Kenneth Cranham
| Kenneth Cranham | |
|---|---|
| Born |
12 December 1944 Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, UK |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Spouse(s) |
Diana Quick (1974–78; divorced) Fiona Victory |
| Partner(s) | Charlotte Cornwell |
Kenneth Cranham (born 12 December 1944) is a Scottish-born film, television, radio and stage actor. He is popularly known for his work in Hellbound: Hellraiser II and Valkyrie.
Acting career
Cranham trained at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain[1] and RADA. He starred in the title role in the popular 1980s comedy drama Shine on Harvey Moon. He also appeared in Layer Cake, Gangster No. 1, Rome, Oliver! and many other films. He is probably best known to horror genre fans as the deranged Dr. Philip Channard and his Cenobitic alter-ego from Hellbound: Hellraiser II. His many stage credits include West End productions of Entertaining Mr Sloane, Loot, An Inspector Calls (both transferring to Broadway), The Ruffian on the Stair, The Birthday Party and Gaslight (at the Old Vic). Most recently, he has been heard on BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Play series as "DS Max Matthews" in the three-play series The Interrogation by Roy Williams and starred as "Thomas Gradgrind" in BBC Radio's 2007 adaptation of Dickens Hard Times. For his role as Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award.
In 2016, he won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as Andre in Florian Zeller's 'The Father'. The play originated at the Theatre Royal Bath's Ustinov Studio in the Autumn of 2014, before touring the country and transferring to the West End in the Summer of 2015, and returning to the Duke of York's Theatre in Spring 2016. The play received an unprecedented five star review from every leading national press publication, and Cranham's performance was routinely described as 'the performance of his life' (WhatsonStage.com)'.
Personal life
Cranham was born in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, the son of Lochgelly-born Margaret McKay Cranham (née Ferguson) and Ronald Cranham, a London-born civil servant.[2][3] His first wife was actress Diana Quick. He has two daughters: Nancy Cranham with actress Charlotte Cornwell, and Kathleen Cranham with his second wife, actress Fiona Victory.[2]
Filmography
- Oliver! (1968)
- Otley (1968)
- Fragment of Fear (1970)
- All the Way Up (1970)
- Up Pompeii (1971)
- Brother Sun, Sister Moon (1972)
- Vampira (1974)
- Robin and Marian (1976)
- Joseph Andrews (1977)
- Dead Man's Folly (1986)
- Chocolat (1988)
- Hellbound: Hellraiser II (1988)
- Stealing Heaven (1988)
- Prospero's Books (1991)
- Under Suspicion (1991)
- Bed of Roses (1996)
- The Boxer (1997)
- RPM (1998)
- Women Talking Dirty (1999)
- Kevin & Perry Go Large (2000)
- Gangster No. 1 (2000)
- Shiner (2000)
- Born Romantic (2000)
- Two Men Went to War (2002)
- Blackball (2003)
- Man Dancin' (2003)
- Trauma (2004)
- Layer Cake (2004)
- A Good Year (2006)
- Hot Fuzz (2007)
- Valkyrie (2008)
- Made in Dagenham (2010)
- Flying Blind (2012)
- Closed Circuit (2013)
- The Legend of Hercules (2014)
- Maleficent (2014)
Television credits
- City '68 (1967)
- Ways with Words (1967)
- Boy Meets Girl (1969)
- Z-Cars (1970)
- Softly, Softly: Taskforce (1970)
- A Family at War (1971)
- From a Bird's Eye View (1971)
- Hadleigh (1971)
- Budgie (1972)
- New Scotland Yard (1972)
- Achilles Heel (1973)
- Crown Court (1973 & 1981)
- Against the Crowd (1975)
- Village Hall (1975)
- Holding On (1977)
- The Velvet Glove (1977)
- Danger UXB (1979)
- 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1980)
- Cribb (1980)
- Donkeys' Years (1980)
- Enemy at the Door (1980)
- The Merchant of Venice (1980)
- Thérèse Raquin (1980)
- Strangers (1980–1982)
- Brideshead Revisited (1981)
- The Bell (1982)
- Shine on Harvey Moon (1982–1985)
- Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983)
- Heart of the High Country (1985)
- Dead Man's Folly (1986)
- A Sort of Innocence (1987)
- Inspector Morse (1987)
- Boon (1987)
- Just Another Secret (1987)
- Bergerac (1990)
- Casualty (1990)
- Dunrulin (1990)
- Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1990)
- TECX (1990)
- El C.I.D. (1990–1992)
- Chimera (1991)
- Murder Most Horrid (1991)
- Van der Valk (1991)
- Between the Lines (1992)
- The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992)
- Lovejoy (1993)
- Minder (1993)
- Screen One (1993)
- Requiem Apache (1994)
- Heartbeat (1996)
- On Dangerous Ground (1996)
- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996)
- Get Well Soon (1997)
- Midnight Man (1997)
- Kavanagh QC (1998)
- Our Mutual Friend (1998)
- The Murder of Stephen Lawrence (1999)
- Justice in Wonderland (2000)
- Lady Audley's Secret (2000)
- The Ancients (2000)
- The Sins (2000)
- Without Motive (2000)
- Dalziel and Pascoe (2001)
- NCS: Manhunt (2001)
- Believe Nothing (2002)
- Dickens (2002)
- Night Flight (2002)
- Bible Mysteries (2003)
- Killing Hitler (2003)
- Pollyanna (2003)
- Sparkling Cyanide (2003)
- Genghis Khan (2005)
- M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team (2005)
- Rome (2005)
- Afterlife (2006)
- Doc Martin (2006)
- Hannibal (2006)
- Hustle (2006)
- New Tricks (2006)
- The Chatterley Affair (2006)
- The Lavender List (2006)
- The Line of Beauty (2006)
- Victoria Cross Heroes (2006)
- Heroes and Villains (2007)
- Lilies (2007)
- Sinking of the Lusitania: Terror at Sea (2007)
- The Curry Club (2007)
- The Last Detective (2007)
- Agatha Christie's Marple (2008)
- Merlin (2008)
- Tess of the D'Urbervilles (2008)
- Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen (2009)
- Midsomer Murders (2010)
- The Night Watch (2011)
- Falcón (2012)
- Panto! (2012)
- Upstairs Downstairs (2012)
- Death in Paradise (2013)
- In the Flesh (2013–2014)
- 37 Days (2014)
- Moving On (2014)
- A.D. The Bible Continues (2015)
- Neil Gaiman's Likely Stories (2016)
- War & Peace (2016)
Awards
References
- ↑ "20 Questions With ... Kenneth Cranham". WhatsOnStage.com. February 2008. Archived from the original on 13 December 2013.
- 1 2 "Kenneth Cranham Biography (1944-)". filmreference.com. 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
- ↑ "He epitomises the cockney geezer and hard man on screen, but actor Kenneth Cranham's roots – and fondest memories – belong to Fife". The Scotsman. 30 November 2008. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
- ↑ Brown, Mark (26 January 2016). "Denise Gough wins top theatre award after almost quitting acting". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 February 2016.