DEREK JACOBI

'Sir Derek George Jacobi', CBE () (born 22 October, 1938) is an English actor and director, knighted in 1994 for his services to the theatre. Like Laurence Olivier, he bears the distinction of holding two knighthoods, Danish and British. ^[1]

Contents

Biography

Early life

Early work

Career

Recent work

Personal life

Awards

Honours

Filmography

References

External links

Biography

Early life

Jacobi, an only child, was born in Leytonstone, London, England to Alfred George Jacobi, who ran a sweet shop and was a tobacconist in Chingford, and Daisy Gertrude, who worked in a drapery store in Leyton High Street. His great-grandfather immigrated to England from Germany during the 19th century.^[2] His family was working class.
^[3] Although a war baby, he claims a happy childhood. In his teens he went to the Leyton County High School and became an integral part of the drama club, The Players of Leyton.
At 18, he won a scholarship to the University of Cambridge, where he studied history, as Drama was not a recognised course of study. Other younger members of the university at the time included Ian McKellen (who had an "undeclared and unrequited" crush on him) and Trevor Nunn. During his stay at Cambridge, he played many parts including ''Hamlet'', which was taken on a tour to Switzerland where he met Richard Burton. As a result of his performance of ''Edward II'' at Cambridge, he was invited to become a member of the Birmingham Rep immediately upon his graduation in 1960.

Early work

Jacobi quickly came to the fore, and his talent was recognised by Laurence Olivier, who invited him back home to London to become one of the eight founding members of the new National Theatre, even though at the time he was relatively unknown. He played Laertes in the National Theatre's inaugural production of ''Hamlet'' opposite Peter O'Toole in 1963, and Olivier gave him the role of Cassio in his 1965 film of ''Othello'' and of Andrei in ''Three Sisters'' in 1970.
After eight years at the National Theatre, Jacobi left in 1971 to pursue different roles and mediums of expression. In 1972, he starred in the BBC serial ''Man of Straw'', directed by Herbert Wise. Most of his theatrical work in the 70's was with the touring classical Prospect Theatre Company, with which he undertook many roles, including ''Ivanov'', ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre'' and ''A Month in the Country''.
Although Jacobi's name was becoming known and he was increasingly busy with stage and screen acting, his big breakthrough did not come until 1976. It was the title role of the BBC's blockbuster series ''I, Claudius'' that finally cemented his popular reputation with his performance as the stammering, twitching Emperor Claudius winning him many plaudits. In 1977, thanks to his international popularity he brought ''Hamlet'' on a tour through England, Egypt, Sweden, Australia, Japan and China. He was then invited to play it at Kronborg Castle, better known as Elsinore Castle, the setting of the play itself. In 1978 he played in the BBC's production of Shakespeare's ''Richard II'', with Sir John Gielgud and Dame Wendy Hiller.

Career

In 1980 Jacobi took the leading role in the BBC's ''Hamlet'', made his Broadway debut in ''The Suicide'', and then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) from 1982 to 1985 where he played four demanding roles simultaneously: Benedick in Shakespeare's ''Much Ado about Nothing'', for which he won a Tony; Prospero in ''The Tempest''; ''Peer Gynt''; and ''Cyrano de Bergerac''. In 1986, he made his West End debut in ''Breaking the Code'' with the role of Alan Turing. The play was taken to Broadway. In 1988 Jacobi alternated in West End the title roles of Shakespeare's ''Richard II'' and ''Richard III'' in repertoire.
In 2001, he won an Emmy by mocking his Shakespearean background in the television sitcom ''Frasier'' episode "The Show Must Go Off", in which he played the world's ''worst'' Shakespearean actor: the hammy, loud, untalented Jackson Hedley. This was his first guest appearance on an American television program. His TV career saw him measure with ''Inside the Third Reich'' (1982), where he played Hitler; ''Mr Pye'' (1985); ''Little Dorrit'' (1987), from Charles Dickens's book; ''The Tenth Man'' (1988) with Anthony Hopkins and Kristin Scott Thomas.
Jacobi continued to play Shakespeare, notably in Kenneth Branagh's 1989 film of ''Henry V'' (as the Chorus) and as Branagh's director in the Renaissance Theatre Company's production of ''Hamlet''. The 1990s saw Jacobi keeping on with repertoire stage work in ''Kean'' at the Old Vic, ''Becket'' in the West End (the Haymarket Theatre) and ''Macbeth'' at the RSC in both London and Stratford.
He was appointed the joint artistic director of the Chichester 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 first ''Uncle Vanya'' in 1996 (he took a second run in 2000). Jacobi's work during the 90's included the 13 episodes series TV adaptation of the novels by Ellis Peters ''Cadfael'' (1994-1998) and a televised version of ''Breaking the Code'' (1996). Film appearances included performances in Kenneth Branagh's ''Dead Again'' (1991), Branagh's ''Hamlet'' (1996) as King Claudius, in John Maybury's '' (1998), a portrait of painter Francis Bacon, and as "The Duke" opposite Christopher Eccleston and Eddie Izzard in a post-apocalyptic version of Thomas Middleton's ''The Revenger's Tragedy'' (2002).

Recent work

Jacobi has done the narration for an audio book version of the ''Iliad'' by Homer and for ''The Voyage of the Dawn Treader'' by C.S. Lewis. In 2002, Jacobi toured Australia in ''The Hollow Crown'' with Sir Donald Sinden, Ian Richardson and Dame Diana Rigg. Jacobi also played the role of Senator Gracchus in ''Gladiator'' and starred in the 2002 miniseries ''The Jury''.
In 2003, he was involved with ''Scream of the Shalka'', a webcast based on the science fiction series ''Doctor Who''. He played the voice of the Master alongside Richard E. Grant as the Doctor. In the same year, he also appeared in ''Deadline'', an audio drama also based on ''Doctor Who''. In that, 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 on the Doctor Who BBC TV series itself, in the June 2007 episode "Utopia". Jacobi appears as the kindly Professor Yana, who by the end of the episode is revealed to actually be the Doctor's arch-nemesis, the Master.
In 2004, Jacobi starred in Friedrich Schiller's ''Don Carlos'' at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, in an acclaimed production, which transferred to the Gielgud Theatre in London in January 2005. The London production of ''Don Carlos'' gathered rave reviews. Also in 2004, he starred as Lord Teddy Thursby in the first of the four-part BBC series ''The Long Firm'', based on Jake Arnott's novel of the same name. In ''Nanny McPhee'' (2005), he played the role of the colourful Mr. Wheen, an undertaker. He played the role of Alexander Corvinus in the 2006 movie ''.
In March 2006, BBC Two broadcast ''Pinochet in Suburbia'', a docudrama about former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and the attempts to extradite him from Great Britain; Jacobi played the leading role. In September 2007, it was released in the U.S., entitled ''Pinochet's Last Stand''. In 2006, he appeared in the children's movie Mist, the tale of a sheepdog puppy, he also narrated this movie. In July-August 2006 he played the eponymous role in ''A Voyage Round My Father'' at the Donmar Warehouse, a production which then transferred to the West End.
In February 2007, his feature film ''The Riddle'', directed by Brendan Foley in which he stars alongside Vinnie Jones and Vanessa Redgrave was screened at Berlin EFM. Jacobi plays twin roles. First, as a present day London tramp and then the ghost of Charles Dickens. In March 2007, the BBC's children's programme ''In the Night Garden'' started its run of two hundred episodes, with Jacobi as the narrator.

Personal life

After 27 years together, he registered his civil partnership with long-term partner Richard Clifford in March 2006, four months after civil unions became legal in England and Wales.

Awards

'Theatre'

★ 1983: London Evening Standard Award for Best Actor, for ''Much Ado about Nothing''

★ 1984: Tony Award for Best Actor, for ''Much Ado about Nothing''
'Television'

★ 1977: BAFTA Award for Best Actor, for ''I, Claudius''

★ 1989: Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special, for ''The Tenth Man''

★ 2001: Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, for ''Frasier'' (episode "The Show Must Go Off")
'Film'

★ 1988: Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor, for ''Little Dorrit''

★ 1998: Edinburgh International Film Festival for Best British Performance, for ''

★ 1999: Evening Standard British Film Award for Best Actor, for ''Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon''
As part of an ensemble:

★ 2002: Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Acting Ensemble, for ''Gosford Park''

★ 2002: Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Ensemble Cast, for ''Gosford Park''

★ 2002: Online Film Critics Society Awards for Best Ensemble, for ''Gosford Park''

★ 2002: Satellite Award for Outstanding Motion Picture Ensemble, for ''Gosford Park''

★ 2002: Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by the Cast of a Theatrical Motion Picture, for ''Gosford Park''

Honours

★ 1994: Knight Bachelor: For services to Drama (New Year's Honours) [1]

Filmography

★ ''Othello'' (1965) Cassio

★ ''Interlude'' (1968)

★ ''Blue Blood'' (1973) Gregory

★ ''The Day of the Jackal'' (1973)

★ ''The Odessa File'' (1974)

★ ''I, Claudius'' TV (1976) Claudius

★ ''Philby, Burgess and MacLean'' - Spy Scandal of the Century TV (1977)

★ ''The Medusa Touch'' (1978) Townley

★ ''Richard II'' TV (1978) Richard II

★ ''The Human Factor'' (1979) Arthur Davis

★ ''Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'' TV (1980) Hamlet

★ ''Charlotte'' (1981) Daberlohn

★ ''The Secret of NIMH'' (1982) Nicodemus' voice

★ ''Inside the Third Reich'' TV (1982) Adolf Hitler

★ ''The Hunchback of Notre Dame'' TV (1982) Frollo

★ ''Enigma'' (1983) Kurt Limmer

★ ''Cyrano de Bergerac'' TV (1985) Cyrano de Bergerac

★ ''Mr Pye'' TV (1986) Mr. Pye

★ ''The Secret Garden'' TV (1987) Archibald Craven

★ ''The Tenth Man'' TV (1988) The impostor

★ ''Little Dorrit'' TV (1988) Arthur Clennam

★ ''Henry V'' (1989) Chorus

★ ''The Fool'' (1990) Mr. Frederick/Sir John

★ ''Dead Again'' (1991) Franklyn Madson

★ ''Cadfael'' TV (1994-1998) Brother Cadfael

★ ''Looking for Richard'' (1996) Himself

★ ''Hamlet'' (1996) Claudius

★ '' (1998) Francis Bacon

★ ''Molokai: The Story of Father Damien'' (1999) Father Leonor Fousnel

★ ''Edvard Grieg'' - What Price Immortality? (1999)

★ ''The Wyvern Mystery'' TV (2000) Squire Fairfield

★ ''Up At the Villa'' (2000) Lucky Leadbetter

★ ''Jason and the Argonauts'' TV (2000) Phineas

★ ''Gladiator'' (2000) Gracchus

★ ''The Body'' (2001) Father Lavelle

★ ''Gosford Park'' (2001) Probert

★ ''The Diaries of Vaslav Nijinsky'' (2001) voice of Nijinsky

★ ''Revelation'' (2001) Librarian

★ ''Revengers Tragedy'' (2002) The Duke

★ ''Two Men Went to War'' (2002) Major Merton

★ ''Strings'' (2004) Nezo

★ ''The Long Firm'' TV (2004) Lord Edward 'Teddy' Thursby

★ ''Marple: The Murder at the Vicarage'' TV (2004) Colonel Protheroe

★ ''Bye Bye Blackbird'' (2005) Lord Dempsey

★ ''Nanny McPhee'' (2005) Mr. Wheen

★ '' (2006) Alexander Corvinus

★ ''Doctor Who'' TV (2007) Professor Yana / The Master

★ '' (2007) Unknown.

★ ''The Riddle'' (2007) The Tramp / Charles Dickens

References

1. Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Shakespeare: Jacobi, Sir Derek
2. Crown him with many crowns - Daily Telegraph 15 July 2002
3. 'I already knew I was a tetchy beast' - Gurdian 19 September 2006

External links

★

★ Sir Derek Jocobi at ''A Dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company'' by Simon Trowbridge

★ 2006 Interview with Derek Jacobi on Theatre.com

★ BBC - Drama Faces - Derek Jacobi

★ Sir Derek Jacobi Linsdomain

★ Sir Derek Jacobi TMAW

★ Sparrow Sir Derek Jacobi Pages

★ Yahoo! Movies

★ Guardian interview