Derek Jacobi | |
|---|---|
 Jacobi in 2022 | |
| Born | (1938-10-22)22 October 1938 (age 87) Leytonstone, Essex, England |
| Alma mater | St John's College, Cambridge |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1959–present |
| Works | Full list |
| Partner | Richard Clifford (1979–present) |
| Awards | Full list |
recorded 2012, as part of anaudio description of the Old Vic Theatre forVocalEyes | |
Sir Derek George Jacobi (/ˈdʒækəbi/; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. Known forhis roles on stage and screen as well as for his work at theRoyal National Theatre, he has receivednumerous accolades including aTony Award, aBAFTA Award, twoLaurence Olivier Awards, twoPrimetime Emmy Awards, twoScreen Actors Guild Awards. He was given aknighthood for his services to theatre by QueenElizabeth II in 1994.[1]
Jacobi started his professional acting career withLaurence Olivier as one of the founding members of the National Theatre.[2] He has appeared in numerousShakespearean stage productions includingHamlet,Much Ado About Nothing,Macbeth,Twelfth Night,The Tempest,King Lear, andRomeo and Juliet.[2][3][4] Jacobi received theLaurence Olivier Award, for thetitle role inCyrano de Bergerac in 1983 and Malvolio inTwelfth Night in 2009. He also won theTony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as Benedick inMuch Ado About Nothing in 1985.
On television, he portrayedClaudius in theBBC seriesI, Claudius (1976), for which he won theBritish Academy Television Award for Best Actor. He received twoPrimetime Emmy Awards forOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie forThe Tenth Man (1988), andOutstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series forFrasier (2001). He also took roles inITV drama seriesCadfael (1994–1998), theHBO filmThe Gathering Storm (2002), the sitcomVicious (2013–2016), inBBC'sLast Tango in Halifax (2012–2020), and theNetflix seriesThe Crown in 2019.[5][6]
Jacobi has acted in numerous films includingOthello (1965),The Day of the Jackal (1973),Henry V (1989),Dead Again (1991),Hamlet (1996),Nanny McPhee (2005),The Riddle (2007),My Week with Marilyn (2011),Anonymous (2011),Cinderella (2015), andMurder on the Orient Express (2017). Jacobi portrayed Senator Gracchus inRidley Scott'sGladiator (2000) andGladiator II (2024). Jacobi has also earned twoScreen Actors Guild Awards along with theensemble cast forRobert Altman'sGosford Park (2001), andTom Hooper'sThe King's Speech (2010).
Derek George Jacobi was born on 22 October 1938 inLeytonstone, Essex, England (now part ofEast London), the only child of Daisy Gertrude (née Masters; 1910–1980), a secretary who worked in adrapery store in Leyton High Road, and Alfred George Jacobi (1910–1993), who ran a sweet shop[2] and was atobacconist inChingford.[7] His patrilineal great-grandfather had emigrated from Germany to England during the 19th century. He also has a distantHuguenot ancestor.[8][9] His family was working-class,[10] and Jacobi describes his childhood as happy. In his teens he went to Leyton County High School for Boys, now known as theLeyton Sixth Form College, and became an integral part of the drama club, The Players ofLeyton.
While in thesixth form, he starred in a production ofHamlet, which was taken to theEdinburgh Festival Fringe and very well regarded.[2][3] At 18 he won a scholarship to theUniversity of Cambridge, where he studied history atSt John's College and earned his degree. University contemporaries includedIan McKellen[2] (who had a crush on him—"a passion that was undeclared and unrequited", as McKellen relates it)[11] andTrevor Nunn. During his studies at Cambridge, Jacobi played many parts includingHamlet, which was taken on a tour to Switzerland, where he metRichard Burton. As a result of his performance ofEdward II at Cambridge, Jacobi was invited to become a member of theBirmingham Repertory Theatre immediately upon his graduation in 1960.
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Jacobi's talent was recognised byLaurence Olivier, who invited the young actor back to London to become one of the founding members of the newNational Theatre, even though at the time Jacobi was relatively unknown.[2] He playedLaertes in theNational Theatre's inaugural production ofHamlet oppositePeter O'Toole in 1963.[2] Olivier cast him asCassio in the successful National Theatre stage production ofOthello, a role that Jacobi repeated in the1965 film version. He played Andrei in the NT production and film ofThree Sisters (1970), both featuring Olivier. On 27 July 1965, Jacobi played Brindsley Miller in the first production ofPeter Shaffer'sBlack Comedy. It was presented by the National Theatre at Chichester and subsequently in London.
After eight years at the National Theatre, Jacobi left in 1971 to pursue different roles. In 1972, he starred in theBBC serialMan of Straw, an adaptation ofHeinrich Mann's bookDer Untertan, directed byHerbert Wise. Jacobi appeared in a somewhat tragicomic role, as Lord Fawn, in eight episodes of the 26-episode mini-seriesThe Pallisers forBBC Two in 1974. Most of his theatrical work in the 1970s was with the touring classicalProspect Theatre Company, with which he undertook many roles, includingIvanov,Pericles, Prince of Tyre andA Month in the Country oppositeDorothy Tutin (1976).
Jacobi was increasingly busy with stage and screen acting, but his big breakthrough came in 1976 when he played the title role in the BBC's seriesI, Claudius. He cemented his reputation with his performance as the stammering, twitchingEmperor Claudius, winning much praise.[2] In 1979, thanks to his international popularity, he tookHamlet on a theatrical world tour through England,Egypt, Greece, Sweden, Australia, Japan and China, playingPrince Hamlet. He was invited to perform the role atKronborg Castle, Denmark, known as Elsinore Castle, the setting of the play. In 1978, he appeared in theBBC Television Shakespeare production ofRichard II, with SirJohn Gielgud and DameWendy Hiller.
In 1980, Jacobi took the leading role in the BBC'sHamlet, made his Broadway debut inThe Suicide (a run shortened by Jacobi's return home to England due to the death of his mother), and joined theRoyal Shakespeare Company (RSC). From 1982 to 1985, he played four demanding roles simultaneously: Benedick in Shakespeare'sMuch Ado About Nothing, for which he won a Tony for its Broadway run (1984–1985); Prospero inThe Tempest;Peer Gynt; andCyrano de Bergerac which he brought to the US and played in repertory withMuch Ado About Nothing on Broadway and in Washington DC (1984–1985). In 1986, he made his West End debut inBreaking the Code byHugh Whitemore, starring in the role ofAlan Turing, which was written with Jacobi specifically in mind. The play was taken to Broadway. In 1988, Jacobi alternated in West End the title roles of Shakespeare'sRichard II andRichard III in repertoire.
He appeared in the television dramasInside the Third Reich (1982), where he playedHitler;Mr Pye (1985);Little Dorrit (1987), based onCharles Dickens's novel; andThe Tenth Man (1988) withAnthony Hopkins andKristin Scott Thomas. In 1982, he voiced Nicodemus in the animated filmThe Secret of NIMH. In 1990, he starred asDaedalus in episode 4 ofJim Henson's The Storyteller: Greek Myths. Jacobi continued to play Shakespeare roles, notably inKenneth Branagh's 1989 film ofHenry V (asthe Chorus), and made his directing debut as Branagh's director for the 1988Renaissance Theatre Company's touring production ofHamlet, which also played atElsinore and as part of a Renaissance repertory season at thePhoenix Theatre in London. The 1990s saw Jacobi keeping on with repertoire stage work inKean atThe Old Vic,Becket in the West End (theHaymarket Theatre) andMacbeth at the RSC in both London andStratford. In 1993 Jacobi voiced Mr Jeremy Fisher inThe World of Peter Rabbit and Friends.
He was appointed the jointartistic director of theChichester Festival Theatre, with the West End impresario Duncan Weldon in 1995 for a three-year tenure. As an actor at Chichester he also starred in four plays, including his firstUncle Vanya in 1996 (he played it again in 2000, bringing theChekhov play to Broadway for a limited run). Jacobi's work during the 1990s included the 13-episode series TV adaptation of the novels byEllis Peters,Cadfael (1994–1998) and a televised version ofBreaking the Code (1996). Film appearances of the era included performances inKenneth Branagh'sDead Again (1991), Branagh's full-text rendition ofHamlet (1996) asKing Claudius,John Maybury'sLove is the Devil (1998), a portrait of painterFrancis Bacon, as Senator Gracchus inGladiator (2000) withRussell Crowe, and as "The Duke" oppositeChristopher Eccleston andEddie Izzard in a post-apocalyptic version ofThomas Middleton'sThe Revenger's Tragedy (2002).
Jacobi has narrated audio book versions of theIliad,The Voyage of the Dawn Treader byC. S. Lewis,Farmer Giles of Ham byJ. R. R. Tolkien, and two abridged versions ofI, Claudius byRobert Graves. In 2001, he provided the voice of "Duke Theseus" inThe Children's Midsummer Night's Dream film. At the53rd Primetime Emmy Awards, Jacobi won anPrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series[12] by mocking his Shakespearean background in the television sitcomFrasier episode "The Show Must Go Off", in which he played the hammy, loud, untalented Jackson Hedley, a television star with a misguided belief that he deserves a revival of his stage career. In 2002, Jacobi toured Australia inThe Hollow Crown with SirDonald Sinden,Ian Richardson and DameDiana Rigg. Jacobi also played the role of Senator Gracchus inGladiator and starred in the 2002 miniseriesThe Jury. He is also the narrator for the BBC children's seriesIn the Night Garden....
In 2003, Jacobi was involved withScream of the Shalka, awebcast based on the science fiction seriesDoctor Who. He played the voice of the Doctor's nemesisthe Master alongsideRichard E. Grant asthe Doctor. In the same year, he also appeared inDeadline, an audio drama also based onDoctor Who. Therein he played Martin Bannister, an ageing writer who makes up stories about "the Doctor", a character who travels in time and space, the premise being that the series had never made it on to television. Jacobi later followed this up with an appearance in theDoctor Who episode "Utopia" (June 2007); he appears as the kindly Professor Yana, who by the end of the episode is revealed to bethe Master. Jacobi admitted toDoctor Who Confidential he had always wanted to be on the show: "One of my ambitions since the '60s has been to take part in aDoctor Who. The other one isCoronation Street. So I've crackedDoctor Who now. I'm still waiting forCorrie."[13]
In 2004, Jacobi starred inFriedrich Schiller'sDon Carlos at theCrucible Theatre inSheffield, in an acclaimed production, which transferred to theGielgud Theatre in London in January 2005. The London production ofDon Carlos gathered rave reviews. Also in 2004, he starred as Lord Teddy Thursby in the first of the four-part BBC seriesThe Long Firm, based onJake Arnott's novel of the same name. InNanny McPhee (2005), he played the role of the colourful Mr. Wheen, an undertaker. He played the role ofAlexander Corvinus in the 2006 action-horror filmUnderworld: Evolution.
In March 2006,BBC Two broadcastPinochet in Suburbia, adocudrama about former Chilean dictatorAugusto Pinochet and the attempts toextradite him from Great Britain; Jacobi played the leading role. In September 2007, it was released in the US, retitledPinochet's Last Stand. In 2006, he appeared in the children's movieMist, the tale of a sheepdog puppy, he also narrated this movie. In July–August 2006, he played the eponymous role inA Voyage Round My Father at theDonmar Warehouse, a production which then transferred to the West End.
In February 2007,The Riddle, directed byBrendan Foley and starring Jacobi,Vinnie Jones, andVanessa Redgrave, was screened at Berlin EFM. Jacobi plays twin roles: first a present-day London tramp and then the ghost ofCharles Dickens. In March 2007, the BBC's children's programmeIn the Night Garden... started its run of one hundred episodes, with Jacobi as the narrator. He played Nell's grandfather in ITV's Christmas 2007 adaptation ofThe Old Curiosity Shop, and returned to the stage to play Malvolio in Shakespeare'sTwelfth Night (2009) for the Donmar Warehouse atWyndham's Theatre in London.[14] The role won him theLaurence Olivier Award for Best Actor.[15] He appears in five 2009 films:Morris: A Life with Bells On,Hippie Hippie Shake,Endgame,Adam Resurrected andCharles Dickens's England. In 2010, he returned toI, Claudius, as Augustus in aradio adaptation. In 2011, he was part of a medieval epic,Ironclad, which also starred James Purefoy and Paul Giamatti, as the ineffectual Reginald de Cornhill, castellan of Rochester castle.
Jacobi starred inMichael Grandage's production ofKing Lear (London, 2010), giving whatThe New Yorker called "one of the finest performances of his distinguished career".[16][2] In May 2011, he reprised this role at theBrooklyn Academy of Music.[17]
In 2012, he appeared inTitanic: Blood and Steel and in November 2012, he starred in the BBC seriesLast Tango in Halifax. In 2013, he starred in the second series ofLast Tango, and in 2014, the third series. In 2013, Jacobi starred alongsideIan McKellen in theITV sitcomVicious as Stuart Bixby, the partner to Freddie Thornhill, played by McKellen. On 23 August 2013, the show was renewed for a six-episode second series which began airing in June 2015.[18] The show ended in December 2016, with a Christmas special.
Since 2017, Jacobi has again portrayed The Master in several box set series forBig Finish Productions, collectively entitledThe War Master. In 2018, he played the Bishop of Digne in the BBC miniseriesLes Misérables.[19] In 2018, Jacobi received the World United Creator – Platinum Demiurge Award for his tremendous contribution to uniting and promoting world literature based on his efforts to introduce William Shakespeare into modern cinema. In 2019, he reprised the role of the emperor Claudius inHorrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans.[20] In 2022, Jacobi appeared inAllelujah, afilm adaptation ofAlan Bennett'splay of the same name directed byRichard Eyre, which also starredJennifer Saunders,Bally Gill,Russell Tovey,David Bradley, andJudi Dench.[2]
Jacobi is an agnostic.[5]
In March 2006, four months aftercivil partnerships were introduced in the United Kingdom, Jacobi registered his partnership with Richard Clifford,[21] a theatre director, with whom he has been in a relationship since the late 1970s.[22][2] They live inWest Hampstead, northwest London.[23]
Along with hisVicious co-starIan McKellen, he was a Grand Marshal of the 46thNew York City Gay Pride March in 2015.[24][2]
Jacobi has been publicly involved in theShakespeare authorship question. He supports theOxfordian theory of Shakespeare authorship, according to whichEdward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford wrote the works of Shakespeare.[25][26] Jacobi has given an address to the Shakespeare Authorship Research Centre promoting de Vere as the Shakespeare author[27] and wrote forewords to two books on the subject in 2004 and 2005.[28][29]
In 2007, Jacobi and fellow Shakespearean actor and directorMark Rylance initiated a "Declaration of Reasonable Doubt" on the authorship of Shakespeare's work, to encourage new research into the question. In 2011, Jacobi accepted a role in the filmAnonymous, about the Oxfordian theory, starringRhys Ifans andVanessa Redgrave. In the film Jacobi narrates the Prologue and Epilogue, set in modern-day New York, while the film proper is set in Elizabethan England. Jacobi said that making the film was "a very risky thing to do", stating "the orthodox Stratfordians are going to be apoplectic with rage".[26]
Jacobi has received various awards including twoOlivier Awards, aTony, aBAFTA, twoPrimetime Emmy Awards and twoScreen Actors Guild Awards.
