Guy Henry (actor)
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| Guy Henry | |
|---|---|
| Born | Guy Henry 17 October 1960 UK |
| Years active | 1987-present |
Guy Henry (born 17 October 1960) is a British stage and screen actor, best known for his role in Rome.
Contents |
[edit] Early career
Guy Henry trained at RADA (1979-81, at the same time as Paul McGann). In 1982, he took the title role in ITV's Young Sherlock Holmes series, playing Holmes as a teenager (though Henry was by then nearly 22).
[edit] Stage Work
[edit] RSC work
Henry's main work has been with the Royal Shakespeare Company, including the following roles:
- 1991 - Thurio, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Poggio, Tis Pity She's a Whore and Ananias, The Alchemist).
- 1992 - Osric (Hamlet) and Sir Formal Trifle, The Virtuoso
- 1993 - Second Tempter and Second Knight, Murder in the Cathedral; Lelio, The Venetian Twins
- 1994 - Director [character name], A Life in the Theatre
- 1996 - Sir Andrew Aguecheek, Twelfth Night
- 1997 - Cloten, Cymbeline, and Dr Caius - The Merry Wives of Windsor
- 1998 - Lord Chamberlain, Henry VII
- 1999 - Russayev, Yuri Gagarin; Octavius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra
- 2001 - Malvolio, Twelfth Night; King John, King John; Mosca, Volpone
- 2003 - Parolles, All's Well That Ends Well[1]
[edit] Other theatre work
He has also worked with Cheek by Jowl, Theatre Set Up and the National Theatre(including Turgenev in Tom Stoppard's The Coast of Utopia in 2002).
He was an acclaimed Earl of Leicester in the 2005-06 Donmar Warehouse production of Schiller's Mary Stuart, which transferred to the West End.[2]
[edit] Television appearances
[edit] 1980s-1990s
In the early 1990s, Henry played the acerbic, demonic Dr Walpurgis in The Vault of Horror, a BBC Hallowe'en special. His make-up was provided by Hellraiser veteran Geoff Portass. Guy also introduced a series of cult horror films in a BBC Two Friday night horror season. He appeared in the 1996 schools series Look and Read: Spywatch, the BBC's 1996 adaptation of Emma. In 1998 he made one appearance in the medical soap opera Peak Practice and in two episodes of The Grand.
[edit] 2000 onwards
He appeared in four episodes of the 2001 series of another medical soap Doctors.
He has also frequently been cast as a conspiratorial and/or Machiavellian civil servant, as in Fields of Gold (2002) and Foyle's War (in a 2003 episode). He played the title role in Channel 4's documentary Who Killed Thomas Becket? (2004)[3] and was a deportment tutor and a shoemaker respectively in the BBC's The Young Visiters [sic] (2003) and Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Silk Stocking (Christmas 2004).
In 2005 he appeared in the feature-length ITV drama Colditz and had a recurring role in Extras, which continued into a few episodes of the comedy's second series. His main role that year, however, was as Cassius (fictionalised version of Gaius Longinus Cassius) in the last two or three episodes of the first series of HBO/BBC series Rome. He reprised this role in the second series (broadcast 2007) until the character's death at the Battle of Philippi in the episode Philippi. His friend Sarah Kennedy (see #Radio) commented that this was a natural progression for one with his 'lean and hungry look' (Shakespeare, Julius Caesar 2.I).
In 2006, he played a lawyer in Midsomer Murders, appeared with Michael Sheen in Kenneth Williams: Fantabulosa! (as Hugh Paddick), and featured in the first, fifth and sixth episodes of the first series of The Chase (in another role he reprised in 2007). In 2007 he appeared as the UK's UN Ambassador in The Trial of Tony Blair and appeared in the seventh episode of the second series of Hotel Babylon.
In 2008, he appeared in HBO's John Adams as Jonathan Sewall, Massachusetts's Attorney General, and will be appearing as Mr Collins in Lost in Austen.
[edit] Film
His film credits include appearances in Stephen Fry's 2003 film Bright Young Things (appearing in the poster for it, top left) as Archie, in V for Vendetta as Conrad Heyer, in Starter For 10 as a university professor, and in Expresso.
[edit] Radio
Since around 2004, Guy Henry has gained an additional fanbase as a result of his friendship with the Radio 2 presenter Sarah Kennedy, who began by corresponding with his father. Through letters to Sarah from Henry himself, his father and 'the Lady Agrippa' (a nickname for his mother), listeners are kept up to date on his career. A recording of his voice announces her regular 'It's Showtime!' slot of tunes from the musicals at about 7.12am GMT - originally he just spoke the title of the slot, and a whole repertoire of different recordings was later added. He also occasionally appears live on her show, and has co-hosted with her as part of the annual charity appeal Children in Need.
[edit] Other
Henry was a guest speaker at an NEH (National Endowment for the Humanities) summer seminar entitled Shakespeare: Enacting the Text. (July 5 to August 6, 1999).
[edit] Notes
- ^ Henry remains associated with the RSC, although this was his last appearance with them to date.
- ^ Ironically, it was precursored by his appearance - again as Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester- in the 1986 TV drama Lady Jane.
- ^ A 'promotion' from his role as Tempter in the RSC Murder in The Cathedral, TS Eliot's version of the same story
