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Bill Nighy
Nighy at the 69th Golden Globe Awards in 2012
Born	William Francis Nighy (1949-12-12) 12 December 1949 (age 75) Caterham, Surrey, England, UK
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1976–present
Partner	Diana Quick (1980–2008)
Children	Mary Nighy
Signature

William Francis "Bill" Nighy (pronounced NYE /ˈnaɪ/; born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womaniser Prof. Mark Carleton, whose extramarital affairs kept him "vital".

He became known around the world in 2003 for his critically acclaimed performance in Love Actually. Other notable roles in cinema include his portrayal of Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, as well as Viktor in the Underworld film series.

He is also known for his roles in the films Lawless Heart, I Capture the Castle, Shaun of the Dead), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Notes on a Scandal, Hot Fuzz, Valkyrie, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, Rango and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. His performances were also acclaimed in the State of Play series and in the TV films The Girl in the Café, Gideon's Daughter and Page Eight, for which he earned Golden Globe nominations, winning one for Gideon's Daughter.

Early life and education

Nighy was born in Caterham, Surrey. His mother, Catherine Josephine Nighy (née Whittaker), was a psychiatric nurse who was born in Glasgow, and his father, Alfred Martin Nighy, managed a car garage after working in the family chimney sweeping business. Of part Irish descent, Nighy was brought up as a Roman Catholic, serving as an altar boy.

He has two elder siblings, Martin and Anna. Nighy attended the John Fisher School, a Roman Catholic grammar school in Purley, where he was a member of the school theatre group. He left the school with two O-levels and then took a job with the Croydon Advertiser as a messenger boy. He went on to train at the Guildford School of Acting.

Career

After two seasons at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, Nighy made his London stage debut at the National Theatre in an epic staging of Ken Campbell and Chris Langham's Illuminatus!, which opened the new Cottesloe Theatre on 4 March 1977, and went on to appear in two David Hare premieres, also at the National. During the 1980s, he appeared in several television productions, among them Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil, alongside John Shea and Tony Randall.

He has starred in many radio and television dramas, notably the BBC serial The Men's Room (1991). He claimed that the serial, an Ann Oakley novel adapted by Laura Lamson, was the job which launched his career. More recently he has featured in the thriller State of Play (2003) and costume drama He Knew He Was Right (2004). He played Samwise Gamgee in the 1981 BBC Radio dramatisation of The Lord of the Rings (where he was credited as William Nighy), and appeared in the 1980s BBC Radio versions of Yes Minister episodes. He starred alongside Stephen Moore and Lesley Sharp in the acclaimed short radio drama Kerton's Story first aired in 1996. He had a starring role in the 2002 return of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, portraying crooked politician Jeffrey Grainger. He has also made a guest appearance in the BBC Radio 4 series Baldi.

Two of Nighy's most acclaimed stage performances were in National Theatre productions. Taking the role of Bernard Nightingale, an unscrupulous university don, in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia (1993), he engaged in witty exchanges with Felicity Kendal, playing the role of Hannah Jarvis, an author; and he played a consultant psychiatrist in Joe Penhall's Blue/Orange (2000), for which he won an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor, and which transferred to the West End at the Duchess Theatre the following year.

Nighy received some recognition by American audiences for his acclaimed portrayal of overaged rock star Ray Simms in the 1998 film Still Crazy. In 1999 he gained further prominence in the UK with the starring role in "The Photographer", an episode of the award-winning BBC-TV mockumentary comedy series People Like Us, playing Will Rushmore, a middle aged man who has abandoned his career and family in the deluded belief that he can achieve success as a commercial photographer.

In 2003, Nighy played the role of the Vampire Elder Viktor in the American production Underworld and returned in the same role for the sequel Underworld: Evolution in 2006 and again in the prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans in 2009. In February 2004, he was awarded the BAFTA Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as shameless, washed-up rocker Billy Mack in Love Actually (a role foreshadowed by his Still Crazy character) and followed this up at the BAFTA Television Awards in April with the Best Actor award for State of Play. He also appeared in the comedy Shaun of the Dead.

In early 2004, The Sunday Times reported that Nighy was on the shortlist for role of the Ninth Doctor in the 2005 revival of the BBC television series Doctor Who. Christopher Eccleston ultimately filled the role.

In 2005, he appeared as Slartibartfast in the film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He also appeared in the one-off BBC One comedy-drama The Girl in the Café. In February 2006, he appeared in scriptwriter Stephen Poliakoff's one-off drama, Gideon's Daughter. Nighy played the lead character, Gideon, a successful events organiser who begins to lose touch with the world around him. This performance won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Mini-series or TV Film in January 2007. Also in 2006, Nighy made his Broadway debut at the Music Box Theatre alongside Julianne Moore in The Vertical Hour, directed by Sam Mendes.

In 2006, Nighy featured in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, where he played the principal villain, Davy Jones, although his face was entirely obscured by computer-generated makeup and he voiced the character with a Scots accent. He reprised the role in the 2007 sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End, in which his real face was briefly revealed in one scene. He also provided the narration for the Animal Planet series Meerkat Manor. In 2006 he played the role of Richard Hart in Notes on a Scandal, for which he was nominated for a London Film Critics Circle award. Nighy also appeared as General Friedrich Olbricht, one of the principal conspirators, in the 2008 film Valkyrie. He had played an SS officer in the 1985 Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil. Nighy has starred in the film Wild Target.

In July 2009, he announced that he would play Rufus Scrimgeour in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1. Nighy had already worked with director David Yates twice, and with the majority of the Harry Potter cast in previous films. He has said of his role as Rufus Scrimgeour that it meant he was no longer the only English actor not to be in Harry Potter.

Nighy voiced Grandsanta in the 2011 CGI animated film Arthur Christmas. In 2012, he starred in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Wrath of the Titans, and the remake of Total Recall. In 2013, he played a role in Darkside, Tom Stoppard's radio drama based on Pink Floyd's album The Dark Side of the Moon.

Personal life

Nighy had a 27-year-relationship with English actress Diana Quick, with whom he has a daughter, actress Mary Nighy. The couple "amicably separated" in 2008.

He is a supporter of Crystal Palace and is the Patron of the CPFRIS (Crystal Palace F.C. Fast Results & Information Service) Disabled Children's Club, and of the Ann Craft Trust. He is also one of the Honorary Patrons of the London children's charity Scene & Heard. He suffers from Dupuytren's contracture, a condition which causes the ring and little finger of each hand to be permanently bent inwards towards the palm.

Nighy is also a patron for the Milton Rooms, a new arts centre in Malton, North Yorkshire, along with Imelda Staunton, Jools Holland and Kathy Burke.

Nighy is known for his bespoke navy suits; he was listed as one of the fifty best-dressed over 50s by The Guardian in March 2013.

Filmography

Films

Television

Video game

Awards and nominations

Selected performances

Theatre

• The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore by Tennessee Williams – Watermill Theatre, Newbury
• Landscape and Silence, by Harold Pinter – Gateway Theatre, Chester
• Entertaining Mr Sloane by Joe Orton – Gateway Theatre, Chester
• Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard – Arts Theatre, Cambridge
• The Immoralist, from the novel by André Gide – Hampstead Theatre
• Speak Now, by Olwen Wymark – Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh (1971)
• Freedom of the City, by Brian Friel – Everyman Theatre, Liverpool
• Under New Management, by Chris Bond – Everyman Theatre, Liverpool
• Occupy! – Liverpool Everyman Theatre (1976)
• Illuminatus!, Ken Campbell/Chris Langham – NT Cottesloe (The theatre's first production, 1977)
• Comings and Goings, by Mike Stott – Hampstead Theatre Club (1978)
• The Warp, by Neil Oram/ Ken Campbell – ICA (1979)
• Illuminations, by Arthur Rimbaud – Lyric Hammersmith (1980)
• A Map of the World, by David Hare – NT Lyttelton (1983)
• Pravda, by David Hare/ Howard Brenton – NT Olivier (1985)
• King Lear, by William Shakespeare – NT Olivier (1986)
• Mean Tears, by Peter Gill – NT Cottesloe (1987)
• Betrayal, by Harold Pinter – Almeida Theatre, London (1991)
• Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard – NT Lyttelton (1993)
• The Seagull, by Anton Chekhov/ad. Pam Gems – NT Olivier (1994)
• Skylight, by David Hare – NT production at Vaudeville Theatre, London (1995)/ UK tour (1997)
• A Kind of Alaska, by Harold Pinter – Donmar Warehouse (1998)
• Blue/Orange, by Joe Penhall – NT Cottesloe (2000), Duchess Theatre (2001)
• The Vertical Hour, by David Hare, Broadway production at the Music Box Theater, NY (2006)
• Valkyrie, by Christopher McQuarrie (2008)

Radio

References

1. Bill Nighy – Nighy Accepts Surname Mispronunciation. contactmusic.com. 30 June 2006. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
2. The Men's Room, The Internet Movie Database, accessed 23 November 2009.
3. Shaitly, Shahesta (4 July 2010). "Bill Nighy: five things I know about style". The Observer. UK. Retrieved 7 October 2010.
4. Bill Nighy: the thinking woman's bagel The Independent, 19 February 2006; Family Detective The Daily Telegraph.
5. Wills, Dominic. "Bill Nighy – Biography". TalkTalk. Retrieved 7 May 2010.
6. Blackhall, Sue (1 February 2010). Bill Nighy The Unauthorised Biography. John Blake Publishing. ISBN 1-84454-867-8.
7. ^ Bill Nighy, Hello magazine, undated, accessed 23 November 2009.
8. Schiff, Amanda (2 December 2008). "Laura Lamson Obituary". The Guardian. UK. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 3 December 2008. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
9. BBC – Doctor Who (David Tennant and Billie Piper)- News
10. "Bill Nighy Is A Wild Target | Empire". Empire. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
11. ^ "Bill Nighy to star in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows". BBC. 6 July 2009. Retrieved 6 July 2009.
12. "James McAvoy, Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, Bill Nighy, Imelda Staunton and Ashley Jensen join the cast of "Arthur Christmas"". Retrieved 23 November 2011.
13. "Bill Nighy".
14. ^ "Pink Floyd album inspires Sir Tom Stoppard radio play". BBC. 28 March 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
15. Roberts, Laura. It's not Love Actually after all as star Nighy splits with partner of 27 years, Daily Mail, 25 August 2008.
16. Crystal Palace F.C. Disabled Childrens Club accessed 2 Jun 2007; Ann Craft Trust homepage
17. "Scene & Heard – Who We Are". sceneandheard.org. 2010. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
18. "The Milton Rooms homepage". Themiltonrooms.com. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
19. "The 50 best-dressed over 50s". The Guardian.
20. "The Man With The Stolen Heart". Charlotte Film Festival. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
21. "Great White Shark 3D". Retrieved 1 November 2013.
22. National Theatre archive cast and production listing.
23. "BBC – A Charles Paris Mystery – ''Sicken and So Die''". BBC. 3 March 2008. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
24. "BBC – A Charles Paris Mystery – ''Murder Unprompted''". BBC. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
25. "BBC – Afternoon Play – ''I Wish to Apologise for My Part in the Apocalypse''". BBC. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
26. "BBC – A Charles Paris Mystery – ''Dead Side of the Mic''". BBC. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
27. "BBC – Saturday Play – ''Educating Rita''". BBC. 26 December 2009. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
28. "BBC – Saturday Play – ''Private Lives''". BBC. 2 January 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
29. "BBC – A Charles Paris Mystery – ''Cast in Order of Disappearance''". BBC. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
30. "BBC – A Charles Paris Mystery – ''Murder in the Title''". BBC. 22 November 2010. Retrieved 11 March 2012.
31. "BBC – Afternoon Play – ''The Bat Man''". BBC. 20 April 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2012.

External links

• Bill Nighy at IMDb
• Bill Nighy: A Life in Pictures Interview at BAFTA
• Bill Nighy at the BFI's Screenonline
• Silk Sound Books

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• Annie Award winners
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• BAFTA winners (people)
• Best Miniseries or Television Movie Actor Golden Globe winners
• Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award winners
• English male film actors
• English people of Irish descent
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• English male radio actors
• English male stage actors
• English male television actors
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• Living people
• People from Caterham
• Royal National Theatre Company members
• Shakespearean actors
• Male actors from Surrey