Scottish actor (born 1944)
Kenneth Cranham
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Born
| (
1944-12-12
)
12 December 1944
(age 79)
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Occupation
| Actor
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Years active
| 1963?present
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Spouse(s)
|
(
m.
1974;
div.
1978)
Fiona Victory
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Partner
| Charlotte Cornwell
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Children
| 2
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Kenneth Cranham
CBE
(born 12 December 1944) is a Scottish film, television, radio and stage actor. His most notable screen roles were in
Oliver!
(1968),
Up Pompeii
(1971),
Hellbound: Hellraiser II
(1988),
Chocolat
(1988),
Layer Cake
(2004),
Gangster No. 1
(2000),
Hot Fuzz
(2007),
Maleficent
(2014) and
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
(2017).
On television he appeared in
Budgie
(1972),
Boon
(1989),
Minder
(1993),
Merlin
(2008),
Rome
,
Death in Paradise
(2013),
War & Peace
(2016) and
The White Princess
(2017).
On stage he has twice been nominated for the
Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play
, winning it in 2016, for his performance in
The Father
.
Early life
[
edit
]
Cranham was born in
Dunfermline
,
Fife
, the son of
Lochgelly
-born Margaret McKay Cranham (nee Ferguson) and Ronald Cranham, a London-born
civil servant
.
[1]
[2]
Cranham trained at the
National Youth Theatre
[3]
and the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
, graduating in 1966 with a RADA Diploma.
[4]
Career
[
edit
]
Television and film
[
edit
]
He starred in the title role in the popular 1980s comedy drama
Shine on Harvey Moon
, prior to which he had appeared as Charlie Collins in
A Family at War
(1971).
[5]
He also appeared in
Oliver!
(1968),
[5]
Up Pompeii
(1971),
[5]
Brother Sun, Sister Moon
(1972),Danger UXB(1979)
Chocolat
(1988),
[5]
Gangster No. 1
(2000),
[5]
Layer Cake
(2004),
[5]
Hot Fuzz
(2007),
[5]
Maleficent
(2014)
[5]
and
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
(2017).
[5]
He was cast as the deranged
Philip Channard
and his
Cenobitic alter-ego
in the
Horror film
Hellbound: Hellraiser II
.
[5]
On television he has appeared in
Budgie
(1972),
[5]
Boon
(1989),
[5]
Minder
(1993),
[5]
Rome
(2007),
[5]
Merlin
(2008),
[5]
Death in Paradise
(2013),
[5]
War & Peace
(2016)
[5]
and
The White Princess
(2017).
[5]
Theatre
[
edit
]
Among many stage credits are
West End
productions of
Entertaining Mr Sloane
,
Loot
,
An Inspector Calls
(both transferring to
Broadway
),
The Ruffian on the Stair
,
The Birthday Party
and
Gaslight
(at the
Old Vic
). For his role as Inspector Goole in
An Inspector Calls
, he was nominated for a
Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play
.
[6]
It took another 23 years before winning the award when in 2016, Cranham won the
Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play
for his role as Andre in
Florian Zeller
's
The Father
.
[7]
Cranham's performance was described as "the performance of his life" by Michael Coveney of
WhatsOnStage.com
.
[8]
Radio
[
edit
]
For
BBC Radio 4
's
Afternoon Play
, Cranham has played DS Max Matthews in
The Interrogation
by
Roy Williams
(2012?present) and starred as Thomas Gradgrind in BBC Radio's 2007 adaptation of Dickens'
Hard Times
.
Personal life
[
edit
]
His first wife was actress
Diana Quick
. He has two daughters: Nancy Cranham from a relationship with actress
Charlotte Cornwell
, and Kathleen Cranham with his second wife, to whom he is still married, actress
Fiona Victory
.
[1]
Cranham was appointed
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
(CBE) in the
2023 Birthday Honours
for services to drama.
[9]
Filmography
[
edit
]
Film
[
edit
]
Television
[
edit
]
Radio
[
edit
]
He has also performed a number of readings for BBC Radio.
Awards and nominations
[
edit
]
Theatre
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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1976?1984
and 1988
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1985 onwards
(except 1988)
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International
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National
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Other
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