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Sir Antony Sher (14 June 1949 – 2 December 2021) was a British actor, writer and theatre director of South African origin. A two-timeLaurence Olivier Award winner and a five-time nominee, he joined theRoyal Shakespeare Company in 1982 and toured in many roles, as well as appearing on film and television. In 2001, he starred in his cousinRonald Harwood's playMahler's Conversion, and said that the story of a composer sacrificing his faith for his career echoed his own identity struggles.

During his 2017 "Commonwealth Tour",Prince Charles referred to Sher as his favourite actor.^[1] Sher and his partner and collaboratorGregory Doran became one of the first same-sex couples to enter into a civil partnership in the UK.

Sher was born on 14 June 1949 inCape Town, South Africa, the son of Margery (Abramowitz) and Emmanuel Sher, who worked in business.^[2][3] He was afirst cousin once removed of the playwrightSir Ronald Harwood.^[4][5]

He grew up in the suburb ofSea Point, where he attendedSea Point High School.^[6]

Sher moved to the United Kingdom in 1968^[2] and auditioned at theCentral School of Speech and Drama and theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), but was unsuccessful. He instead studied at theWebber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art from 1969 to 1971 and subsequently on the one-year postgraduate course run jointly byManchester University Drama Department and theManchester School of Theatre.^{[citation needed]}

Sher became a British citizen in 1979.^[2]

In the 1970s, Sher was part of a group of young actors and writers working at theLiverpool Everyman Theatre.^[7] Comprising figures such as writersAlan Bleasdale andWilly Russell and fellow actorsTrevor Eve,Bernard Hill,Jonathan Pryce, andJulie Walters, Sher summed up the work of the company with the phrase "anarchy ruled". He also performed with the theatre group Gay Sweatshop, before joining theRoyal Shakespeare Company (RSC) in 1982.

While a member of the RSC, Sher was cast in the title role inMolière'sTartuffe, and played theFool inKing Lear. His major break came in 1984, when he performed the title role inRichard III and won theLaurence Olivier Award. Also for the RSC, Sher performed the lead in such productions asTamburlaine,Cyrano de Bergerac,Stanley, andMacbeth, and in 2014 playedFalstaff inHenry IV Part 1 andHenry IV Part 2 inStratford-upon-Avon and on national tour. He played the eponymous 'King Lear' from 2016 to 2018. He also played Johnnie inAthol Fugard'sHello and Goodbye,Iago inOthello,Malvolio inTwelfth Night, andShylock inThe Merchant of Venice. Sher received his second Laurence Olivier Award in 1997 for his performance asStanley Spencer inStanley.

In 2001, Sher played the role of the composerGustav Mahler in Ronald Harwood's playMahler's Conversion, about Mahler's decision to renounce his Jewish faith prior to his appointment as conductor and artistic director of theVienna State Opera House in 1897. Speaking about the role toThe Guardian's Rupert Smith, Sher revealed:

When I came to England in 1968, at 19, I looked around me and I didn't see any Jewish leading men in the classical theatre, so I thought it best to conceal my Jewishness. Also, I quickly became conscious ofapartheid when I arrived here, and I didn't want to be known as a white South African. I was brought up in a very apolitical family. We were happy to enjoy the benefits of apartheid without questioning the system behind it. Reading about apartheid when I came to England was a terrible shock. So I lost the accent almost immediately, and if anyone asked me where I was from I would lie. If they asked where I went to school, I'd say Hampstead, which got me into all sorts of trouble because of course everyone else went to school in Hampstead and they wanted to know which one. Then there was my sexuality. The theatre was full of gay people, but none of them were out, and there was that ugly story aboutGielgud being arrested forcottaging, so I thought I'd better hide that as well. Each of these things went into the closet until my entire identity was in the closet. That's why this play appealed to me so much: it's about an artist changing his identity in order to get what he wants.^[4]

In 2015, he played Willy Loman inDeath of a Salesman.

He also had several film credits to his name, includingYanks (1979),Superman II (1980),Shadey (1985), andErik the Viking (1989). Sher starred as the Chief Weasel in the 1996film adaptation ofThe Wind in the Willows and asBenjamin Disraeli in the 1997 filmMrs Brown.

Sher's television appearances include themini-seriesThe History Man (1981) andThe Jury (2002). In 2003, he played the central character in an adaptation of theJ. G. Ballard short story "The Enormous Space", filmed asHome and broadcast onBBC Four. InHornblower (1999), he played the role of French royalist Colonel de Moncoutant, Marquis deMuzillac, in the episode "The Frogs and the Lobsters". Sher's more recent credits included a cameo in the British comedy filmThree and Out (2008) and the role of Akiba in the television playGod on Trial (2008).

Sher was cast in the role of Thráin II, father ofThorin Oakenshield inPeter Jackson'sThe Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, but appears only in the Extended Edition of the film.

In 2018, he played the title role inKing Lear and was the only person to play both the Fool and King Lear at the Royal Shakespeare Company. He returned to Stratford-upon-Avon in 2019 to perform inKunene and the King withJohn Kani.^[8]

Sher's books included the memoirsYear of the King (1985),Woza Shakespeare: Titus Andronicus in South Africa (withGregory Doran, 1997),Beside Myself (an autobiography, 2002),Primo Time (2005), andYear of the Fat Knight (2015), a book of paintings and drawings,Characters (1990), and the novelsMiddlepost (1989),Cheap Lives (1995),The Indoor Boy (1996). andThe Feast (1999). His 2018 bookYear of the Mad King won the 2019 Theatre Book Prize, awarded by the Society for Theatre Research.^[9]

Sher also wrote several plays, includingI.D. (2003) andPrimo (2004). The latter wasadapted as a film in 2005. In 2008,The Giant, the first of his plays in which Sher did not feature, was performed at theHampstead Theatre. The main characters areMichelangelo (at the time of his creation ofDavid),Leonardo da Vinci, and Vito, their mutual apprentice.

In 2005, Sher directedBreakfast With Mugabe at theSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon. The production moved to theSoho Theatre in April 2006 and theDuchess Theatre one month later. In 2007, he made a crime documentary forChannel 4, titledMurder Most Foul, about his native South Africa.^[10] It examines the double murder of actorBrett Goldin and fashion designer Richard Bloom. In 2011, Sher appeared in the BBC TV seriesThe Shadow Line in the role of Glickman.^[11]

In 2005, Sher and the directorGregory Doran, with whom he frequently collaborated professionally, entered into acivil partnership in the UK. They married on 30 December 2015, a little over ten years after the registration of their civil partnership.^[12]

On 10 September 2021, it was announced that Sher was terminally ill and Doran took compassionate leave from the RSC to care for him.^[13] Sher died from cancer at his home inStratford-upon-Avon on 2 December 2021, aged 72.^{[14][15][16][17]}

• 1972–74: Multiple roles at theEveryman Theatre, Liverpool.
• 1974:Ringo Starr inWilly Russell'sJohn, Paul, George, Ringo ... and Bert at theEveryman Theatre, where it opened in May 1974. Transferred to theLyric Theatre in August.
• 1975:Teeth 'n' Smiles byDavid Hare at theRoyal Court Theatre where it opened in September 1975, subsequently transferring toWyndham's Theatre in May 1976.
• 1979:American Days byStephen Poliakoff at theICA, London.
• 1982:Mike Leigh'sGoosepimples in theWest End.
• 1982: TheFool inKing Lear at theRoyal Shakespeare Theatre. Transferred to theBarbican Centre in 1983.
• 1984:Richard III with theRoyal Shakespeare Company. Transferred to the Barbican Centre in 1985.
• 1985:Torch Song Trilogy at theAlbery Theatre, West End.
• 1985:Red Noses at theBarbican Theatre, London.
• 1987:Shylock inThe Merchant of Venice with the RSC.
• 1987: Henry Irving inHappy Birthday, Sir Larry at theRoyal National Theatre, London (Laurence Olivier 80th birthday tribute).
• 1988: Vendice inThe Revenger's Tragedy with the RSC.
• 1990: Peter Flannery'sSinger with the RSC, Barbican Theatre.
• 1991: Kafka'sThe Trial and Brecht'sThe Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at the National Theatre.
• 1992: Tamburlaine inTamburlaine with the RSC at the Swan Theatre, Stratford.
• 1993: Henry Carr inTravesties at theBarbican Centre with the RSC, later at theSavoy Theatre, West End.
• 1994–95:Titus Andronicus at theMarket Theatre, Johannesburg. Transferred to the National Theatre and for a UK tour.
• 1997:Stanley at the National Theatre (repeated on Broadway at the Circle in the Square Theatre)
• 1997:Cyrano de Bergerac at theLyric Theatre, West End.
• 1998–99:The Winter's Tale at the Barbican Centre with the RSC
• 1999:Macbeth at theSwan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, with the RSC
• 2000–01:Macbeth andThe Winter's Tale with the RSC
• 2002: RSC's Jacobean season transfers to the West End.
• 2003:I.D. at theAlmeida Theatre, London
• 2004:Primo at theCottesloe Theatre, Royal National Theatre, London (repeated on Broadway at the Music Box Theatre, July–August 2005)
• 2007: Kean inKean at theYvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford. Transferred to theApollo Theatre, West End in May.
• 2008:Prospero inThe Tempest at theBaxter Theatre, Cape Town;Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon; and on tour in Richmond, Leeds, Bath, Nottingham and Sheffield
• 2010: Tomas Stockmann inAn Enemy of the People at theSheffield Crucible
• 2011: Phillip Gellburg in Arthur Miller'sBroken Glass at theVaudeville Theatre
• 2012: Jacob Bindel inTravelling Light at theRoyal National Theatre,Sigmund Freud inHysteria byTerry Johnson atTheatre Royal Bath, later revived atHampstead Theatre in 2013.
• 2013:Wilhelm Voigt inThe Captain of Köpenick at theOlivier Theatre, Royal National Theatre, London.
• 2014:Falstaff inHenry IV, Part 1 andHenry IV Part 2 with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
• 2015:Willy Loman inDeath of a Salesman byArthur Miller with theRoyal Shakespeare Company.
• 2016: The title role inKing Lear with the Royal Shakespeare Company (reprised in 2018).
• 2018: Nicolas inOne for the Road fromPinter One at theHarold Pinter Theatre with The Jamie Lloyd Company.
• 2019-20: Jack Morris inKunene and the King with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

0 win, 1 nomination

2 wins, 5 nominations

1 win and 1 nomination

1 win and 1 nomination

1 win and 1 nomination

1 win and 1 nomination

1 win and 1 nomination

0 win and 1 nomination

• 1998: HonoraryDoctor of Letters (Hon. Litt.D.) from theUniversity of Liverpool
• 2000: Knight Commander of theMost Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE) for services to theatre
• 2007: Honorary Doctor of Letters (Hon. Litt.D.) from theUniversity of Warwick
• 2010: Honorary Doctor of Letters (Hon. Litt.D.) from theUniversity of Cape Town

• Antony Sher at theInternet Broadway Database
• Antony Sher atIMDb
• Article inThe Spectator

• 1949 births
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