Hugh Bonneville

Hugh Bonneville DL
Bonneville at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival in 2017
Born	Hugh Richard Bonniwell Williams (1963-11-10) 10 November 1963 (age 60) Paddington, London, England
Alma mater	Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (BA) Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1990–present
Known for	Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey
Spouse	Lucinda Williams ​ ​ (m. 1998;sep. 2023)​
Children	1
Website	www.hughbonneville.uk

Hugh Richard Bonniwell Williams ^[1] DL (born 10 November 1963), known professionally as Hugh Bonneville, is an English actor. ^[2] He is best known for portraying Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in the ITV historical drama series Downton Abbey from 2010 to 2015. His performance on the show earned him a nomination at the Golden Globes and two consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations, as well as three Screen Actors Guild Awards. He reprised his role in the feature films, Downton Abbey (2019), and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022). He also appeared in the films Notting Hill (1999), Iris (2001), The Monuments Men (2014), and the Paddington films (2014–present).

Early life and education

Hugh Richard Bonniwell Williams was born on 10 November 1963 in Paddington, London. His mother was a nurse and his father was a urological surgeon. ^[3] He was educated at Dulwich College Preparatory School in south London and at Sherborne School. ^[4]

Following secondary education, Bonneville read theology at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. ^{[5] [6]} He graduated from Cambridge with a 2:2 in theology. ^[7] He went on to study at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Bonneville is an alumnus of the National Youth Theatre. ^[4]

Career

1990s

When he began acting, Bonneville chose Richard Bonneville, a variation of his middle names, as his stage name, because there was a well-known playwright named Hugh Williams. After appearing as Richard Bonneville for ten years, he changed Richard to Hugh. ^[1]

Bonneville's first professional stage appearance was at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park. In 1987, he joined the National Theatre where he appeared in several plays, then the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1991, where he played Laertes to Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1992–1993). He played Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona , Bergetto in 'Tis Pity She's a Whore , Kastril and later Surly in The Alchemist . ^[8]

In 1994, billed as Richard Bonneville, he appeared in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes episode "The Dying Detective". His film debut was in 1994's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with Robert De Niro and Kenneth Branagh. In the 1997 James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies , he had a small role playing a naval sailor onboard "HMS Bedford". His early roles were usually good-natured bumbling characters like Bernie in Notting Hill (1999) and Mr Rushworth in Mansfield Park (1999).

2000s

In the BBC television series Take a Girl Like You (2000) and Armadillo (2001), he played more villainous characters, leading up to the domineering Henleigh Grandcourt in Daniel Deronda (2002) and the psychopathic killer James Lampton in The Commander (2003) series. In Love Again, he played the poet Philip Larkin.

In Iris (2001), he played the young John Bayley opposite Kate Winslet, with his performance lauded by critics and receiving a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 2004, Bonneville played Sir Christopher Wren in the docudrama Wren – The Man Who Built Britain. Bonneville also works extensively in radio. He played the role of Jerry Westerby in the BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the John le Carré novel The Honourable Schoolboy , first broadcast in January 2010. ^[9] Earlier, he appeared in the surreal parallel universe comedy Married .

2010s

From 2010 until 2015, he appeared in the ITV period drama Downton Abbey , as Robert, Earl of Grantham, a role he repeated in the 2019 film. Bonneville again reprised the role of Robert Crawley in the 2022 film Downton Abbey: A New Era .

In early 2010, he appeared in the comedy film Burke and Hare . ^[10] In 2011 and 2012, he starred as Ian Fletcher in the award-winning BBC comedy series Twenty Twelve , and reprised the role in the 2014 BBC comedy series W1A . In December 2012, he appeared on BBC Two with co-star Jessica Hynes in World's Most Dangerous Roads, travelling through Georgia. He also appeared in the much-delayed film Hippie Hippie Shake with Cillian Murphy and Sienna Miller.

From 2011 until 2014, Bonneville was the narrator of the Channel 4 show The Hotel . On 18 November 2012, Bonneville appeared on stage at St Martin's Theatre in the West End for a 60th anniversary performance of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap , the world's longest-running play. ^[11]

Bonneville's Paddington Bear designed statue—"The Journey of Marmalade"—in Hyde Park, London, auctioned to raise funds for the NSPCC

Bonneville played Mr. Brown in the 2014 film Paddington and its 2017 sequel Paddington 2 . He has appeared in the singing comedic role of Peter the Pillager, the Pirate King, in the ABC fairy tale-themed musical comedy extravaganza series Galavant during its 2015 and 2016 seasons. He also narrated the ITV series The Cruise .

In 2017, Bonneville portrayed Lord Mountbatten in director Gurinder Chadha's film Viceroy's House , which depicted the tumult and violence surrounding the Partition of India during the final days of British rule. Also in 2017, he portrayed the voice of Merlin in the movie based on the children's TV series Thomas & Friends , Journey Beyond Sodor . Also that year, he narrated the documentary A Return to Grace: Luther's Life and Legacy and it was announced that Bonneville would play Roald Dahl in an upcoming biopic about the author. ^[12]

In 2018, Bonneville succeeded Julie Andrews as host and narrator of the annual "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration" episode of Great Performances , broadcast on New Year's Day on PBS in the United States. ^[13] Also in 2018, he returned to voice Merlin in one of the episodes of the twenty-second series of Thomas & Friends .

In 2019, Bonneville portrayed C. S. Lewis at the Chichester Festival Theatre's production of Shadowlands , ^[14] along with actors Liz White and Andrew Havill.

2020s

On 8 March 2023, Bonneville appeared on ITV’s DNA Journey with comedian, John Bishop. ^[15]

On 7 May 2023, Bonneville appeared as the host of the Coronation Concert of King Charles III. ^[16] In June, 2023, it was announced that Bonneville will return to the third instalment of Paddington. ^[17]

Personal life

Bonneville married Lucinda Williams in 1998. ^[18] They lived with their son, Felix, in West Sussex. ^[19] In September 2023, the couple separated after 25 years together. ^[20]

In 2009, Bonneville was the voice of Justice Fosse in Joseph Crilly's British premiere of Kitty and Damnation for the Giant Olive Theatre Company at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town. ^[21] Shortly thereafter he became Giant Olive's first patron. ^[22] Bonneville is also a patron of the London children's charities Go Live Theatre Projects ^[23] and Scene & Heard, as well as an ambassador for WaterAid. ^[24]

On 8 October 2019, he was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of West Sussex. ^[25]

Works

Key

†	Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1994	Mary Shelley's Frankenstein	Schiller
1997	Tomorrow Never Dies	Air Warfare Officer – HMS Bedford
1999	Notting Hill	Bernie
	Mansfield Park	Mr Rushworth
2001	Blow Dry	Louis
	High Heels and Low Lifes	Farmer
	The Emperor's New Clothes	Bertrand
	Iris	Young John Bayley
2003	Conspiracy of Silence	Fr. Jack Dowling
2004	Piccadilly Jim	Lord Wisbeach
	Stage Beauty	Samuel Pepys
2005	The Commander: Virus	James Lampton	Uncredited
	The Commander: Blackout
	Man to Man	Fraser McBride
	Asylum	Max Raphael
	Underclassman	Headmaster Felix Powers
2006	Scenes of a Sexual Nature	Gerry
2007	Four Last Songs	Sebastian Burrows
	Hola to the World	Painter	Short film
2008	One of Those Days	Mr Burrell
	French Film	Jed
2009	Knife Edge	Charles Pollock
	Glorious 39	Gilbert Williams
	From Time to Time	Captain Oldknow
2010	Critical Eye	Brian
	Shanghai	Ben Sanger
	Third Star	Beachcomber
	Burke & Hare	Lord Harrington
	Hippie Hippie Shake	John Mortimer	Unreleased [26]
2011	Third Star	Beachcomber
2014	The Monuments Men	Lieutenant Donald Jeffries
	Muppets Most Wanted	Irish Journalist
	Paddington	Henry Brown
2015	Stick Man	Santa Clause	Voice
	Silent Hours	Commander William Calthorpe
2017	Viceroy's House	Lord Mountbatten
	Paddington 2	Henry Brown
	Thomas & Friends: Journey Beyond Sodor	Merlin	Voice
	Breathe	Teddy Hall
	A Return to Grace: Luther's Life and Legacy	Narrator
	Secrets of the Magna Carta		Documentary [27]
2019	Downton Abbey	Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham
2020	Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey	Mr. Delacroix
2021	To Olivia	Roald Dahl
2022	Downton Abbey: A New Era	Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham
	I Came By	Sir Hector Blake
	The Amazing Maurice	The Mayor	Voice
2023	Bank of Dave	Sir Charles
	Mummies	Lord Sylvester Carnaby	Voice
2024	Paddington in Peru †	Henry Brown

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1990	Chancer	Jas	2 episodes
1991	Dodgem	Rick Bayne	5 episodes
1993	Paul Merton: The Series	Captain	Episode: #2.6"
	Stalag Luft	Barton	Television movie
1994	The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes	Victor Savage	Episode: "The Dying Detective" Credited as Richard Bonneville
	Peak Practice	Dominic Kent	Episode: "Perfect Love" Credited as Richard Bonneville
	Cadfael	Daniel Aurifaber	Episode: "The Sanctuary Sparrow" Credited as Richard Bonneville
	Between the Lines	Henry Oakes	Episode: "Close Protection"
1995	The Vet	Alan Sinclair	6 episodes
	EastEnders	Headmaster	Episode: "14 December 1995"
1996	Married for Life	Steve Hollingsworth	7 episodes
	Bugs	Nathan Pym	Episode: "Bugged Wheat"
1997	Breakout	Peter Schneider	Television movie
	See You Friday	Daniel	Episode: "#1.1"
	The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous	Ferdinand Fitzgerald	Episode: #1.1"
	Get Well Soon	Norman Tucker	4 episodes
1998	Heat of the Sun	Edward Herbert	Episode: "Hide in Plain Sight"
	Mosley	Bob Boothby	4 episodes
	Holding the Baby	Gordon Muir	Unknown episodes
	The Scold's Bridle	Tim Duggan	Television movie
1999	Murder Most Horrid	Inspector Dawson	Episode: "Confessions of a Murderer"
2000	Take a Girl Like You	Julian Ormerod	3 episodes
	Thursday the 12th	Brin Hopper	Television movie
	Madame Bovary	Charles Bovary
2001	Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale	Publisher
	The Cazalets	Hugh Cazalet	6 episodes
	Armadillo	Torquil Helvoir Jayne	TV film
2002	Midsomer Murders	Hugh Barton	Episode: "Ring Out Your Dead"
	Tipping the Velvet	Ralph Banner	Episode: "#1.3"
	Daniel Deronda	Henleigh Grandcourt	3 episodes
	Impact	Phil Epson	Television movie
	The Gathering Storm	Ivo Pettifer
	Right Under My Eyes	James
	The Biographer	Eric
	Doctor Zhivago	Andrey Zhivago
2003	The Commander	James Lampton
	Love Again	Philip Larkin
	Hear the Silence	Andrew Wakefield
2004	Wren: The Man Who Built Britain	Christopher Wren	TV documentary
2005	The Rotter's Club	Voice of Adult Ben	2 episodes
	The Robinsons	George Robinson	6 episodes
2006	Courting Alex	Julian/Charles Carter	10 episodes
	Beau Brummell: This Charming Man	Prince Regent	Television movie
	Tsunami: The Aftermath	Tony Whittaker	Television movie
2007	The Vicar of Dibley	Jeremy Ogilvy	Episode: "The Vicar in White"
	Five Days	DSI Iain Barclay	4 episodes
	The Replacements	Voice	Episode: "London Calling"
	The Diary of a Nobody	Charles Pooter	Television movie
	Miss Austen Regrets	Rev. Brook Bridges
2007–08	Freezing	Matt	3 episodes
2008	Bonekickers	Gregory Parton	6 episodes
	Lost in Austen	Claude Bennet	4 episodes
	Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story	Sir Hugh Carleton Greene	Television movie
2008–11	Country House Rescue	Narrator	24 episodes
2009	Hunter	DSI Iain Barclay	2 episodes
	Ruth Watson's Hotel Rescue	Narrator	6 episodes
	Legally Mad	Gordon Hamm	unaired pilot [28]
2010–15	Downton Abbey	Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham	52 episodes
2010	Ben Hur	Pontius Pilate	2 episodes
	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Edward Masterman	Episode: "Murder on the Orient Express"
	The Silence	Chris	4 episodes
2010–14	Rev.	Roland Wise	3 episodes
2011	Doctor Who	Captain Avery	Episodes: "The Curse of the Black Spot" "A Good Man Goes to War"
	Marple: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side	Inspector Hewitt	Television movie
2011–12	Twenty Twelve	Ian Fletcher	13 episodes
2011–14	The Hotel	Narrator	33 episodes
2012	Turn Back Time: The Family		5 episodes
	Getting On	Philip Moore	Episode: "#3.6"
	World's Most Dangerous Roads	—	Episode: "#3.2"
	Mr Stink	Mr Stink	Television movie
2013	Da Vinci's Demons	Duke of Milan	Episode: "The Hanged Man"
2014	Top Gear	Himself	Episode: "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car"
2014–17	W1A	Ian Fletcher	14 episodes
2015–16	Galavant	Pirate King	2 Episodes
2015–18	Sofia the First	Book Narrator	5 episodes
2016	The Hollow Crown	Gloucester	Episode: "Henry VI, Part I"
	Walliams & Friend	Various	Episode 7
2017	The Grand Tour	Himself	Series 2 Episode 3
	A Return to Grace: Luther's Life and Legacy	Narrator	Documentary
2018	Countdown to Calvary	Host/Narrator	Documentary
	Thomas & Friends	Merlin	Voice; Episode: "Seeing is Believing"
	Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir [29]	Narrator
2019	Last Week Tonight with John Oliver	Narrator	2 episodes
2018–24	Great Performances	Host/Narrator	Episode "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2018"
			Episode "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2019"
			Episode "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2020" [30]
			Episode "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2021"
			Episode "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2022"
			Episode "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2023"
			Episode "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2024"
2020	Sandylands	One-Eyed Man	2 episodes
2020–22	Amphibia	Wigbert Ribbiton	Voice; 2 episodes [31]
2020	DuckTales	Santa Claus	Voice; Episode: "How Santa Stole Christmas" [32]
2022	The Hidden Lives of Pets	Narrator	Documentary series [33]
	Secrets of the Royal Gardens		Documentary series [34]
2023	The Gold	DCI Brian Boyce	6 episodes
	DNA Journey	Himself	7 March
	Coronation Concert	Host	[35]
2024	The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin	Jonathan Wild	6 episodes
	Douglas Is Cancelled	Douglas Bellowes	In production [36]

Audiobooks

Production Year	Book Title	Role	Notes
2004	Birds Without Wings	narrator
2014	Goldfinger
2016	Paddington Takes the Test
	Paddington At Large
	Paddington Marches On
	Paddington Abroad
	Paddington Helps Out
2017	Paddington At Work
	On the Banks of Plum Creek
	Paddington Goes to Town
	Farmer Boy
2018	Paddington Takes the Air
	Paddington On Top
2021	Absolute Proof
2022	Late Summer On State Street

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Project	Result
2001	British Academy Film Award	Best Supporting Actor	Iris	Nominated
	European Film Award	Best Actor		Nominated
2002	Berlin International Film Festival	New Talent Award		Won
2006	Monte-Carlo Television Festival	Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries	Tsunami: The Aftermath	Nominated
2012	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series	Downton Abbey	Nominated
2013				Nominated
2011	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated
2012	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series		Won
2013				Nominated
2014				Won
2015				Won
2016				Nominated
2011	Monte-Carlo Television Festival	Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
2013				Nominated
2011	British Comedy Awards	Best TV Comedy Actor	Twenty Twelve	Nominated
2012				Nominated
2012	British Academy Television Award	Best Actor in a Comedy Programme		Nominated
2013				Nominated
2015			W1A	Nominated
2016				Nominated

Honours

Commonwealth honours

Commonwealth honours

Country	Date	Appointment	Post-nominal letters
United Kingdom	8 October 2019 –Present	Deputy Lieutenant of West Sussex [37] [38]	DL

Scholastic

University degrees

Location	Date	School	Degree
England		Corpus Christi College, Cambridge	Lower Second Class Honours Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Theology
England		Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art

Honorary degrees

Location	Date	School	Degree	Gave Commencement Address
England	October 2019	University of Winchester	Doctor of Arts (D.Arts) [39] [40]

References

1. Bonneville, Hugh (2022). Playing under the piano: from Downton to darkest Peru. New York. pp. 78–80. ISBN   978-1-63542-342-6. OCLC   1334493251.
2. Room, Adrian (2010). Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins (5th ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 69. ISBN   978-0-7864-4373-4. OCLC   607613318 . Retrieved 19 December 2015.
3. "Hugh Bonneville: "I want to grab him and say get real"". Big Issue. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
4. Greensteet, Rosanna (6 November 2004). "Q&A: Hugh Bonneville". The Guardian . Retrieved 18 August 2011.
5. "Corpus Playroom Renovations". Corpus Christi College. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
6. Franks, Alan (16 February 2008). "Hugh Bonneville and Tom Hollander on Freezing, fame and friendship". The Times. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
7. "Interview: Hugh Bonneville star of Downton Abbey". The Cambridge Student. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
8. Trowbridge, Simon (2010). The Company: a Biographical Dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Oxford, England: Editions Albert Creed. pp. 52–53. ISBN   978-0-9559830-2-3.
9. "The Complete Smiley – The Karla Trilogy, Book 2: The Honourable Schoolboy". BBC. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
10. "Burke and Hare Teaser Art Debuts at Cannes". Dread Central. 16 September 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
11. "Mousetrap celebrates 60 years with gala performance". BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
12. "Hugh Bonneville to play Roald Dahl in new film". BBC News. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
13. "About From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2018". PBS. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
14. "Shadowlands". 7 June 2022. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
15. "Irish roots of "Downton Abbey's" Hugh Bonneville revealed in new "DNA Journey"". Irish Central. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
16. "Coronation Concert: What time is it and how long is it on for?". LBC. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
17. "MSN". msn.com. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
18. "Biography for Hugh Bonneville". Internet Movie Database . Retrieved 5 December 2011.
19. Myers, Marc (17 September 2019). "'Downton Abbey' Star Hugh Bonneville Grew Up in an Edwardian Home That Felt Grand". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
20. Wace, Charlotte (1 October 2023). "Hugh Bonneville and his wife Lulu Williams split after 25 years". The Times & The Sunday Times. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
21. "Off-West End Announcements – 3 July 2009". What's on Stage. 3 July 2009. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
22. "The History of Giant Olive Theatre Company". Giant Olive Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
23. Go Live Theatre Projects website
24. "Scene & Heard – Who We Are". sceneandheard.org. 2010. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
25. "Deputy Lieutenant Commissions Lieutenancy of West Sussex". The London Gazette. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
26. Meacham, Steve; Maddox, Garry (14 February 2011). "Hippies tossed aside in corporate decision". The Sydney Morning Herald. After a promised release failed to eventuate last year, the British production company, Working Title, has confirmed it will not reach cinemas. The managing director of the distributor Universal Pictures in Australia, Mike Baard, said: 'I suspect...it's going to land in the direct-to-video bin...it's off our release schedule.'
27. "Secrets of the Magna Carta, Written by Martin Durkin". The Objective Standard. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
28. Schneider, Michael (11 May 2009). "NBC passing on 'Legally Mad'". Variety . Retrieved 28 December 2019.
29. "The 2018 Concert". Christmas with the Tabernacle Choir. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
30. "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2020". pbs.org. 26 November 2019.
31. Ramos, Dino-Ray (23 June 2020). "Disney Channel Renews 'Amphibia' For Season 3; Kermit The Frog, Jenifer Lewis, George Takei And More To Guest Star on Season 2". Deadline.
32. "November 2020 Programming Highlights". Walt Disney Television Press. 19 October 2020. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
33. "The Secret Life of Our Pets". hughbonneville.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
34. "Secrets of the Royal Gardens". hughbonneville.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
35. "Stars announced for spectacular one-off performance at the Coronation Concert". bbc.co.uk/mediacentre. Retrieved 24 April 2023.
36. Yossman, K.J. (17 November 2023). "Karen Gillan, Hugh Bonneville to Star in New Cancel Culture Dramedy From Steven Moffat (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
37. Sampson, Annabel (9 October 2019). "Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville gains a real-life royal title". Tatler Magazine. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
38. "Deputy Lieutenant Commissions LIEUTENANCY OF WEST SUSSEX". The London Gazette. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
39. "Honorary Doctorates 2019" (PDF). Winchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
40. "Hugh Bonneville - Graduation 2019". YouTube. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021.

Further reading

• Trowbridge, Simon. The Company: A Biographical Dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Oxford: Editions Albert Creed, 2010. ISBN   978-0-9559830-2-3.

External links

• Official website
• Hugh Bonneville at the British Film Institute
• Hugh Bonneville at IMDb