{Actors & actresses} This was the first ever on-screen role – by a particular actor or actress. And I myself have viewed that film/TV programme.
This is a list of the very first acting appearance on-screen by an actor or actress . . . a film or TV episode that I myself have seen!
Now a well-known face, they were once just starting up as actors.
Whilst watching an old TV episode or film, I have caught sight of a now famous face. Normally just a fleeting glimpse as the role was often super-small, but their famous face &/or voice stood out nonetheless.
Now a well-known face, they were once just starting up as actors.
Whilst watching an old TV episode or film, I have caught sight of a now famous face. Normally just a fleeting glimpse as the role was often super-small, but their famous face &/or voice stood out nonetheless.
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Edward Theodore McClintock is an American actor, best known for his role of Secret Service agent Pete Lattimer on the Syfy series Warehouse 13. McClintock was born in Canton, Ohio, and raised by his father Theodore "Ted" McClintock. After his parents' divorce, he moved with his father to North Canton. After leaving St. Michael's Catholic School in the eighth grade, he attended North Canton Hoover High School. McClintock graduated with a degree in communications from Wright State University in Dayton and studied design in college. In 2007, he designed the artwork for Puscifer's album "V" Is for Vagina and sells some of his artwork on his personal website. Working as a wrestler and later a production assistant, he subsequently took up acting and began appearing in roles in 1997.First ever on-screen role:
[TV series:] 'Diagnosis Murder' (1993–2001)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "A History of Murder" (S04 E14: ep aired 1997)
[Character:] Young 'Manny' Tubbs
{Now famous for:
TV series 'Warehouse 13' (2009–2014)}- Actor
- Producer
- Music Department
Stephen Tompkinson was born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham in October 1965. His grandad (who Stephen describes as "a comic genius") inspired him to take up acting and he attended the Central Drama School, which he left at the age of 23. He has rarely been out of work since and has worked on the stage, on radio, television and, on the big screen, notably in the movie Brassed Off (1996), for which he has gained many excellent reviews. His TV roles have included a psychopathic poisoner (A Very Open Prison (1995)), a psycho TV reporter (Drop the Dead Donkey (1990)), a yuppie (Downwardly Mobile (1994)), a priest (Ballykissangel (1996)), a veterinarian (Wild at Heart (2006)) and a detective inspector (DCI Banks (2010)). Stephen has also played "Demetruis" in "A Midsummer Night's Dream" for Radio 4. He is also a keen charity cricket player and once scored two more runs than Brian Lara, when they played on the same team. In 1994, he won a Best Comedy Actor award for his role as "Damien Day" in Drop the Dead Donkey (1990). In the future, he plans a trip to Australia (to do a report for the Holiday programme) before he begins filming a new series of Ballykissangel (1996) in March 1997.First ever on-screen role:
[TV series:] 'All At Number 20' (1986–1987)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "The Prowler" (S02 E06: ep aired 1987)
[Character:] Police Constable
Note:
BTW: I also happen to have seen all of his first FOUR acting roles!:
4th role: 'After Henry' (TV Series) - episode "Intellectual Aspirations" (1989) ... Julian
3rd role: 'The Return of Shelley' (TV Series) - episode "Why Me?" (1988) ... PC Knight
2nd role: 'Never the Twain' (TV Series) - episode "Fasten Your Seat Belts" (1988) ... Darran
1st role: 'All at Number 20' (TV Series) - episode "The Prowler" (1987) ... Police Constable
{Now famous for: many TV roles
e.g. 'Drop the Dead Donkey' (1990–1998)}- Actress
- Producer
- Director
Jamie Lee Curtis was born on November 22, 1958 in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of legendary actors Janet Leigh and Tony Curtis. She got her big break at acting in 1978 when she won the role of Laurie Strode in Halloween (1978). After that, she became famous for roles in movies like Trading Places (1983), Perfect (1985) and A Fish Called Wanda (1988). She starred in one of the biggest action films ever, True Lies (1994), for which she won a Golden Globe Award for her performance. Curtis also appeared on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979), and starred in Death of a Centerfold: The Dorothy Stratten Story (1981) as the title role. Her first starring role was opposite Richard Lewis on the ABC situation comedy Anything But Love (1989). In 1998, she starred in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998) in which she reprised her role that made her famous back in 1978.
Jamie Lee served as an honorary chairperson for the Building Resilience for Young Children Dealing with Trauma program held at the Shakespeare Theatre - Harman Center for the Arts in Washington, D.C. She was an inspiration for the youth that were celebrated. Curtis was also given an award from US Department of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Rocco Landesman for her work on behalf of children through her charities and children's books.First ever on-screen role:
[TV series:] 'Quincy M.E.' (1976–1983)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "Visitors in Paradise" (S02 E04: ep aired 1977)
[Character:] Girl in Dressing Room
{Now famous for: many films}- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Balding, quietly spoken, of slight build and possessed of piercing blue eyes -- often peering out from behind round, steel-rimmed glasses -- Donald Pleasence had the essential physical attributes which make a great screen villain. In the course of his lengthy career, he relished playing the obsessed, the paranoid and the purely evil. Even the Van Helsing-like psychiatrist Sam Loomis in the Halloween (1978) franchise seems only marginally more balanced than his prey. An actor of great intensity, Pleasence excelled on stage as Shakespearean villains. He was an unrelenting prosecutor in Jean Anouilh's "Poor Bitos" and made his theatrical reputation in the title role of the seedy, scheming tramp in Harold Pinter's "The Caretaker" (1960). On screen, he gave a perfectly plausible interpretation of the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, in The Eagle Has Landed (1976). He was a convincingly devious Thomas Cromwell in Henry VIII and His Six Wives (1972), disturbing in his portrayal of the crazed, bloodthirsty preacher Quint in Will Penny (1967); and as sexually depraved, alcohol-sodden 'Doc' Tydon in the brilliant Aussie outback drama Wake in Fright (1971). And, of course, he was Ernst Stavro Blofeld in You Only Live Twice (1967). These are some of the films, for which we may remember Pleasence, but there was a great deal more to this fabulous, multi-faceted actor.
Donald Henry Pleasence was born on October 5, 1919 in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, England, to Alice (Armitage) and Thomas Stanley Pleasence. His family worked on the railway. His grandfather had been a signal man and both his brother and father were station masters. When Donald failed to get a scholarship at RADA, he joined the family occupation working as a clerk at his father's station before becoming station master at Swinton, Yorkshire. While there, he wrote letters to theatre companies, eventually being accepted by one on the island of Jersey in Spring 1939 as an assistant stage manager. On the eve of World War II, he made his theatrical debut in "Wuthering Heights". In 1942, he played Curio in "Twelfth Night", but his career was then interrupted by military service in the RAF. He was shot down over France, incarcerated and tortured in a German POW camp. Once repatriated, Donald returned to the stage in Peter Brook's 1946 London production of "The Brothers Karamazov" with Alec Guinness although he missed the opening due to measles, followed by a stint on Broadway with Laurence Olivier's touring company in "Caesar and Cleopatra" and "Anthony and Cleopatra". Upon his return to England, he won critical plaudits for his performance in "Hobson's Choice". In 1952, Donald began his screen career, rather unobtrusively, in small parts. He was only really noticed once having found his métier as dastardly, sneaky Prince John in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1955). It took several more years, until international recognition came his way: first, through the filmed adaptation of The Guest (1963), and, secondly, with his blind forger in The Great Escape (1963), a role he imbued with added conviction due to his own wartime experience.
Some of his best acting Donald reserved for the small screen. In 1962, the producer of The Twilight Zone (1959), Buck Houghton, brought Donald to the United States ("damn the expense"!) to guest star in the third-season episode "The Changing of the Guard". He was given a mere five days to immerse himself in the part of a gentle school teacher, Professor Ellis Fowler, who, on the eve of Christmas is forcibly retired after fifty-one years of teaching. Devastated, and believing himself a failure who has made no mark on the world, he is about to commit suicide when the school's bell summons him to his classroom. There, he is confronted by the spirits of deceased students who beg him to consider that his lessons have indeed had fundamental effects on their lives, even leading to acts of great heroism. Upon hearing this, Fowler is now content to graciously accept his retirement. Managing to avoid maudlin sentimentality, Donald's performance was intuitive and, arguably, one of the most poignant ever accomplished in a thirty-minute television episode. Once again, against type, he was equally delightful as the mild-mannered Reverend Septimus Harding in Anthony Trollope's The Barchester Chronicles (1982).
Whether eccentric, sinister or given to pathos, Donald Pleasence was always great value for money and his performances have rarely failed to engage.First ever film role:
[Film:] 'The Beachcomber' (1954)
[Character:] Tromp
N.B. this was NOT actually his first ever on-screen role – as that was a role on TV two years before this film, in 1952 – but it was his first ever film role.
{Now famous for: many films}- Actress
- Soundtrack
Miranda Richardson was born in Southport, Lancashire, England on March 3, 1958, to Marian Georgina (Townsend) and William Alan Richardson, a marketing executive. She has one sister, eight years her senior. Her parents and sister are not involved in the performing arts. At an early age she performed in school plays, having shown a talent and desire to "turn herself into" other people. She has referred to it as "an emotional fusion; you think yourself into them". This mimicry could be of school friends or film stars.
She left school (Southport High School for Girls) at the age of 17, and originally intended becoming a vet. She also considered studying English literature in college, but decided to concentrate on drama and enrolled at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (as did many well-known British actors). After three years she graduated and moved into repertory theatre. She became affiliated with the Library Theatre in Manchester in 1979, where she became an assistant stage manager. She obtained her Equity card, and after several regional productions, first appeared on the London stage (Moving at Queens Theatre) in 1981. British television roles soon followed, and then film.
Since then, Miranda has moved into the international arena, and has made films in America, France and Spain. Television work (on both sides of the Atlantic) continues, as does some stage work. Her roles are diverse, but powerful and engaging. She has been quoted as stating "what I basically like is doing things I haven't done before" and this continually comes through in the variety of roles she has played in her career. She is also selective in the roles she takes, being uninterested in performing in the standard Hollywood fare, and preferring more offbeat roles. She was approached to play the Glenn Close role in Fatal Attraction (1987), but found it "regressive in its attitudes". Her attitude is summed up by a quote from an interview that appeared in the New York Times (Dec 27 1992): "I would rather do many small roles on TV, stage or film than one blockbuster that made me rich but had no acting. And if that's the choice I have to make, I think I've already made it".
According to "1994 Current Biography Yearbook", she resides in South London with her two Siamese cats, Otis and Waldo. She has now moved to West London. Her hobbies include drawing, walking, gardening, fashion, falconry, and music. She, by her own admission, is a loner and lives rather modestly. An actor who studied with Ms Richardson at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre in the late 1970s described her as "a strong minded, specially gifted, rather pretty young woman who enjoys wearing jewelry. She wore toe rings, which in the late 1970s and especially in England, were a rarity and considered rather racy." He also remarked on her drive, even then, to be an actress of the highest caliber.First ever on-screen role:
[TV series:] 'Agony' (1979–1981)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "From Here To Maternity" (S03 E01: ep aired 1981)
[Character:] Gudrun
{Now famous for: many TV roles, etc.}- Actor
- Writer
- Director
Robert Picardo was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, where he spent his whole childhood. He graduated from the William Penn Charter School and attended Yale University. At Yale, he landed a role in Leonard Bernstein's "Mass" and at age 19, he played a leading role in the European premiere of "Mass". Later, he graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Drama from Yale University. He appeared in the David Mamet play "Sexual Perversity in Chicago" and, with Diane Keaton, in "The Primary English Class". In 1977, he made his Broadway debut in the comedy hit, "Gemini", with Danny Aiello, and also appeared in Bernard Slade's "Tribute", "Beyond Therapy" as well as "Geniuses" and "The Normal Heart", for which he won a Drama-Logue Award.
Then, he became involved in television, where he soon was nominated for an Emmy Award for his role as Coach Cutlip on the series, The Wonder Years (1988). Robert appeared in several other series: China Beach (1988), Frasier (1993), Ally McBeal (1997), Home Improvement (1991), The Outer Limits (1995) and Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1996).
In 1995, he got the role of the holographic doctor on Star Trek: Voyager (1995), where he also directed two episodes. He also got roles in The Howling (1981), Star 80 (1983), Get Crazy (1983), Oh, God! You Devil (1984), Innerspace (1987), Munchies (1987), Samantha (1991), White Mile (1994), Star Trek: First Contact (1996), Small Soldiers (1998), Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), Quantum Quest: A Cassini Space Odyssey (2010), and so on.
He resides in Los Angeles, California with his wife Linda, and their two daughters.First ever on-screen role:
[TV series:] 'Kojak' (1973–1978)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "Kojak's Days: Part 1" (S04 E19: ep aired 1977); "Kojak's Days: Part 2" (S04 E20: ep aired 1977)
[Character:] Thomas Rindone
{Now famous for: TV series 'Star Trek: Voyager' (1995–2001)}
BTW, this was also the TV episode that offered the first ever on-screen role for the actor William Hurt.- Actor
- Producer
William McChord Hurt was born in Washington, D.C., to Claire Isabel (McGill) and Alfred McChord Hurt, who worked at the State Department. He was trained at Tufts University and The Juilliard School and has been nominated for four Academy Awards, including the most recent nomination for his supporting role in David Cronenberg's A History of Violence (2005). Hurt received Best Supporting Actor accolades for the role from the Los Angeles Film Critics circle and the New York Film Critics Circle.
Hurt spent the early years of his career on the stage between drama school, summer stock, regional repertory and off-Broadway, appearing in more than fifty productions including "Henry V", "5th of July", "Hamlet", "Uncle Vanya", "Richard II", "Hurlyburly" (for which he was nominated for a Tony Award), "My Life" (winning an Obie Award for Best Actor), "A Midsummer's Night's Dream" and "Good". For radio, Hurt read Paul Theroux's "The Grand Railway Bazaar", for the BBC Radio Four and "The Shipping News" by Annie Proulx. He has recorded "The Polar Express", "The Boy Who Drew Cats", "The Sun Also Rises" and narrated the documentaries, "Searching for America: The Odyssey of John Dos Passos", "Einstein-How I See the World" and the English narration of Elie Wiesel's "To Speak the Unspeakable", a documentary directed and produced by Pierre Marmiesse. In 1988, Hurt was awarded the first Spencer Tracy Award from UCLA.First ever on-screen role:
[TV series:] 'Kojak' (1973–1978)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "Kojak's Days: Part 1" (S04 E19: ep aired 1977); "Kojak's Days: Part 2" (S04 E20: ep aired 1977)
[Character:] Jake
{Now famous for: many films}
BTW, this was also the TV episode that offered the first ever on-screen role for the actor for the actor Robert Picardo.- Anna Massey was born on 11 August 1937 in Thakeham, West Sussex, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Peeping Tom (1960), Frenzy (1972) and The Machinist (2004). She was married to Dr. Uri Andres and Jeremy Brett. She died on 2 July 2011 in London, England, UK.First ever film role:
[Film:] 'Gideon's Day' (1958)
[Character:] Sally Gideon
N.B. this was NOT actually her first ever on-screen role – as that was a role on TV three years before this film, in 1955 – but it was her first ever film role.
{Now famous for: many films} - Actor
- Producer
- Director
Adrian Zmed was born on 14 March 1954 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He is an actor and producer, known for Bachelor Party (1984), Grease 2 (1982) and T.J. Hooker (1982). He has been married to Lyssa Lynne since 5 October 2012. He was previously married to Barbara Fitzner and Susan Wood.First ever on-screen role:
[TV series:] 'Starsky and Hutch' (1975–1979)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "Discomania" (S04 E01: ep aired 1978)
[Character:] Marty Decker
{Now famous for: TV series 'T.J. Hooker' (1982–1986)}- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Vincent Phillip D'Onofrio was born on June 30, 1959 in Brooklyn, New York, to Phyllis, a restaurant manager and server, and Gene D'Onofrio, a theatre production assistant and interior designer. He is of Italian descent and has two older sisters. He studied at the Actors Studio and the American Stanislavski Theatre. Vincent D'Onofrio is known as an "actor's actor". The wide variety of roles he has played and the quality of his work have earned him a reputation as a versatile talent.
His first paid role was in Off-Broadway's "This Property Is Condemned". He continued appearing in plays and worked as a bouncer, a bodyguard and a delivery man. In 1984, he made his Broadway debut in "Open Admissions", followed by work in numerous other stage plays. In 2012, D'Onofrio returned to teach at the Lee Strasberg Theater & Film Institute. As a film actor, D'Onofrio's career break came when he played a mentally unbalanced recruit in Full Metal Jacket (1987), directed by the renowned Stanley Kubrick. For this role D'Onofrio gained nearly 70 pounds. He had a major role in Dying Young (1991), and appeared prominently in the box-office smash Men in Black (1997) as the bad guy (Edgar "The Bug").
Other films of note in which he has appeared are Mystic Pizza (1988), JFK (1991), The Player (1992), Ed Wood (1994), The Cell (2000), The Break-Up (2006) and Jurassic World (2015). In 1996, D'Onofrio garnered critical acclaim along with co-star Renée Zellweger for The Whole Wide World (1996), which he helped produce. He also made a guest appearance in The Subway (1997), where he played an accident victim who could not be rescued and was destined to die. For this performance he won an Emmy nomination. In 2000, he both produced and starred in Steal This Movie (2000), a biopic of radical leader Abbie Hoffman.
In 2001, D'Onofrio took the role which has likely given him his greatest public recognition: Det. Robert Goren, the lead character in the TV series Law & Order: Criminal Intent (2001). Goren is based on Sherlock Holmes but, instead of relying upon physical evidence like Holmes, D'Onofrio's character focuses on psychology to identify the perpetrators, whom he often draws into confessing or yielding condemning evidence. He played the part for 10 years.
In his career D'Onofrio's various film characters have included a priest, a bisexual former porn star, a hijacker, a serial killer, Orson Welles, a space alien, a 1960s radical leader, a pulp fiction writer, an ingenious police investigator and Stuart Smalley's dope-head brother. His on-screen love interests have included Julia Roberts, Cameron Diaz, Renée Zellweger, Marisa Tomei, Tracey Ullman, Rebecca De Mornay and Lili Taylor. One of his latest roles is in Marvel's Daredevil (2015) as Daredevil's nemesis, Wilson Fisk. He lives in Manhattan with his wife and children.First ever TV role:
[TV series:] 'The Equalizer' (1985–1989)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "Counterfire" (S02 E07: ep aired 1987)
[Character:] Thomas Marley Jr.
N.B. this was NOT actually his first ever on-screen role – as that was a role in a film four years before this TV episode, in 1983 ('The First Turn-On!!') – but it was his first ever TV role.
{Now famous for: many films & TV roles}- Actor
- Producer
Oliver Platt was born in Windsor, Ontario, to American parents, Sheila Maynard, a social worker, and Nicholas Platt, a career diplomat. His parents were both from upper-class families, and his maternal great-grandmother, Cynthia Roche, was the sister of Princess Diana's maternal grandfather, Maurice Roche.
Platt spent his childhood in Washington, D.C., Asia, and the Middle East. Oliver graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Drama in 1983 from Tufts University. He then trained at Shakespeare & Co. with Kristin Linklater.First ever on-screen role:
[TV series:] 'The Equalizer' (1985–1989)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "In the Money" (S03 E04: ep aired 1987)
[Character:] Norm Jameson
{Now famous for: many films}- Actress
- Soundtrack
Gillian Bevan was born on 13 February 1956 in Stockport, Cheshire, England, UK. She is an actress, known for Teachers (2001), Loved by You (1997) and Hamlet (2015).First ever on-screen role:
[TV series:] 'Never the Twain' (1981–1991)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "A Home of Your Own" (S04 E01: ep aired 1984)
[Character:] Lorraine
{Now famous for: many TV roles}- Director
- Actor
- Producer
Two-time BAFTA-nominated director Dexter Fletcher is an English actor-turned-filmmaker whose movies and TV work include the Academy Award-winning Elton John biopic Rocketman. Fletcher started his career in front of the camera at the age of 6; three years later he played "Baby Face" in Alan Parker's Bugsy Malone. At 16 Fletcher became the youngest regular member of London's Royal Shakespeare Company, at 23 he was the breakout star of the hit British show Press Gang, and in four decades as an actor his screen and stage co-stars have included Al Pacino, Anthony Hopkins, Robert De Niro, Helen Mirren, Alan Rickman, and Liam Neeson, among others. The esteemed directors Fletcher has worked for include David Lynch, Mike Leigh, Michael Winterbottom, Ken Russell, Derek Jarman, and Guy Ritchie.
Fletcher made his debut as a filmmaker with the felons-and-fatherhood drama Wild Bill (2011), which won him two Writers' Guild of Great Britain awards and earned a BAFTA nom for Outstanding Debut; the film currently has a rare 100% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. His follow-up, Sunshine on Leith (2013), was an adaptation of a stage work based on music by the Scottish band the Proclaimers. It debuted at the Toronto International Film Festival.
In 2016 Fletcher directed Taron Egerton and Hugh Jackman in Eddie the Eagle, about Olympic ski-jumper Michael "Eddie" Edwards, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Later that year, Fletcher was asked to take over directing duties on Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), which told the story of late rocker Freddie Mercury and the band Queen. Fletcher had helped develop that film, and, while uncredited, he helmed the final weeks of shooting and oversaw post-production. The film grossed over $900 million worldwide and won four Oscars, including Best Editing and Best Actor for Rami Malek's portrayal of Mercury.
Fletcher's fourth film, Rocketman (2019) - a dynamic, vibrant biopic about the life of rock legend Elton John, who provided full rights to his music - reunited Fletcher with Taron Egerton. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and earned four BAFTA nominations, and won John and songwriter Bernie Taupin the Best Original Song Oscar for "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" (the only song longtime collaborators John and Taupin won an award for together). Egerton was awarded a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor-Musical or Comedy for his performance as John.
In April 2022 Fletcher executive produced the highly-anticipated Paramount+ miniseries The Offer, about The Godfather's journey to the screen, and directed the first two episodes.
Fletcher next directed the romantic adventure comedy Ghosted, starring Ana de Armas and Chris Evans, about a CIA assassin wanting a life outside of her dangerous job and the everyday guy who falls for her without knowing her profession - which involves saving the world. The film premiered on Apple TV+ on April 21. Ghosted reunited Fletcher with cinematographer Salvatore Totino, who worked on episodes of The Offer.
Fletcher will return to acting in director Vanessa Caswill's adaptation of the bestselling novel The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight. The Netflix film is due in 2023.
Fletcher currently resides in London with his wife, acclaimed opera director and film producer (The Offer, Ghosted) Dalia Ibelhauptaité.First ever on-screen role:
[Film:] 'Bugsy Malone' (1976)
[Character:] Baby Face
{Now famous for: 'Press Gang' (1989–1993) & other TV series}- Actor
- Producer
- Director
Macaulay Culkin, one of the most famous American child stars, was born on August 26, 1980 in New York City, New York, USA, as the third of seven children of his father Kit Culkin (a former stage and child actor and also Macaulay's former manager) and mother Patricia Brentrup. He is the brother of Shane Culkin, Dakota Culkin, Kieran Culkin, Quinn Culkin, Christian Culkin, and Rory Culkin, most of whom have also acted. Macaulay's mother, who is from North Dakota, is of German and Norwegian descent. Macaulay's father, from Manhattan, has Irish, German, English, Swiss-German, and French ancestry.
"Mack", as he's known to his close friends and family, first came into showbiz at the age of 4, appearing in a string of Off-Broadway shows such as the New York City Ballet's The Nutcracker and, by 8 years-old, the films Rocket Gibraltar (1988) and See You in the Morning (1989), which included him in the rare company of kids who have received rave reviews from The New Yorker and The New York Times.
By the age of 9, the young actor had nearly upstaged star John Candy in Uncle Buck (1989) (his deadpan interrogation of Candy was Buck's funniest scene). Then, in 1990, writer John Hughes turned his finished Home Alone (1990) script over to director Chris Columbus with a suggestion to consider Culkin for the lead. Though Macaulay was the first kid Columbus saw, he was skeptical about having him in the lead and saw over 200 other possible actors and he admitted that no one came as close to being as good as Culkin. By the callback interview, Mack had memorized two scenes, and Columbus was sure he found his "Kevin McCallister". The movie grossed more than $285 million in the US alone, becoming one of the highest grossing movies of all time and making Macaulay Culkin one of the biggest movie stars of the time.
His next big project was My Girl (1991) in which he played "Thomas J. Sennett", a boy who seems to be allergic to everything. Despite some controversy over the ending, the film was released anyway and proved to be another hit film for Mack (and featured his very first kiss). In 1992 came Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992), which grossed more than $172 million in the US alone. In 1993 came The Good Son (1993), which was the first role to depart from his cute kid comedies. He played a murderous little demon named Henry. He got the role when his powerhouse negotiator/manager/father Kit Culkin said that he would pull Mack out of Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) unless he was given the psychotic boy lead in The Good Son (1993). He was also given a salary of $5 million for the film.
In 1994, at the age of 14, came a string of duds, The Pagemaster (1994), Getting Even with Dad (1994) and Richie Rich (1994). He was paid $8 million for the last two, the highest salary ever paid for a child star. Many people believed Mack had lost his touch, though, because he was no longer that cute tiny kid they saw in Home Alone (1990). In 1995 his parents, who were never married, separated and started a greedy legal battle over the custody of their kids and Mack's fortune. In 1996, the young actor had reportedly said he wouldn't accept any roles until his parents settled their custody dispute. That case would not be resolved until April 1997 when Kit Culkin relinquished control to Brentrup.
In 1998, Macaulay married actress Rachel Miner, but separated in 2000 because Rachel wanted to start a family and Mack wanted to get back into acting. There has been a gap of eight years since 1994's Richie Rich (1994), and although he made a 'comeback' on stage in 2001, appearing in a London production of "Madame Melville", and also portrayed Michael Alig in Party Monster (2003); with an estimated fortune of $17 million he clearly never has to work again - if the roles don't appeal to him.First ever on-screen role:
[TV series:] 'The Equalizer' (1985–1989)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "Something Green" (S03 E15: ep aired 1988)
[Character:] Paul Gephardt
Well, this was the first role where he was actually cited on the credits. This was actually his 2nd on-screen role, as he was in an earlier TV drama ('The Midnight Hour' [1985]) where he was not cited in the on-screen credits.
{Now famous for: film series 'Home Alone' (1990), etc.}- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Exotic leading man of American films, famed as much for his completely bald head as for his performances, Yul Brynner masked much of his life in mystery and outright lies designed to tease people he considered gullible. It was not until the publication of the books "Yul: The Man Who Would Be King" and "Empire and Odyssey" by his son, Yul "Rock" Brynner, that many of the details of Brynner's early life became clear.
Yul sometimes claimed to be a half-Swiss, half-Japanese named Taidje Khan, born on the island of Sakhalin; in reality, he was the son of Marousia Dimitrievna (Blagovidova), the Russian daughter of a doctor, and Boris Yuliyevich Bryner, an engineer and inventor of Swiss-German and Russian descent. He was born in their home town of Vladivostok on 11 July 1920 and named Yuli after his grandfather, Jules Bryner. When Yuli's father abandoned the family, his mother took him and his sister Vera to Harbin, Manchuria, where they attended a YMCA school. In 1934 Yuli's mother took her children to Paris. Her son was sent to the exclusive Lycée Moncelle, but his attendance was spotty. He dropped out and became a musician, playing guitar in the nightclubs among the Russian gypsies who gave him his first real sense of family. He met luminaries such as Jean Cocteau and became an apprentice at the Theatre des Mathurins. He worked as a trapeze artist with the famed Cirque d'Hiver company.
He traveled to the U.S. in 1941 to study with acting teacher Michael Chekhov and toured the country with Chekhov's theatrical troupe. That same year, he debuted in New York as Fabian in "Twelfth Night" (billed as Youl Bryner). After working in a very early TV series, Mr. Jones and His Neighbors (1944), he played on Broadway in "Lute Song" with Mary Martin, winning awards and mild acclaim. He and his wife, actress Virginia Gilmore, starred in the first TV talk show, Mr. and Mrs. (1948). Brynner then joined CBS as a television director. He made his film debut in Port of New York (1949). Two years later Mary Martin recommended him for the part he would forever be known for: the King in Richard Rodgers' and Oscar Hammerstein II's musical "The King and I". Brynner became an immediate sensation in the role, repeating it for film (The King and I (1956)) and winning the Oscar for Best Actor.
For the next two decades, he maintained a starring film career despite the exotic nature of his persona, performing in a wide range of roles from Egyptian pharaohs to Western gunfighters, almost all with the same shaved head and indefinable accent. In the 1970s he returned to the role that had made him a star, and spent most of the rest of his life touring the world in "The King and I". When he developed lung cancer in the mid 1980s, he left a powerful public service announcement denouncing smoking as the cause, for broadcast after his death. The cancer and its complications, after a long illness, ended his life. Brynner was cremated and his ashes buried in a remote part of France, on the grounds of the Abbey of Saint-Michel de Bois Aubry, a short distance outside the village of Luzé. He remains one of the most fascinating, unusual and beloved stars of his time.First ever film role:
[Film:] 'Port of New York' (1949)
[Character:] Paul Vicola
N.B. this was NOT actually his first ever on-screen role – as that was a role in a TV series five years before this film, in 1944 ('Mr. Jones and His Neighbors') – but it was his first ever film role.
{Now famous for: many films, live theatre, etc.}- Actor
- Additional Crew
- Soundtrack
John Soursby Glover, Jr., is an American actor, known for a range of villainous roles in films and television, including Lionel Luthor on the Superman-inspired television series Smallville. In 1993 he co-starred in the dark comedy Ed and His Dead Mother with Steve Buscemi and Ned Beatty.Glover was born in Salisbury, Maryland, the son of Cade (née Mullins) and John Soursby Glover, Sr., a television salesman. Glover attended Wicomico High School and acted at Towson University. Glover began his career at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia, and later studied acting at the Beverly Hills Playhouse under Milton Katselas. Aside from his theatrical endeavors, Glover is also actively involved with the Alzheimer's Association. His inspiration for joining this cause was his own father's experience with Alzheimer's disease.First ever TV role:
[TV series:] 'Kojak' (1973–1978)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "Elegy in an Asphalt Graveyard" (S02 E27: ep aired 1975)
[Character:] Billy Jo
N.B. this was NOT actually his first ever on-screen role – as that was a role in a film two years before this TV episode, in 1973 ('Shamus') – but it was his first ever TV role.
{Now famous for: many TV roles}- Actress
- Soundtrack
Jane Wymark is a British actress, best known for her roles on the BBC drama Poldark (1975), as well as the television series Midsomer Murders (1997). She was born on October 31, 1952 in London, England, and is the daughter of American writer and playwright Olwen Wymark and English actor Patrick Wymark, both of whom she credits with instilling a love of acting in her.
Jane Wymark was educated a Birmingham University. She has appeared in a series of projects ranging from TV dramas to stage plays.First ever on-screen role:
[TV series:] 'Rooms' (1974–1977)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "Susan" Parts 1 & 2 (S1 E28 & E29: eps aired 1975)
[Character:] Susan
{Now famous for: TV series 'Midsomer Murders' (1997+)}- Actress
- Soundtrack
Julia Sawalha was born in London. She has received due honor for her acting talents. Starring as Lynda Day in Press Gang winning the BAFTA award for Best Drama series. She played the role of Saffy in [Absolutely Fabulous 1992-2016], for which she won the RTS award for Best Actress, Lydia Bennett in the miniseries of [Pride and Prejudice BBC] and the role of Dorcas Lane in the BBC costume drama Lark Rise To Candleford, for which she was nominated Best Actress for the RTS Awards. She created and voiced the character Ginger in Aardman's Oscar nominated feature film Chicken Run, which is the highest grossing stop-motion animated film in history. She has completed two projects for mainstream TV due to be broadcast in 2024.First ever on-screen role:
[TV series:] 'Keep It in the Family' (1980–1983)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "A Game of No Chance" (S03 E03: ep aired 1981)
[Character:] Walk-On (uncredited)
Admittedly it was almost/effectively an 'extra' role, as she had no script/lines (i.e. it is a non-speaking role), the character had no name, was not spoken to by another character, & she is only on-screen for about 8 seconds in total.
{Now famous for: many TV roles}- Actress
- Producer
Veronica Hamel was born on 20 November 1943 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Hill Street Blues (1981), Cannonball! (1976) and When Time Ran Out... (1980). She was previously married to Michael Irving.First ever on-screen role:
[TV series:] 'Kojak' (1973–1978)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "How Cruel the Frost, How Bright the Stars" (S03 E15: ep aired 1975)
[Character:] Elenora
{Now famous for: TV series 'Hill Street Blues' (1981–1987)}- Actress
- Soundtrack
Few in modern British history have come as far or achieved as much from humble beginnings as Glenda Jackson did. From acclaimed actress to respected MP (Member of Parliament), she was known for her high intelligence and meticulous approach to her work. She was born to a working-class household in Birkenhead, where her father was a bricklayer and her mother was a cleaning lady. When she was very young, her father was recruited into the Navy, where he worked aboard a minesweeper. She graduated from school at 16 and worked for a while in a pharmacy. However, she found this boring and dead-end and wanted better for herself. Her life changed forever when she was accepted into the prestigious Royal Acadamy of Dramatic Art (RADA) at the age of 18. Her work impressed all who observed it. At age 22, she married Roy Hodges.
Her first work came on the stage, where she won a role in an adaptation of "Separate Tables", and made a positive impression on critics and audiences alike. This led to film roles, modest at first, but she approached them with great determination. She first came to the public's notice when she won a supporting role in the controversial film Marat/Sade (1967), and is acknowledged to have stolen the show. She quickly became a member of Britain's A-List. Her first starring role came in the offbeat drama Negatives (1968), in which she out-shone the oddball material. The following year, controversial director Ken Russell gave her a starring role in his adaptation of the 1920s romance Women in Love (1969), in which she co-starred with Oliver Reed. The film was a major success, and Jackson's performance won her an Academy Award for Best Actress. In the process, she became an international celebrity, known world-wide, yet she didn't place as much value on the status and fame as most do. She did, however, become a major admirer of Russell (who had great admiration for her in return) and acted in more of his films. She starred in the controversial The Music Lovers (1971), although it required her to do a nude scene, something that made her very uncomfortable. The film was not a success, but she agreed to do a cameo appearance in his next film, The Boy Friend (1971). Although her role as an obnoxious actress was very small, she once again performed with great aplomb.
1971 turned out to be a key year for her. She took a risk by appearing in Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971), as a divorced businesswoman in a dead-end affair with a shallow bisexual artist, but the film turned out to be another major success. She accepted the starring role in the British Broadcasting Corporation's much anticipated biography of Queen Elizabeth I, and her performance in the finished film, Elizabeth R (1971), was praised not only by critics and fans, but is cited by historians as the most accurate portrayal of the beloved former queen ever seen. The same year, she successfully played the role of Queen Elizabeth I again in the historical drama Mary, Queen of Scots (1971). That same year, she appeared in the popular comedy series The Morecambe & Wise Show (1968) in a skit as Queen Cleopatra, which is considered on of the funniest TV skits in British television, and also proof that she could do comedy just as well as costume melodrama. One who saw and raved about her performance was director Melvin Frank, who proceeded to cast her in the romantic comedy A Touch of Class (1973), co-starring George Segal. The two stars had a chemistry which brought out the best in each other, and the film was not only a major hit in both the United States and Great Britain, but won her a second Academy Award. She continued to impress by refusing obvious commercial roles and seeking out serious artistic work. She gave strong performances in The Romantic Englishwoman (1975) and The Incredible Sarah (1976), in which she portrayed the legendary actress Sarah Bernhardt. However, some of her films didn't register with the public, like The Triple Echo (1972), The Maids (1975), and Nasty Habits (1977). In addition, her marriage fell apart in 1976. But her career remained at the top and in 1978 she was named Commander of the Order of the British Empire. That year, she made a comeback in the comedy House Calls (1978), co-starring Walter Matthau. The success of this film which led to a popular television spin-off in the United States the following year. In 1979, she and Segal re-teamed in Lost and Found (1979), but they were unable to overcome the routine script. She again co-starred with Oliver Reed in The Class of Miss MacMichael (1978), but the film was another disappointment.
During the 1980s, she appeared in Hopscotch (1980) also co-starring Walter Matthau, and HealtH (1980) with Lauren Bacall, with disappointing results, although Jackson herself was never blamed. Her performance in the TV biography Sakharov (1984), in which she played Yelena Bonner, devoted wife of imprisoned Russian nuclear scientist Andrei Sakharov opposite Jason Robards, won rave reviews. However, the next film Turtle Diary (1985), was only a modest success, and the ensemble comedy Beyond Therapy (1987) was a critical and box office disaster and Jackson herself got some of the worst reviews of her career.
As the 1980s ended, Jackson continued to act, but became more focused on public affairs. She grew up in a household that was staunchly supportive of the Labour Party. She had disliked the policies of Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, even though she admired some of her personal attributes, and strongly disapproved of Thatcher's successor, John Major. She was unhappy with the direction of British government policies, and in 1992 ran for Parliament. Although running in an area (Hampstead and Highgate) which was not heavily supportive of her party, she won by a slim margin and immediately became its most famous newly elective member. However, those who expected that she would rest on her laurels and fame were mistaken. She immediately took an interest in transportation issues, and in 1997 was appointed Junior Transportation Minister by Prime Minister Tony Blair. However, she was critical of some of Blair's policies and is considered an inter-party opponent of Blair's moderate faction. She was considered a traditional Labour Party activist, but is not affiliated with the faction known as The Looney Left. In 2000, she ran for Mayor of London, but lost the Labour nomination to fellow MP Frank Dobson, an ally of Blair, who then lost the election to an independent candidate, Ken Livingstone.
In 2005, she ran again and won the nomination, but lost to Livingstone, winning 38% of the vote. When Blair announced he would not seek reelection as Prime Minister in 2006, Jackson's name was mentioned as a possible successor, although she didn't encourage this speculation. In 2010, she sought reelection to parliament and was almost defeated, winning by only 42 votes.
In 2013, she responded to the death of Margaret Thatcher by strongly denouncing her policies, which was condemned by many as graceless. In 2015, elections for parliament were called again but she didn't seek reelection. She was succeeded in Parliament by Christopher Philp, a Conservative Party member who had been Jackson's opponent in 2010.First ever on-screen role:
[Film:] 'The Extra Day' (1956)
[Character:] Extra (uncredited)
Admittedly it was almost/effectively an 'extra' role, as she had no script/lines (i.e. it is a non-speaking role), the character had no name, was not spoken to by another character, & she is only on-screen for about 3 seconds in total! But she is focused on by the camera (at 1h 30m), as her character is required to faint on-screen.
{Now famous for: many films, live theatre, etc.}- Actress
- Soundtrack
Audrey Hepburn was born as Audrey Kathleen Ruston on May 4, 1929 in Ixelles, Brussels, Belgium. Her mother, Baroness Ella Van Heemstra, was a Dutch noblewoman, while her father, Joseph Victor Anthony Ruston, was born in Úzice, Bohemia, to English and Austrian parents.
After her parents' divorce, Audrey went to London with her mother where she went to a private girls school. Later, when her mother moved back to the Netherlands, she attended private schools as well. While she vacationed with her mother in Arnhem, Netherlands, Hitler's army took over the town. It was here that she fell on hard times during the Nazi occupation. Audrey suffered from depression and malnutrition.
After the liberation, she went to a ballet school in London on a scholarship and later began a modeling career. As a model, she was graceful and, it seemed, she had found her niche in life--until the film producers came calling. In 1948, after being spotted modeling by a producer, she was signed to a bit part in the European film Nederlands in zeven lessen (1948). Later, she had a speaking role in the 1951 film, Young Wives' Tale (1951) as Eve Lester. The part still wasn't much, so she headed to America to try her luck there. Audrey gained immediate prominence in the US with her role in Roman Holiday (1953). This film turned out to be a smashing success, and she won an Oscar as Best Actress.
On September 25, 1954, she married actor Mel Ferrer. She also starred in Sabrina (1954), for which she received another Academy Award nomination. She starred in the films Funny Face (1957) and Love in the Afternoon (1957). She received yet another Academy Award nomination for her role in The Nun's Story (1959). On July 17, 1960, she gave birth to her first son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer.
Audrey reached the pinnacle of her career when she played Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), for which she received another Oscar nomination. She scored commercial success again playing Regina Lampert in the espionage caper Charade (1963). One of Audrey's most radiant roles was in the fine production of My Fair Lady (1964). After a couple of other movies, most notably Two for the Road (1967), she hit pay dirt and another nomination in Wait Until Dark (1967).
In 1967, Audrey decided to retire from acting while she was on top. She divorced from Mel Ferrer in 1968. On January 19, 1969, she married Dr. Andrea Dotti. On February 8, 1970, she gave birth to her second son, Luca Dotti in Lausanne, Vaud, Switzerland. From time to time, she would appear on the silver screen.
In 1988, she became a special ambassador to the United Nations UNICEF fund helping children in Latin America and Africa, a position she retained until 1993. She was named to People's magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. Her last film was Always (1989).
Audrey Hepburn died, aged 63, on January 20, 1993 in Tolochnaz, Vaud, Switzerland, from appendicular cancer. She had made a total of 31 high quality movies. Her elegance and style will always be remembered in film history as evidenced by her being named in Empire magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time".First ever film role
[although some sources cite this as another film made the same year: 'One Wild Oat' (1951) (character: Hotel Receptionist)]:
[Film:] 'Laughter in Paradise' (1951)
[Character:] Cigarette Girl
N.B. this was NOT actually her first ever on-screen role – as that was a role two years before this film, in a TV movie in 1949 ('Sauce Tartare') (N.B. no character name is cited) – but it was her first ever film role.
{Now famous for: many films}- Director
- Actor
- Producer
Jerome Courtland was born on 27 December 1926 in Knoxville, Tennessee, USA. He was a director and actor, known for Pete's Dragon (1977), Kiss and Tell (1945) and Make Believe Ballroom (1949). He was married to Marlene Juttner, Janet Rose Gumprecht and Polly Bergen. He died on 1 March 2012 in Santa Clarita Valley, California, USA.First ever on-screen role:
[Film:] 'Together Again' (1944)
[Character:] Gilbert Parker- Actress
- Producer
- Soundtrack
Frances Louise McDormand was born on June 23, 1957, in Gibson City, Illinois. She was adopted by Canadian-born parents Noreen Eloise (Nickleson), a nurse from Ontario, and Rev. Vernon Weir McDormand, a Disciples of Christ minister from Nova Scotia, who raised her in the suburbs of Pittsburgh. She earned a BA in theater from Bethany College in 1979 and an MFA from Yale University in 1982. Her career after graduation began onstage, and she has retained her association with the theater throughout her career. She soon obtained prominent roles in movies as well, first starring in Blood Simple (1984), in which she worked with filmmaker Joel Coen, whom she married that year. She frequently collaborated with Coen and his brother, Ethan Coen, in their films.
McDormand's skilled and versatile acting has been recognized by both the critics and the Academy, and in addition to many critics' awards, she has been nominated for an Academy Award six times - Supporting in Mississippi Burning (1988), Almost Famous (2000), and North Country (2005), and Lead in Fargo (1996), Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017), and Nomadland (2020), winning the Oscar for the latter three. She also won a Best Picture Oscar as co-producer of "Nomadland." Keenly intelligent and possessed of a sharp wit, McDormand is the antithesis of the Hollywood starlet - rather than making every role about Frances McDormand, she dissolves into the characters she plays. Accordingly, she has expressed some reservations about the iconic recognition she has gained from her touching and amusing portrayal of Police Chief Marge Gunderson, the quintessential Minnesota Scandinavian, in Fargo (1996).
McDormand and Coen adopted a son, Pedro McDormand Coen, who was born in Paraguay, in 1994. They live in New York.First ever TV role:
[TV series:] 'Hunter' (1984–1991)
[Episode: title, series & broadcast date (year):] "The Garbage Man" (S1 E11: ep aired 1985)
[Character:] Nina Sloan (as Fran McDormand)
N.B. this was NOT actually her first ever on-screen role – as that was a role in a film one year before this TV episode, in 1984 ('Blood Simple') – but it was her first ever TV role.
{Now famous for: many films}- Actor
- Soundtrack
Keith Michell was an Emmy Award-winning Australian stage, television, and film actor. Born 1 December 1926 in Adelaide, South Australia, he was brought up some 150 miles away, in Warnertown, on the Augusta Highway between Crystal Brook and Port Pirie. He taught art until he made his debut on the Adelaide stage in 1947, following that up with his first appearance in London in 1951.
Michell was a member of the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company. From 1974-77, he was the artistic director of the Chichester Festival Theatre. He has starred in several musicals, including the first London production of Man of La Mancha (1972). In addition to his stage work, he appeared extensively in film and television in Australia and the UK, most notably as King Henry VIII in the six-part 1970 BBC series The Six Wives of Henry VIII (1970), for which he won an Emmy Award. A movie version was made in 1972. On US television, he appeared in various episodes of Murder, She Wrote (1984). In addition to acting, he wrote a musical adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's 'Peer Gynt', called "Pete McGynty and the Dreamtime". He also paints and illustrates books, as well as written and illustrated cookbooks.
Michell married the Anglo-Czech actress Jeanette Sterke in 1957; they had two children: actor Paul Michell and actress Helena Michell. He died on 20 November 2015, aged 88, in Hampstead, London, England. A theater in Port Pirie, the Keith Mitchell Theatre-Northern Festival Centre, was founded in his honor.First ever film role:
[Film:] 'True as a Turtle' (1957)
[Character:] Harry Bell
N.B. this was NOT actually his first ever on-screen role – as that was a role on TV six years before this film, in 1951 – but it was his first ever film role.
{Now famous for:
e.g. repeat guest role in TV series 'Murder She Wrote' (1984+)}- Well-known British classical stage star Tony Britton was born Anthony Edward Lowry Britton in Birmingham, England, on June 9, 1924, the son of Edward Leslie and Doris (Jones) Britton in 1924. He took his first professional curtain call at age 18 in "Quiet Weekend" with a company in Weston-Super-Mare just before joining the Army in November of 1942. Serving with the Royal Artillery for 4 1/2 years, he eventually returned to the theater after the war, at first in the capacity of an assistant stage manager at the Manchester Library Theatre.
Making his London debut in "The Rising Wind" at the Embassy Theatre, Tony began elevating his name in repertory at Edinburgh and the Bristol Old Vic during the 1951 season, but major attention came after being cast as Rameses in Christopher Fry's "The Firstborn" at London's Winter Garden Theatre in 1952. This success led to the leading role and excellent critical notices in "The Player King" later that year at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. Glen Byam Shaw, director of the Memorial Theatre, witnessed this performance and invited him join his company. He remained there for two seasons playing Bassiano opposite Peggy Ashcroft in "The Merchant of Venice," as well as essaying the roles of Cassio in "Othello", Mercutio in "Romeo and Juliet" and Lysander in "A Midsummer Night's Dream", among others.
Other London stage roles came with "The Night of the Ball" opposite Wendy Hiller and Gladys Cooper, and "Gigi" starring Leslie Caron. At the Old Vic he played Trigorin in "The Seagull" and Hotspur in "Henry IV" before settling in for an over two-year run as Henry Higgins in "My Fair Lady". He would return to this part more than once over a decade later.
A renaissance man of the theatre, Tony didn't pursue film roles with equal zest, yet his infrequent offerings reliably enhanced any project he was involved in. The highlights of his 20 or so movies include both lead and supporting parts in The Birthday Present (1957) (co-starring Sylvia Syms, Behind the Mask (1958) with Michael Redgrave, The Risk (1960) opposite Virginia Maskell, Sunday Bloody Sunday (1971) and The Day of the Jackal (1973); his last film to date was released decades ago -- Agatha (1979) starring Dustin Hoffman and Vanessa Redgrave.
On TV Tony has portrayed assorted men of distinction -- lords, sirs, captains ,and the like in TV movies. He lightened up considerably in his numerous comedy series, including the popular Robin's Nest (1977) and Don't Wait Up (1983), both of which ran for several seasons. His last decade or so were spent primarily on TV with prime roles on the British series Don't Tell Father (1992), the mini-series The Way We Live Now (2001) and episodes of "My Dad's the Prime Minister," "Doctors," "The Royal" and "Holby City." He made his last appearance with a brief bit in the rollicking film comedy Run for Your Wife (2012).
He has contributed his mellifluous voice to books on tape as well. Divorced from Ruth Hawkins, who bore him two children, he later was long married to Danish sculptor Eve Birkefeldt until her death in 2008. His three children -- classical actor Jasper Britton, writer Cherry Britton, and correspondent Fern Britton -- have all been involved one way or another in the entertainment field. Tony died on December 22, 2019, at age 95.{ Hmmm . . . Not quite his first ever on-screen role! See my note, below! }
First ever on-screen role:
[Film:] 'Loser Takes All' (1956)
[Character:] Tony
N.B. this was NOT actually his first ever on-screen role, but it was the film that claims in the opening credits to be 'introducing' the actor.
His actual first ever on-screen roles were, according to IMDb.com, in 3 earlier films:
(i) an uncredited role in 2 films of 1950:
(a) 'Waterfront' (1950), as the uncredited character 'Deck-hand'
(b) 'Cage of Gold' (1950), as the uncredited character of 'Nicky'
(ii) a credited role of 1952 (made 4 years earlier than 'Loser Takes All'): 'Salute the Toff' (1952), as the character 'Draycott'
{Now famous for: many films & TV roles}