Stephen Greif

Stephen Greif
Born	Stephen John Greif (1944-08-26) 26 August 1944 Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England, UK
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1968 – present
Website
www.stephengreif.com

Stephen Greif (born 26 August 1944) is an award-winning English actor well known for his roles as Travis in Blake's 7, Harry Fenning in three series of Citizen Smith, Signor Donato in Casanova and Commander John Shepherd in Shoot On Sight.

Early life

Greif was born in Sawbridgeworth, Hertfordshire, England in a building originally belonging to Anne Boleyn as a gift from King Henry VIII. He was educated at Sloane Grammar School, where he was school champion at athletics and swimming and represented the school and the county at athletics at the famous White City Stadium amongst others. He briefly attended the Regent Polytechnic before entering a variety of jobs including "trouble shooter" at a well-known TV and radiogram manufacturer and as a negotiator in a boutique West End estate agency before applying for drama school.

Career

He is an Honours graduate from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where he won numerous awards including Best Actor and Most Promising Actor, and is now an Associate Member. He was a member of the National Theatre Company both at the Old Vic in Olivier’s company and on the South Bank for Peter Hall’s company. Among his productions were Danton's Death, A Woman Killed with Kindness, The Merchant of Venice (with Olivier), Long Days Journey into Night (again with Olivier), The School for Scandal , Richard II, The Front Page and Macbeth. He was invited back to appear with them at Queen's Theatre in the West End in the Italian Comedy Saturday, Sunday, Monday directed by Franco Zeffirelli and Laurence Olivier where he won a Best Actor nomination in the Critics' Circle Theatre Award. Later he was invited to join the National again on the South Bank under Peter Hall in the revival Death of a Salesman directed by Michael Rudman with Warren Mitchell winning himself another Best Actor Nomination in the Olivier Awards. He was back again at the invitation of Nick Hytner to join his inaugural season appearing in "His Girl Friday", "Edmund" and the Christmas show "His Dark Materials" directed by Hytner. He was with Elaine Stritch in The Gingerbread Lady, Denholm Elliott in "The Paranormalist", Frank Langella in Abracadaver, Albert Finney in Ronald Harwood’s Reflected Glory, Felicity Kendal and Frances de la Tour in Fallen Angels, Joseph Fiennes in George Dillon and Lesley Manville in Six Degrees of Separation.

Greif has been in many films including Lasse Hallström’s Casanova, Shoot on Sight, Eichmann, Spartan, The Upside of Anger, Boogie Woogie and Fakers. His many TV appearances include Only When I Laugh, Spooks, Mistresses, He Kills Coppers, Silent Witness, the last story of Waking the Dead and New Tricks.

He has recently reprised his role of Travis in two new audio stories of Blake's 7 for Big Finish Productions.

Personal life

Greif has three children, likes to play golf, is a member of the Stage Golfing Society and lives near Richmond in Surrey.

Filmography

Dates, Shows and Roles

Theatre

Radio & Talking Books

External links

• Stephen Greif at the Internet Movie Database
• www.actor.co.uk
• www.stephengreif.com