Denis Lawson

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Denis Lawson (born September 27, 1947 in Crieff, Perth and Kinross), is a Scottish actor.

Contents

[edit] Life and career

He is best known for his roles as Wedge Antilles in the Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi and as Gordon Urquhart in the film Local Hero. He has also gained some fame for being the uncle of actor Ewan McGregor. He was born in Perthshire, Scotland.

Lawson began his career with a small role in a 1969 stage production of The Metamorphosis in London's West End. and has since starred in television dramas such as Rock Follies (1976), Dead Head (1986). In 1979 he had a child, Jamie[1], with actress Diane Fletcher, with whom he had a seven year relationship after meeting in a stage production of "Twelfth Night".

He met his wife, Sheila (Anne Syme) Gish, on the set of the 1985 movie "That Uncertain Feeling". They lived together for nearly twenty years before marrying in March 2004 (Antigua) ; she died a year later of cancer (March 9, 2005). Her daughter, Lou Gish, died in 2006 of cancer as well.

He reprised the role of Wedge Antilles in voiceover form, in the Nintendo GameCube game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 2.

He recently appeared on "Loose Ends" hosted by Ned Sherrin on BBC Radio 4 (Saturday 10th December 2005), during which his mobile phone rang.

In 2005, he played the leading role of John Jarndyce in the critically acclaimed BBC adaptation of Charles Dickens' Bleak House, receiving an Emmy nomination for his sympathetic supporting performance.

In 2007, he will feature in the BBC One drama serial Jekyll, a modern version of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.[1]

[edit] Filmography

[edit] Video games

[edit] Trivia

  • Return of the Jedi is the only Star Wars film in which his name is correctly spelled "Denis" in the ending credits. In the credits of A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, his name is misspelled "Dennis".
  • As a joke, George Lucas asked him to play the role of Raymus Antilles (who is in no way related to Wedge) in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. However, Lawson declined.
  • McGregor, interviewed in the August 2005 issue of Playboy, said that Lawson advised him to turn down the role of the young Obi-Wan.
  • Was a teacher of Actors Cut and Actors Cut 2 at the Actors Centre in London, UK.
  • During his filming of Horatio Hornblower , they had to be at sea for 12 hours a day...Lawson said that he was sick nearly all of the time.
  • Denis turned his hand to writing and directing with the short film Solid Geometry for Channel 4. Based on Ian McEwan's* short story, nephew Ewan McGregor played the lead role. He's also directed for the stage, including the West End* play Little Malcolm And His Struggle Against The Eunuchs, again starring Ewan.
  • He was a regular in Holby City between 2002 and 2004, playing alcoholic surgeon Tom Campbell-Gore.
  • His sister, Carol Diane McGregor, dark, wavy-haired is a retired teacher who still lives in Perthshire. She’s the mother of actor, Ewan McGregor and now serves as his personal assistant. She has a cameo in Shallow Grave.
  • Early drama school castmate of Ian McDiarmid
  • In the 1983 movie Local Hero (1983), Lawson played Gordon Urqhart; in the TV series "Holby City" (1999), he played Tom Campbell-Gore; and, in Lucky Jim (2003) (TV), he played Jules Gore-Urqhart.
  • Glasgow Film Theatre (Glasgow, Scotland) has seat DO81 dedicated to him and his nephew Ewan McGregor: "For Ewan McGregor and Denis Lawson. Talent without frontiers."

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ An all-star cast to appear in BBC ONE's Jekyll. BBC Press Office (2006-08-29). Retrieved on 2006-08-30.

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Lawson, Denis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Scottish actor
SHORT DESCRIPTION
DATE OF BIRTH September 27, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Crieff, Perth and Kinross
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH
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