Nicholas C. Frost (born 1955), known professionally as Nicholas Farrell, is an English stage, film and television actor.
Nicholas Farrell
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Farrell in 2023
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| Born | Nicholas C. Frost 1955 (age 68–69) |
| Education | Fryerns Grammar School Bristol Old Vic Theatre School |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1975–present |
| Spouse |
(m. 2005) |
| Children | 2 |
Farrell was born in Brentwood, Essex.[1] He was educated at Fryerns Grammar and Technical SchoolinBasildon, Essex,[2] He furthered his education studying acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.[3]
Farrell's early screen career included the role of Aubrey Montague in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire.[4] In 1983, he starred as Edmund Bertram in a television adaptation of the Jane Austen novel, Mansfield Park.[1] In 1984, he appeared in Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes,[1] and The Jewel in the Crown.[3]
Since then, his film and television work has included several screen adaptations of Shakespeare's works, including Kenneth Branagh's 1996 Hamlet,[2] in which he played Horatio, a role he had played previously with Branagh for the Royal Shakespeare Company.[2] He has also appeared in film adaptations of Twelfth Night (1996), Othello (1995) and In the Bleak Midwinter (1995). He provided the voice of Hamlet for the animated television adaptation Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (1992).[3]
In 2009, He played the role of Albert Dussell in the BBC series The Diary of Anne Frank.[5] In 2011, he played Margaret Thatcher's close friend and advisor Airey NeaveinThe Iron Lady.[6]
In 2014, he portrayed Eyre Crowe in the British documentary drama miniseries 37 Days, about the weeks leading up to World War I.[1] Other television appearances have included two Agatha Christie's Poirot films,[2] Sharpe's Regiment,[1] Lipstick on Your Collar, To Play the King, Roman Mysteries, Torchwood,[2] and Collision. He has also appeared in episodes of Lovejoy,[1] Foyle's War,[6] Absolute Power, Spooks,[2] Midsomer Murders,[6] Drop the Dead Donkey, Call the Midwife,[1] and Casualty.[1] He also voiced the Golem Pump 19 in the 2010 two-part adaptation of Terry Pratchett's Going Postal.[1]
Farrell's theatre work includes performances of The Cherry Orchard,[2] Camille,[2] and The Crucible,[2] as well as Royal Shakespeare Company productions of The Merchant of Venice,[2] Julius Caesar,[2] and Hamlet.[2] In the 2011 Chichester Festival he played schoolmasters Dewley and Crocker-Harris in the double bill of South Downs and The Browning Version.[7] In 2021 he played Ebenezer ScroogeinA Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story at the Nottingham Playhouse.[8][3]
In 2014, Farrell starred in the Grace Kelly biopic Grace of Monaco alongside Nicole Kidman and Tim Roth, and the short film The Pit and the Pendulum: A Study in Torture, based on Edgar Allan Poe's short story.[3]
In 2020, he starred as the racehorse trainer in the Welsh film Dream Horse, alongside Toni Collette, Damian Lewis, and Owen Teale.[3]
In 2021 he was chosen as the face of the Saga plc television campaign 'Experience is Everything'.[3]
He is married to Scottish actress Stella Gonet, and they have a daughter, Natasha.[3]