Christien Alexis Anholt (born 25 February 1971) is an English stage, television and filmactor best known for portraying Nigel Bailey^[1] in thetelevision seriesRelic Hunter.^[2][3]

Anholt was born inLondon. He is the son ofAnthony Anholt (19 January 1941 – 26 July 2002) and Sheila Anholt (née Willet), a teacher whom he married in 1964.^[4][5]

He was working as an assistant in the gardening department at his localB&Q store inChiswick when he received the news that he had landed the role that began his acting career in 1988 inReunion. He was then cast as 'Leonard / Jeremy Lands' in theHarold Pinter playAnother Time. He went on to play 'Marcelus' alongsideMel Gibson in theFranco Zeffirelli filmHamlet (1990).^[6] He starred oppositeKate Beckinsale,Sam Neill andJudy Davis in the Hallmark productionOne Against the Wind, and alongsideStephen Dorff inThe Power of One, directed by John G. Avilsden.^[7]

His earlier notable film roles include Peter Emery inStuart Urban'sPreaching to the Perverted (1997).^[8][9] In 2021, Anholt playedT. S. Eliot in William Nunez'sThe Laureate depicting the life of British poet and writerRobert Graves.^[10]

Steven Spielberg selected Anholt to playClive Owen's brother in the TV series pilotClass Of '61. He appeared in theBBC'sMoney For Nothing. He has been featured inSeventeen oppositeRachel Weisz, inHard Times oppositeRichard E. Grant and SirAlan Bates, and inThe Harpist. This was followed byPreaching to the Perverted,The Ruby Ring, and in George Milton'sAppetite. Anholt returned to theWest End inTerence Rattigan'sIn Praise of Love and was cast by Harold Pinter and directorDavid Jones opposite Pinter himself, inThe Hothouse.^[7]

In 1999 Anholt was cast as Nigel Bailey inRelic Hunter which ran for three seasons. After that Anholt guest starred in two episodes ofAdventure Inc, alongsideMichael Biehn, and had a cameo inThe Conclave. He appeared oppositeJames Franco andJean Reno in the World War One dramaFlyboys, and can be seen alongsideThora Birch inDark Corners.^[7] In 2007 Anholt appeared in the movie,Ben 10 Race Against Time, in which he played an alien called 'Eon'. In more recent years he appeared in several short movies such asSevered Garden,Ghosted andMeanders.

In 2014 Anholt returned to the stage and since then he has appeared in numerous plays such asBlue Bird,Wastwater,Dog Ends,Montagu,The Two Faces of Agent Lacey,The Trial of Jane Fonda, andPermanence. He also appeared on the small screen inDoctors andHolby City. He also does voice-over work such as inThe Rise and Fall of Hitler.

During theCOVID-19 pandemic 2020 UK lockdowns, Anholt took part in Lisa Ross' "Bedtime in Barnes" initiative by theOSO Arts Centre joining local celebrities includingAlistair McGowan,Virginia McKenna,Anneka Rice andastronautHelen Sharman.^[11] He was filmed reading four of his favouritechildren's stories (Pa's Soft Spot by D. A. Ellsworth;One, Two, Three! byHenry Cuyler Bunner;The Owl and the Pussycat byEdward Lear andJabberwocky byLewis Carroll)^[12] to help support the centre's Crisis Kitchen helping provide 10,000 meals for local people in need and the national initiative launched byTheatres Trust to prevent the permanent closure of hundreds of UK theatres.^[13][14]

In 2017, Anholt was chosen forDubai Properties JBR's advertising campaign shot inDubai andAbu Dhabi with billboards seen internationally on tourism sites such as on theSheikh Zayed Road as well as commercials playing worldwide. The original YouTube upload of the commercial has almost 5 million views as of August 2021.^[15][16]

Anholt lives in London.

• Christien Anholt atIMDb
• Christien Anholt onTwitter
• Christien Anholt atRotten Tomatoes

• 1971 births
• Living people
• Male actors from London
• English male film actors
• English male television actors
• English expatriate male actors in the United States
• English people of German descent

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
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