| Leigh Lawson | |
|---|---|
| Born | 21 July 1945 Atherstone, Warwickshire, England |
| Occupation | Actor, director, writer |
| Years active | 1969 - present |
| Spouse | Twiggy (m. 1988–present) |
| Partner | Hayley Mills (1975 - 1984) |
Leigh Lawson (born 21 July 1945 in Atherstone, Warwickshire, England) is a film and stage actor, director, and writer.
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Trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Lawson has acted in film and television since the early 1970s, directed plays in the West End and on Broadway. He worked with National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), and with film directors such as Roman Polanski and Franco Zeffirelli. He was quoted as saying that the only time in his career when he didn't feel he should be somewhere else doing something else was when he was with the RSC.[1] Lawson's portrayals in films include Bernardo in Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972) and Alec d'Urberville in Tess (1979). He played the leading role as Alan Lomax in the television drama series, Travelling Man (1984–1985), and guest starred in a variety of television series, such as The Duchess of Duke Street (1976), Disraeli (1978), Feuer und Schwert - Die Legende von Tristan und Isolde (1982), The Ray Bradbury Theatre (1988), and Silent Witness (2005–2007).
Lawson's talents also lay in writing and directing. In 1999, he co-wrote and directed the musical If Love Were All, which tells of the friendship between Gertrude Lawrence and Noël Coward. Most recently, Lawson authored The Dream: An Actor's Story, a theatrical memoir about the day-to-day life of a working actor, which was published in September 2009. (ISBN 978-1-84002-867-6)
He also co-starred with his wife Twiggy in 2001, playing themselves in an episode of the British hit comedy series, Absolutely Fabulous.
In 1976, Lawson and his first wife, Mondy, were divorced. He met actress Hayley Mills in 1975 when they performed in London's West End in A Touch of Spring, and the following year, she bore him a son, Jason.[2] Lawson also became stepfather to Crispian Mills, Hayley's son with director Roy Boulting. Lawson and Mills' liaison ended in the early 1980s.
He met former model Twiggy in 1984. In 1988, they both worked in the film Madame Sousatzka, and were married on 23 September that year in Tony Walton's back yard in Sag Harbor, Long Island.[3] The couple resides in west London, where Lawson looks after his wife's business affairs and her involvement with Littlewoods catalogue.[4] Lawson and Twiggy also own a home in Southwold, Suffolk.[5]
He adopted Twiggy's daughter Carly, who took his surname.[6] Lawson has played an active role in his children's lives, including his nephew, club DJ Saul Dismont, who is the son of Lawson's sister and Bermuda politician Russell Dismont.[7]