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Derek Jacobi

Birth Place: London, ENGLAND

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BIO

He is known for his work at the Royal National Theatre and for his film and television roles. He has received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, two Olivier Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Tony Award. He was given a knighthood for his services to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.


Jacobi started his professional acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the founding members of the National Theatre. He has appeared in numerous Shakespearean stage productions including Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, King Lear, and Romeo and Juliet. Jacobi received the Laurence Olivier Award, for the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac in 1983 and Malvolio in Twelfth Night in 2009. He also won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing in 1985.
On television, he portrayed Claudius in the BBC series I, Claudius (1976), for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor. He received two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for The Tenth Man (1988), and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for Frasier (2001). He also took roles in ITV drama series Cadfael (1994–1998), the HBO film The Gathering Storm (2002), the sitcom Vicious (2013-2016), in BBC's Last Tango in Halifax (2012–2020), and the Netflix series The Crown in 2019.
Jacobi has acted in numerous films including Othello (1965), The Day of the Jackal (1973), Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), Hamlet (1996), Nanny McPhee (2005), The Riddle (2007), My Week with Marilyn (2011), Anonymous (2011), Cinderella (2015), and Murder on the Orient Express (2017). Jacobi portrayed Senator Gracchus in Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000) and Gladiator II (2024). Jacobi has also earned two Screen Actors Guild Awards along with the ensemble cast for Robert Altman's Gosford Park (2001), and Tom Hooper's The King's Speech (2010).

Photos

STAGE CREDITS

Les Misérables
[TV]
MASTERPIECE on PBS Drama, 2019
Bishop
Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet
[West End]
Kenneth Branagh West End Revival, 2016
Juliet
Uncle Vanya
[Broadway]
Roundabout Revival, 2000
Ivan Petrovich Voinitsky
Breaking the Code
[Broadway]
1987
Alan Turing
Cyrano de Bergerac
[Broadway]
1984
Cyrano de Bergerac
Much Ado About Nothing
[Broadway]
Broadway Revival, 1984
Signior Benedick of Padua
The Suicide
[Broadway]
Original Broadway Production, 1980
Semyon Semyonovich Podsekalnikov

Movies

Interlude
[ 1968 ] Paul
Three Sisters
[ 1970 ] Andrei
The Day of the Jackal
[ 1973 ] Caron
Blueblood
[ 1974 ] Gregory
The Odessa File
[ 1974 ] Klaus Wenzer
The Medusa Touch
[ 1978 ] Moulton - John's Publisher
The Human Factor
[ 1979 ] Arthur Davis
The Man Who Went Up in Smoke
[ 1980 ] Martin Beck
Charlotte
[ 1981 ] Daberlohn
The Secret of NIMH
[ 1982 ] Nicodemus
Little Dorrit
[ 1987 ] Arthur Clennam
Henry V
[ 1989 ] Chorus
The Fool
[ 1990 ] Mr. Frederick, Sir John
Dead Again
[ 1991 ] Franklyn Madson
Hamlet
[ 1996 ] Claudius
Basil
[ 1998 ] Father Frederick
Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon
[ 1998 ] Francis Bacon
Molokai
[ 1999 ] Father Leonor Fousnel
Gladiator
[ 2000 ] Gracchus
Up at the Villa
[ 2000 ] Lucky Leadbetter
The Body
[ 2001 ] Father Lavelle
Revelation
[ 2001 ] Librarian
On Wings of Fire
[ 2001 ] Narrator
Gosford Park
[ 2001 ] Probert
The Children's Midsummer Night's Dream
[ 2001 ] Theseus
Revengers Tragedy
[ 2002 ] Duke
Two Men Went to War
[ 2002 ] Major Merton
Strings
[ 2004 ] Nezo
Cloud Cuckoo Land
[ 2004 ] Victor
Bye Bye Blackbird
[ 2005 ] Lord Dempsey
Nanny McPhee
[ 2005 ] Mr Wheen
Underworld: Evolution
[ 2006 ] Corvinus Sir Derek Jacobi
Anastezsi
[ 2007 ] Balzer
Guantanamero
[ 2007 ] Guido, Commander
The Golden Compass
[ 2007 ] Magisterial Emissary
Adam Resurrected
[ 2008 ] Dr. Nathan Gross
A Bunch of Amateurs
[ 2008 ] Nigel Dewberry
Morris: A Life with Bells On
[ 2009 ] Quentin Neely
Endgame
[ 2009 ] Rudolph Agnew
The King's Speech
[ 2010 ] Archbishop Cosmo Lang
Hereafter
[ 2010 ] Derek Jacobi
Ironclad
[ 2011 ] Baron Reginald de Cornhill
There Be Dragons
[ 2011 ] Honorio Soto
National Theatre Live: King Lear
[ 2011 ] King Lear
Anonymous
[ 2011 ] Prologue
My Week with Marilyn
[ 2011 ] Sir Owen Morshead
Jail Caesar
[ 2012 ] Sulla
Grace of Monaco
[ 2014 ] Count Fernando D Aillieres Sir Derek Jacobi
Effie Gray
[ 2014 ] Travers Twiss
Cinderella
[ 2015 ] King
The History of Love
[ 2016 ] Léo Gursky
The Bed-Sitting Room
[ 2016 ] Lord Fortnum
Branagh Theatre Live: Romeo and Juliet
[ 2016 ] Mercutio
Murder on the Orient Express
[ 2017 ] Edward Henry Mterman
Stratton
[ 2017 ] Ross
Tomb Raider
[ 2018 ] Mr. Yaffe
Horrible Histories: The Movie - Rotten Romans
[ 2019 ] Claudius
The Warrior Queen of Jhansi
[ 2019 ] Lord Palmerston
Tolkien
[ 2019 ] Professor Wright
The Host
[ 2020 ] Dr. Hobson
Say Your Prayers
[ 2020 ] Father Enoch
Come Away
[ 2020 ] Mr Brown
A Bird Flew In
[ 2021 ] David
Romeo & Juliet
[ 2021 ] Narrator
Allelujah
[ 2022 ] Ambrose
Gladiator II
[ 2024 ] Gracchus
Gladiator II
[ 2024 ] Gracchus

TV Shows

Good Omens
Metatron
Inside No. 9
Webster, Dennis Fulcher
Last Tango in Halifax
Alan
Mist: Sheepdog Tales
Narrator, Lord Henry
Mystery!: Cadfael
Brother Cadfael
Tales of the Unexpected
The Stranger, Drioli
Vicious
Stuart Bixby
The War Master
[ 2017-2024 ] The War Master
Family Guy
Rupert
Ludwig
Mr. Todd
Dark Gallifrey
The Master
Extraordinary
Audio Book Narrator
The War Master
[ 2017-2024 ] The War Master
Family Guy
Rupert
Ludwig
Mr. Todd
Dark Gallifrey
The Master
Extraordinary
Audio Book Narrator

Awards and Nominations

Olivier Awards - 2011 - Best Actor

Derek JacobiKing Lear


winner
Olivier Awards - 2009 - Best Actor

Derek JacobiTwelfth Night

Olivier Awards - 2006 - Best Actor

Derek JacobiDon Carlos


winner
Drama Desk Awards - 2000 - Outstanding Actor - Play

Derek Jacobi, Uncle Vanya


winner
Outer Critics Circle Awards - 2000 - Outstanding Actor in a Play

Derek Jacobi, Uncle Vanya


winner
Helen Hayes Awards - 1988 - Outstanding Lead Actor, Non-Resident Production

Derek JacobiBreaking The Code

Tony Awards - 1988 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Derek Jacobi, Breaking the Code

Drama Desk Awards - 1987 - Outstanding Actor - Play

Derek Jacobi, Breaking the Code

Olivier Awards - 1986 - Actor of the Year

Derek JacobiBreaking The Code

Drama Desk Awards - 1985 - Outstanding Actor in a Play

Derek Jacobi, Cyrano de Bergerac

Drama Desk Awards - 1985 - Outstanding Actor in a Play

Derek Jacobi, Much Ado About Nothing


winner
Tony Awards - 1985 - Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play

Derek Jacobi, Much Ado About Nothing


winner
Olivier Awards - 1983 - Actor of the Year in a Revival

Derek JacobiCyrano De Bergerac

Drama Desk Awards - 1981 - Outstanding Actor in a Play

Derek Jacobi, The Suicide

Olivier Awards - 1978 - Actor of the Year in a Revival

Derek JacobiIvanov

Olivier Awards - 1977 - Actor of the Year in a Revival

Derek JacobiHamlet

Videos

More Videos

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How many Broadway shows has Derek Jacobi been in?

Derek Jacobi has appeared on Broadway in 5 shows.

How many West End shows has Derek Jacobi been in?

Derek Jacobi has appeared on London's West End in 1 shows.

What was Derek Jacobi's first West End show?

Derek Jacobi's first West End show was Romeo and Juliet which opened in 2016

What awards has Derek Jacobi been nominated for?

Best Actor (Olivier Awards) for King Lear, Best Actor (Olivier Awards) for Twelfth Night, Best Actor (Olivier Awards) for Don Carlos, Outstanding Actor - Play (Drama Desk Awards) for Uncle Vanya, Outstanding Actor in a Play (Outer Critics Circle Awards) for Uncle Vanya , Outstanding Lead Actor, Non-Resident Production (Helen Hayes Awards) for Breaking The Code, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play (Tony Awards) for Breaking the Code, Outstanding Actor - Play (Drama Desk Awards) for Breaking the Code, Actor of the Year (Olivier Awards) for Breaking The Code, Outstanding Actor in a Play (Drama Desk Awards) for Cyrano de Bergerac, Outstanding Actor in a Play (Drama Desk Awards) for Much Ado About Nothing, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play (Tony Awards) for Much Ado About Nothing, Actor of the Year in a Revival (Olivier Awards) for Cyrano De Bergerac, Outstanding Actor in a Play (Drama Desk Awards) for The Suicide, Actor of the Year in a Revival (Olivier Awards) for Ivanov and Actor of the Year in a Revival (Olivier Awards) for Hamlet.

What awards has Derek Jacobi won?

Derek Jacobi has won several prestigious awards throughout his career, including Best Actor at the Olivier Awards for Twelfth Night, Outstanding Actor in a Play at the Drama Desk Awards for Uncle Vanya, and Outstanding Actor in a Play at the Outer Critics Circle Awards for Uncle Vanya. He also received the Outstanding Lead Actor, Non-Resident Production at the Helen Hayes Awards for Breaking The Code, and the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for Much Ado About Nothing. Additionally, he won Actor of the Year in a Revival at the Olivier Awards for Cyrano de Bergerac.

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