artist profile

Simon Russell Beale

THEATRE

Simon Russell Beale’s theatre career began at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh where he appeared in several plays before going to the Lyceum to play ‘Osric’ in HAMLET. He came to London to play ‘The Ward’ in William Gaskill’s production of WOMEN BEWARE WOMEN at the Royal Court.

Work with the RSC

	THE TEMPEST	Ariel	Sam Mendes	Royal Shakespeare Company
	KING LEAR	Edgar	Adrian Noble	Royal Shakespeare Company
	GHOSTS	Oswald	Katie Mitchell	Royal Shakespeare Company
	RICHARD III	Richard III	Sam Mendes	Royal Shakespeare Company
	THE SEAGULL	Konstantin	Terry Hands	Royal Shakespeare Company
	EDWARD II	Edward II	Gerard Murphy	Royal Shakespeare Company
	TROILUS & CRESSIDA	Thersites	Sam Mendes	Royal Shakespeare Company
	THE MAN OF MODE	Sir Foppling Flutter	Gary Hines	Royal Shakespeare Company
	RESTORATION	Lord Are	Roger Michell	Royal Shakespeare Company

Work with the National Theatre includes

2010	LONDON ASSURANCE	Sir Harcourt Courtly	Nicholas Hytner	Olivier Theatre
2008	A SLIGHT ACHE	Edward	Iqbal Khan	Lyttelton Theatre
2008	MAJOR BARBARA	Undershaft	Nicholas Hytner	Olivier Theatre
2007/08	MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING	Benedick	Nicholas Hytner	Olivier Theatre
2006	THE ALCHEMIST	Face	Nicholas Hytner	Olivier Theatre
2006	THE LIFE OF GALILEO	Galileo	Howard Davies	Olivier Theatre
2003	JUMPERS	George	David Leveaux	Lyttelton Theatre
2001	HUMBLE BOY	Felix Humble	John Caird	Cottesloe Theatre	For HUMBLE BOY he was nominated for the 2002 Olivier Award for Best Actor
2000/1	HAMLET	Hamlet	John Caird	Lyttelton Theatre	For HAMLET he won the 2000 Evening Standard Award for Best Actor and the inaugural John & Wendy Trewin Award from the Critics’ Circle for Best Shakespearean Performance. He was nominated for the 2001 Olivier Award for Best Actor. He also won the Boston Critics Association Elliot Norton Award for Outstanding Actor in a Large Company.
1999/00	BATTLE ROYAL	George IV	Howard Davies	Lyttelton Theatre
1999/00	CANDIDE	Voltaire/Pangloss	John Caird with Trevor Nunn	Olivier Theatre	For CANDIDE he won the 2000 Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical
1999/00	SUMMERFOLK	Dudakov	Trevor Nunn	Olivier Theatre
1999	MONEY	Alfred Evelyn	John Caird	Olivier Theatre
1997/8	OTHELLO	Iago	Sam Mendes	Cottesloe Theatre	For OTHELLO he was nominated for the 1997 Olivier Award for Best Actor
1996/7	ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD	Guildenstern	Matthew Francis	Lyttelton Theatre
1996	VOLPONE	Mosca	Matthew Warchus	Olivier Theatre	For VOLPONE he won the 1996 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actor

Other THEATRE includes

2010	DEATH TRAP	Sydney	Matthew Warchus	Noel Coward Theatre
2009	THE WINTER’S TALE	Leontes	Sam Mendes	Brooklyn Academy/World Tour/Old Vic	For this Simon has been nominated for the Evening Standard 2009 Best Actor Award
2009	THE CHERRY ORCHARD	Lopahkin	Sam Mendes	Brooklyn Academy/World Tour/Old Vic
2005/06	MONTY PYTHON’S SPAMALOT	King Arthur	Mike Nicholls	Schubert Theatre, New York
2005	THE PHILANTHROPIST	Philip	David Grindley	Donmar Warehouse	For THE PHILANTHROPIST he won the 2005 Evening Standard Award for Best Actor
2005	JULIUS CAESAR	Cassius	Deborah Warner	Barbican/International Tour
2005	MACBETH	Macbeth	John Caird	Almeida Theatre
2004	JUMPERS	George	David Leveaux	Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway, New York	For JUMPERS he was nominated for a 2004 Tony Award for Best Actor
2003/4	JUMPERS	George	David Leveaux	Piccadilly Theatre
2002	UNCLE VANYA	Vanya	Sam Mendes	Donmar Warehouse
2002	TWELFTH NIGHT	Malvolio	Sam Mendes	Donmar Warehouse	For UNCLE VANYA and TWELFTH NIGHT he won the 2002 Evening Standard, Critics’ Circle and Olivier Awards for Best Actor. In America he won a Village Voice Obie for Best Actor for Uncle Vanya, and was nominated for the American Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Play (Uncle Vanya) and Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play (Twelfth Night)
2002	HUMBLE BOY	Felix Humble	John Caird	Gielgud Theatre
1995	THE DUCHESS OF MALFI	Ferdinand	Philip Franks	Greenwich & Wyndhams Theatre

TELEVISION includes:

2010	SPOOKS (4 episodes)	Towers	various	Kudos obo BBC TV
2009	SACRED MUSIC 2	Series Presenter	Helen Mansfield (producer)	BBC TV/Open University
2007	SACRED MUSIC	Series Presenter	Helen Mansfield (producer)	BBC TV/Open University
2004	AMERICAN EXPERIENCE	John Adams	Peter Jones	WGBH Boston
2003	DUNKIRK	Winston Churchill	Alex Holmes	BBC
2003	THE YOUNG VISITERS	The Prince of Wales	David Yates	BBC
2003	GREAT HISTORIANS: GIBBON	Gibbon/Presenter	Jonathan Geely	BBC
1996	A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME	Widmerpool	Alan Rakoff/Christopher Morahan	Dancetime	For this he won the 1997 Royal Television Society Programme Award for Best Actor and the 1997 BAFTA Best Actor Award
1994	PERSUASION	Charles Musgrove	Roger Michell	BBC
1992	THE MUSHROOM PICKERS	Anthony	Andy Wilson	BBC
2001	THE GATHERING	Luke	Brian Gilbert	Samuelson & Granada
1998	ALICE IN WONDERLAND	The King of Hearts	Nick Willing	Hallmark
1998	AN IDEAL HUSBAND	Sir Edward	Oliver Parker	The Ideal Film Company
1997	THE TEMPTATION OF FRANZ SCHUBERT	Schubert	Nick Kent	Oxford Films
1996	HAMLET	2nd Gravedigger	Kenneth Branagh	Fishmonger Films

He was also seen playing Napoleon in BLACKADDER GOES BACK AND FORTH at the Millennium Dome throughout the year 2000 and on BBC 1 in early 2001.

RADIO and VOICE WORK includes:

Simon’s numerous radio and audiobook recordings include: ‘Pierre’ in WAR & PEACE; ‘Oscar’ in THE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE; ‘Trissotin’ in THE SISTERHOOD (Ranjit Bolt’s adaptation of Moliere); ‘Lucky’ in WAITING FOR GODOT; ‘Yvan’ in ART; 4 Jenny Nimmo, 2 Ruth Rendall and 3 Clare Francis books as well as A DANCE TO THE MUSIC OF TIME. Simon voiced HAMLET, ‘Antonio’ in THE TEMPEST and ‘Angelo’ in MEASURE FOR MEASURE for the Shakespeare CD Series.

2010	THE SECRET PILGRIM	George Smiley	Patrick Rayner	BBC R4
2010	SMILEY’S PEOPLE	George Smiley	Patrick Rayner	BBC R4
2009	CHEKHOV’S GUN	Writer/Reader	Beaty Rubens	BBC R3
2009	WORDS AND MUSIC: ATONEMENT	Reader	Lisa Davis	BBC R3
2009	THE HONOURABLE SCHOOLBOY	George Smiley	Marc Beeby	BBC R4
2009	TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY	George Smiley	Marc Beeby	BBC R4
2009	LEAVING	Vaclav Havel	Marion Nancarrow	BBC World Service
2009	THE ESSAY: ENLIGHTENMENT VOICES	Reader	Beaty Rubens	BBC R3
2009	THE LOOKING GLASS WAR	George Smiley	Marc Beeby	BBC R4
2009	THE ESSAY: TENNYSON	Reader	Beaty Rubens	BBC R3
2009	THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD	George Smiley	Patrick Rayner	BBC R4
2009	A MURDER OF QUALITY	George Smiley	Marc Beeby	BBC R4
2009	CALL FOR THE DEAD	George Smiley	Patrick Rayner	BBC R4	For CALL FOR THE DEAD he received a Certificate of Excellence from AudioFile for Best Audiobooks of the Year 2009 America/BBC Radio
2008	ENGLISH MISFITS IN FRANCE	Reader	Robyn Read	BBC R4
2008	WORDS AND MUSIC: JOY	Presenter/Curator	Tony Cheevers	BBC R3
2007	OEDIPUS REX CONCERT	Narrator	Alison Riach	BBC R3
2007	THE EARLY MUSIC SHOW : PURCELL & SHAKESPEARE	Guest Presenter	Rebecca Bean	BBC R3
2007	DESERT ISLAND DISCS	Castaway	Leanne Buckle	BBC Radio
2007	A SHROPSHIRE LAD	Narrator	Steven Canny	BBC R4
2007	TOM JONES	Henry Fielding	Claire Grove	BBC R4
2007	THE MAKING OF MUSIC: THE HISTORY OF WESTERN CLASSIC	Reader	Sara Conkey	BBC R4
2007	WORDS AND MUSIC	Reader	Tony Beevers	BBC R3
2006	TWENTY MINUTES: MOZART	Reader	Chris Wines	BBC R3
2006	SUNDAY FEATURE: BERTOLT BRECHT & HIS COMPOSERS	Reader	Jessica Isaacs	BBC R3
2005	TRAFALGAR	Narrator	Lisa Osborne	BBC R4
2005	LE GRAND MEAULNES	Francois Seurel	Sara Davies	BBC R4
2005	A CERTAIN AGE	Tim	Dawn Ellis	BBC R4
2005	DE PROFUNDIS	Reader	Lu Kempe	BBC R4
2004	JAPANESE GOTHIC TALES	Sakagami	Roxanna Silbert	BBC
2004	A MAP OF BRITISH POETRY	Reader	Tim Dee	BBC R4
2003	HARRIET	Hector	Peter Kavanagh	BBC R3
2003	SPECIAL BERLIOZ EVENING	Berlioz	Adam Gatehouse	BBC R3
2003	PIAF & COCTEAU	Jean Cocteau	Peter Kavanagh	BBC R4
2004	THE NATIONAL TRUST (10 part series for BBC2/BBC4)	narrator		Oxford Film & TV	This won the 2004 BAFTA for Best Factual Series

Open University

1995

HENRY V

Henry

Nick Levinson

Open University

Concerts

2006	DANCERS ON A TIGHTROPE	Shostakovich	Gerard McBurney	Queen Elizabeth Hall
2003	FIRST NIGHT OF THE PROMS: IVAN THE TERRIBLE	Narrator	Leonard Slatkin (conductor)	BBC TV/Radio 3
2002	ARTAXERXES	Narrator	Ian Page	Classical Opera Co
2002	FACADE			Nash Ensemble
2001	MUSIC & POETRY: AUDEN & BRITTEN	Narrator	Philippe van Kessell	Societe Philharmonique de Bruxelles
2000	THE FIREBRAND OF FLORENCE	Narrator	Paul Curran	Barbican Hall/BBC R3
1996	STRAVINSKY PROMENADE	Narrator	Steven Maddox	Royal Albert Hall/BBC R3

Simon is an Associate Artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, an Associate of the National Theatre and Almeida Theatre, and in 2003 was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for his services to the Arts.