Hargreaves^[3]
• The Wild West: Gunfight at the OK Corral (BBC, 2003) asDoc Holliday^[5]
• Mayo (2006) as Adam Hendrick^[12]
• Waking the Dead (2007) as Young Bruno Rivelli^[12]
• Psychoville (2009) asJohn Haigh^[12]
• Upstairs Downstairs (2010) asOswald Mosley^[12]
• The Crown (2016) asWalter Monckton^[6]
• The Barking Murders (2021) as Jonathon Rees QC^[12]

• "George Asprey",IMDb
• "George Asprey",London Theatre Direct
• THE LION KING Education series: Episode 4 - An actor prepares,YouTube

• 1966 births
• Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art
• English male film actors
• English male stage actors
• English male television actors
• Living people
• People educated at Charterhouse School
• 20th-century English male actors
• 21st-century English male actors

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from January 2024