John Douglas Thompson
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 1964 (age 59–60) |
| Occupation | Actor |
John Douglas Thompson (born 1964) is an Obie Award-winning British-American actor who has been described as "one of the most compelling classical stage actors of his generation."[1]
Thompson was born in Bath, England, to Jamaican parents, and was raised in Montreal, Quebec.[2][3] He graduated from Le Moyne CollegeinSyracuse, New York in 1985, where he studied marketing and business.[4] In the early 1990s he worked as a traveling computer salesman in New England. After losing his job, Thompson decided to pursue acting and enrolled at the Trinity Repertory ConservatoryinProvidence, Rhode Island.[5]
Thompson began appearing in a variety of lead and supporting roles across New England, most notably at the American Repertory Theater and Shakespeare and Company,[3] also giving his first performance as Othello at the Trinity Repertory Company[6] prior to attaining critical success in New York. He made his Broadway debut as Flavius, opposite Denzel WashingtoninJulius Caesar in 2005, and later appeared as Le Bret in Cyrano de Bergerac, alongside Jennifer Garner and Kevin Kline in 2007.
In 2009, Thompson had a breakout year, playing the title roles in Othello at the Theatre for a New Audience, and The Emperor Jones at the Irish Repertory Theatre. Both performances garnered high critical acclaim, with The New York Times stating: "There may be no better classical actor working in the New York theater right now."[7] Thompson earned both an Obie Award[8] and a Lucille Lortel Award[9] for Othello. In the fall of 2010 Thompson was lauded for his leading role as Antony in a well reviewed rendition of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra opposite Kate Mulgrew.[10]
In 2012, he appeared, in a short role as Lt. Gen. Paulsen, in The Bourne Legacy, the fourth film in the action thriller Bourne series.[11]
In 2015 Thompson received an Obie Award for his performance in Tamburlaine at the Theatre for a New Audience and for The Iceman Cometh at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.[12]
In 2018, Thompson appeared in the role of The Starkeeper in Broadway's Carousel, Imperial Theatre, New York, alongside Joshua Henry, Jessie Mueller, and Renee Fleming.[13]
In addition to his theater work, Thompson has appeared on television in Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU and Conviction. He also appeared in the short film Midway and the legal drama Michael Clayton.
| Play | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Julius Caesar | Flavius | |
| Cyrano de Bergerac | Le Bret | |
| Othello | Othello | Obie Award; Lucille Lortel Award, Lead Actor |
| The Emperor Jones | Brutus Jones | Nominated – Lucille Lortel Award, Lead Actor; Nominated – Drama Desk Award, Lead Actor |
| The Forest | Gennady Neschastlivtsev | |
| Antony and Cleopatra | Antony | |
| Tamburlaine the Great | Tamburlaine | Theatre for a New Audience; NYT Critics Pick;[14] Obie |
| Troilus and Cressida | Agamemnon | Shakespeare in the Park (2016), The Public Theater, New York[15] |
| Jitney | Jim Becker | Nominated: Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play |
| Julius Caesar | Gaius Cassius | Shakespeare in the Park (2017) [16] |
| Hamlet | Prince Hamlet | American Conservatory Theater (2017) [17] |
| Carousel | Starkeeper |
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
|
| |
|---|---|
|
