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Simon Russell Beale

Simon Russell Beale

Birthday: 1961-01-12 | Place of Birth: Penang, Malaysia

Sir Simon Russell Beale CBE (born January 12, 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 2019. He has spent much of his theatre career working in productions for both the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. He has received ten Laurence Olivier Award nominations, winning three awards for his performances in Volpone (1996), Candide (2000), and Uncle Vanya (2003). For his work on the Broadway stage he has received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination for his performance as George in the Tom Stoppard play Jumpers in 2004. For his role as Henry Lehman in The Lehman Trilogy, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and was nominated for an Olivier Award. Beale has been described by The Independent as "the greatest stage actor of his generation". Beale made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama Orlando (1992). He continued acting in films such as Persuasion (1995), Hamlet (1996), My Week with Marilyn (2011), The Deep Blue Sea (2011), Into the Woods (2014), and Mary Queen of Scots (2018). In 2017, he starred in Armando Iannucci's dark comedy The Death of Stalin playing Lavrentiy Beria for which he received the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. He has also appeared in the television projects The Young Visiters (2003), Dunkirk (2004), and as Falstaff in the BBC made-for-television films Henry IV, Part I and Part II (2012). He was part of the main cast of Showtime's Penny Dreadful.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2026
De Gaulle: The Sovereign Edge (Film 2)

as    Winston Churchill

2025
The Choral

as    Sir Edward Elgar

2024
Douglas Is Cancelled

as    Bently

2024
Home! Home!

as    Narrator (voice)

2024
Firebrand

as    Stephen Gardiner

2022
Benediction

as    Robbie Ross

2022
The Outfit

as    Roy Boyle

2022
Operation Mincemeat

as    Winston Churchill

2020
The Hour

as    Himself

2020
Radioactive

as    Professor Lippmann

2020
A Christmas Carol

as    Scrooge's voice (voice)

2019
2018
Museo

as    Frank Graves

2018
The Death of Stalin

as    Lavrenti Beria

2017
My Cousin Rachel

as    Couch

2017
RSC Live: The Tempest

as    Prospero

2016
The Legend of Tarzan

as    Mr. Frum

2016
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC

as    Richard II

2016
Cunk on Shakespeare

as    Self - Actor

2014
National Theatre Live: King Lear

as    Lear, King of Britain

2013
Legacy

as    Hookey

2013
Lava Land - Glowing Hawaii

as    Narrator