Timothy Spall | |
|---|---|
 Spall at the world premiere ofThe Party in Berlin, 2017 | |
| Born | Timothy Leonard Spall (1957-02-27)27 February 1957 (age 68) London, England |
| Education | Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (BA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3, includingRafe Spall |
Timothy Leonard Spall (/ˈspɔːl/SPAWL; born 27 February 1957)[1] is an English actor. He gained recognition for hischaracter actor roles on stage and screen. In 2000, he was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) byQueen Elizabeth II.[2]
Spall is known for his collaborations with directorMike Leigh, acting in six of his films:Home Sweet Home (1982),Life is Sweet (1990),Secrets & Lies (1996),Topsy-Turvy (1999),All or Nothing (2002), andMr. Turner (2014). He received nominations for theBAFTA Award for his roles inSecrets and Lies andTopsy-Turvy as well as received theCannes Film Festival Best Actor Award for his portrayal ofJ. M. W. Turner inMr. Turner.[3]
Spall has acted in films such asHamlet (1996),Still Crazy (1998),Nicholas Nickleby (2002),The Last Samurai (2003),Enchanted (2007),Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007),The Damned United (2009),The King's Speech (2010),Ginger and Rosa (2012),Denial (2016),The Party (2017), andSpencer (2021). He voiced Nick the rat inChicken Run (2000), and portrayedPeter Pettigrew (Wormtail) infiveHarry Potter films, fromPrisoner of Azkaban (2004) toDeathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010).
On television, Spall played Barry Spencer Taylor in theITV comedy drama seriesAuf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983–2004) and Lord Arthur Wallington in theBBCCold War dramaSummer of Rockets (2019). He won the 2024International Emmy Awards andBAFTA TV Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for his performance asPeter Farquhar inThe Sixth Commandment.[4] He currently plays the leading role in BBC murder mystery seriesDeath Valley.
From 2010 to 2012 the BBC broadcast three documentary seriesTimothy Spall: ...at Sea about Spall's voyage around Britain in his barge.
Spall, the third of four sons,[5] was born on 27 February 1957 inBattersea, London. His mother, Sylvia R. (née Leonard), was a hairdresser, and his father, Joseph L. Spall, was apostal worker.[6][7][8][9] Spall attended Battersea County Comprehensive School.[10] At that time, he was planning on going to art school or joining the army.[5] Spall's ambitions turned towards acting when he was 16, after appearing in a school play as the lion in theWizard of Oz: "I was up there on stage being funny, and people laughed. I wanted to do it again and again."[7] He trained at theNational Youth Theatre,[10] and atRADA, graduating in 1978,[11] after being awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal as the most promising actor in his year.[12]
Spall initially made his mark in theatre performing in productions forBirmingham Rep, including the UK premier ofArnold Wesker'sThe Merchant, and, later, theRoyal Shakespeare Company, includingThe Merry Wives of Windsor,Three Sisters,Nicholas Nickleby andThe Knight of the Burning Pestle. AtThe National Theatre Spall played the Dauphin inGeorge Bernard Shaw'sSt Joan.
Following a film debut inQuadrophenia and wider TV exposure playing, as Wayne says, "the gormless radish" [awkward] Barry Taylor in all four series ofAuf Wiedersehen, Pet, Kevin inOutside Edge and Aubrey the appalling chef inMike Leigh'sLife is Sweet, Spall has since appeared in the filmsCrusoe,Secrets & Lies,Shooting the Past,Topsy-Turvy,Vanilla Sky,Rock Star,All or Nothing,The Last Samurai,Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events andThe King's Speech. He performed asPeter Pettigrew ("Wormtail") in theHarry Potter film series. In 1991 he guest starred in the series 5Red Dwarf episode"Back to Reality". In 1993, Spall was a guest in the Scottishcomedy seriesRab C. Nesbitt. He played Inspector Truscott in a 1997Radio 3 broadcast ofLoot byOrton, repeated in 2017.[13]
He was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2000 New Year Honours.[14]
Spall performed lead vocals on the song "The Devil is an Englishman"[15] from theKen Russell filmGothic (1986), in which Spall portrayedJohn William Polidori. Spall played the starring role ofAlbert Pierrepoint in the 2005 filmPierrepoint, which was released asThe Last Hangman in the United States. In the 2006 video gameGrand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Spall voicedPhil Collins' manager, Barry Mickelthwaite. In 2007, he starred as Nathaniel in Disney'sEnchanted and Beadle Bamford inTim Burton's production ofSweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He also starred as Georgie Godwin in a one-off television dramaThe Fattest Man in Britain on ITV1 which aired on 20 December 2009. The drama also featuredBobby Ball,Frances Barber,Aisling Loftus andJeremy Kyle.
In 2010, he portrayedWinston Churchill in the filmThe King's Speech,[16] for which, as a member of the ensemble, he was jointly awarded theScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.[17] Spall reprised the role at the2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.[18]
In 2012, Spall filmedWasteland (known asThe Rise in Britain), with actorsMatthew Lewis and Vanessa Kirby. The Newport Beach Film Festival inNewport Beach, California, screenedWasteland in April 2013.[19] Also in 2012 Spall played Charlie Morgan in the edgy filmComes a Bright Day.
In 2013 and 2014, Spall starred in the BBC television series "Blandings", a comedy series adapted by Guy Andrews from the Blandings Castle stories of P. G. Wodehouse. It was first broadcast 13 January 2013.
In 2014, he won theBest Actor Award at the2014 Cannes Film Festival forMr. Turner, a biographical film onJ. M. W. Turner directed byMike Leigh. Spall has mentioned that this role is his personal favourite as it inspired him to take on painting.[20] In 2016, Spall portrayedHolocaust denierDavid Irving in the filmDenial, directed byMick Jackson.[21]
From 29 March to 14 May 2016, Spall played the title role of Davies inHarold Pinter's playThe Caretaker, directed byMatthew Warchus atthe Old Vic theatre in London oppositeGeorge MacKay andDaniel Mays.[22]
In 2018 he played Terry Perkins, one of the robbers, in the ITVminiseriesHatton Garden.
Spall went on to play Major Alistair Gregory in the acclaimed dramatic filmSpencer(2021). He shared several psychologically charged scenes with Kristen Stewart who portrayed Princess Diana.
Spall received the 2024BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role,[4] for his performance asPeter Farquhar in the BBC's true life drama seriesThe Sixth Commandment, which aired in 2023.[23]
Also in 2024, Spall played the Duke of Norfolk in the BBC dramatisation of the Hilary Mantel novelWolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light, taking over the role played in the first series by the late Bernard Hill.
To mark to 80th anniversary of the end of World War 2 in Europe, in May 2025, Spall performed a public reading in London of the speech Winston Churchill had delivered when Germany surrendered.
Spall and his wife Shane have three children includingRafe, who is also an actor. He lives inForest Hill,[24] South East London.[25][26]
Having been a portly man for much of his career, Spall resolved to slim down for his role in 2015'sThe Enfield Haunting and, through his efforts, shed a notable amount of weight.[27][28]
In 1996, Spall was diagnosed withacute myeloid leukaemia, but has since been in remission.[29] He has said of his illness:
I didn't know what made me ill but stress had something to do with it and the point is now to head off stress at the pass. It made me aware of things and become more selective. I am less worried about employment. I really do my homework so I am not getting stressed on the set because I don't know what I'm doing.[30]
He is the owner of aDutch barge, in which he and his wife sailed around theBritish Isles; their voyage formed aBBC Four TV seriesTimothy Spall: ...at Sea.[31]
