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Sir Timothy Ackroyd, Bt | |
|---|---|
| Born | Timothy Ackroyd (1958-10-07)7 October 1958 (age 67) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1976–present |
Sir Timothy John Robert Whyte Ackroyd, 3rd Baronet (born 7 October 1958), known asTimothy Ackroyd, is anEnglishactor.
Ackroyd was born on 7 October 1958 to Sir John Robert Whyte Ackroyd, 2nd Baronet, and Jennifer Eileen McLeod Bishop.
Ackroyd's career began in 1976 when he was nominated as Most Promising Newcomer in the West End Theatre Awards for his performance asClytemnestra inAeschylus'sAgamemnon. His London début was inBryan Forbes' controversial and hugely successfulMacbeth at TheOld Vic; his West End debut was starring oppositePeter O'Toole andJoyce Carey as Ricki-Ticki-Tavy inGeorge Bernard Shaw'sMan and Superman. Other appearances in the West End include closing down the long-running farceNo Sex Please, We're British,Pygmalion withJohn Thaw,The Rivals playing Sir Anthony Absolute andJeffrey Bernard Is Unwell appearing beside Peter O'Toole andTom Conti.
He has also served as aNational Theatre player and appeared in weekly repertory atSouthwold,Chichester,Harrogate,Farnham,Newbury,Glasgow andLeatherhead. After writing and playingWilliam Hogarth inThe Compassionate Satirist in collaboration withBrian Sewell andPeter O'Toole, he decided to take a break from the stage in 2007.
I don't know what acting is and anything I've done in the way of work well achieved is entirely owing to the writers
— Sir Timothy Ackroyd, in
Sir Timothy was generally considered one of the more enigmatic actors of his generation and refused to be interviewed.Peter O'Toole called him "The last of the roaring boys, nothing will hold him at his best, and nothing will wish to hold him at his worst. A throwback certainly, maverick, I could use all the senses used for me, yet at moments here we have genius. A man who lives at times in the darkest recesses of the human condition."
Ackroyd is known to have a deep loathing of the cult of celebrity, chat-shows, contemporary comedy and politicians;
Having grown up with my father John and Peter O'Toole, my mother Jennifer, then to have the luck and fortune to form friendships with Beryl Bainbridge, Patrick Leigh Fermor, Patrick Moore and P.D. James, it is possible to see through the ghastly anaemic form known as celebrity. I occasionally look and wonder if any of these 'celebrities' take a look at themselves and wonder what world they inhabit; it's as fascinating as it is deeply depressing.
— Sir Timothy Ackroyd, in In Conversation with Sir Timothy Ackroyd, August, 2017
In 2003 he represented The British Forces at a service of reconciliation between the Zulu and The British, at the one hundred and twenty fifth anniversary of theAnglo-Zulu War. Ackroyd made a deep and lasting friendship with Prince Shange who spoke on behalf of The Zulu Nation.
He has directed three plays in London;Iphigenia at Aulis byEuripides andRed Lanterns by Alecos Galanos, both adapted and produced by Costas Charalambos Costa as well asCocteau'sLes Parents terribles directed by Sir Timothy himself and designed byTracey Emin.
He established the African wildlife charityTusk Trust in 1989. Tusk is now recognized as one of the leading conservation Trusts in theUK andAmerica, withPrince William as its royal patron. In 2004,Ackroyd's Ark, a book of animal drawings by friends and personalities from all walks of life was published and launched atChristie's and has to this date made £85,000 for Tusk.
Other charities supported are as the Chairman of theAckroyd Trust which helps drama students entering their final year of training and the establishing ofThe John Ackroyd Scholarship at theRoyal College of Music.
In 2012 he became a Trustee of TheMane Chance Sanctuary.
Ackroyd has performed his one-man showA Step Out of Time, produced by Dave Allen, to both public and private audiences internationally. A fierce advocate of the spoken word, he gives readings ofSaki,Dickens andM. R. James. He starred withJohn Challis in a live Radio Theatre broadcast ofDracula for Ragamuffin Productions at The National Liberal Club in November 2013.
In November 2008 Ackroyd performed in Charles Dickens's Ghost storyThe Signalman with Rodney Bewes.
In 2009 a volume of his poetry entitledTripe was published. He also narrated Gogol's "Diary of a madman" to the Gogol suite by Schnitke, conducted by Vladimir Jurowski. He played the role of Jolly in the BBC3 production of "Beau Geste" by P.C. Wren.
In 2015 he played Brian Donald Hume in "The Fuse" written by Ackroyd andDame Beryl Bainbridge, which included a film directed by Edward Andrews andNic Roeg. He also completed recordings of short stories by Saki andStacy Aumonier.
More recently Ackroyd recited The Middleham Requiem on the reinterment of the remains ofKing Richard III and followed this with a recital of all the major speeches fromHenry V at St John's Smith Square with The Soloman Orchestra.Sir Michael Gambon described the performance as "breathtaking". In 2016 he recorded for his friendAlexander McCall Smith "My Italian Bulldozer". McCall Smith says of Ackroyd "Listening to an audio book recorded by Tim is always an utter pleasure. My publishers have entrusted several of my books to him and the results have been wonderful. Here is a voice that is rich, fun and immensely expressive".
| Baronetage of the United Kingdom | ||
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| Preceded by John Robert Whyte Ackroyd | Baronet (of Dewsbury) 1995–present | Incumbent |
| International | |
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| National | |
