Early life and career

Dancy was born in Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent

Stoke-on-Trent , also called The Potteries is a city in Staffordshire, England, which forms a linear conurbation almost 12 miles long, with an area of . Together with the Borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme Stoke forms The Potteries Urban Area...

, the son of British philosopher Jonathan Dancy

Jonathan Dancy

Jonathan Peter Dancy is a British philosopher, working on epistemology and on ethics. He is currently Professor Emeritus at the University of Reading and Professor of Philosophy at University of Texas at Austin.-Biography:...

, a professor at the University of Reading

University of Reading

The University of Reading is a university in the English town of Reading, Berkshire. The University was established in 1892 as University College, Reading and received its Royal Charter in 1926. It is based on several campuses in, and around, the town of Reading.The University has a long tradition...

 and at the University of Texas at Austin

University of Texas at Austin

The University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...

. His mother, Sarah, is a publisher. His brother, Jack, is a co-director of the travel company, Trufflepig Travel, and his sister, Kate, works for Save the Children

Save the Children

Save the Children is an internationally active non-governmental organization that enforces children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries...

. Dancy was educated at Dragon School

Dragon School

The Dragon School is a British coeducational, preparatory school in the city of Oxford, founded in 1877 as the Oxford Preparatory School, or OPS. It is primarily known as a boarding school, although it also takes day pupils...

 in Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 and Winchester College

Winchester College

Winchester College is an independent school for boys in the British public school tradition, situated in Winchester, Hampshire, the former capital of England. It has existed in its present location for over 600 years and claims the longest unbroken history of any school in England...

, then went on to study at St Peter's College, Oxford

St Peter's College, Oxford

St Peter's College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, located in New Inn Hall Street. It occupies the site of two of the University's oldest Inns, or medieval hostels - Bishop Trellick's, later New Inn Hall, and Rose Hall - both of which were...

. At the age of 18, he acted in the Winchester College Players production of Twelfth Night which was performed in both Winchester

Winchester

Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...

 and at the Minack Theatre

Minack Theatre

The Minack Theatre is an open-air theatre, constructed above a gully with a rocky granite outcrop jutting into the sea...

 in Cornwall.

In 1999, Dancy played the role of Danny, who had a fleeting romance with Rachel, one of the shows main characters, in the second series of Cold Feet

Cold Feet

Cold Feet is a British comedy-drama television series produced by Granada Television for the ITV network. The series was created and principally written by Mike Bullen as a follow-up to his award-winning 1997 Comedy Premiere of the same name. The storyline follows three couples experiencing the...

.

In 2007, Dancy had a starring role on Broadway as Captain Dennis Stanhope in Journey's End

Journey's End

Journey's End is a 1928 drama, the seventh of English playwright R. C. Sherriff. It was first performed at the Apollo Theatre in London by the Incorporated Stage Society on 9 December 1928, starring a young Laurence Olivier, and soon moved to other West End theatres for a two-year run...

(Belasco Theatre

Belasco Theatre

The Belasco Theatre is a legitimate Broadway theatre located at 111 West 44th Street in midtown-Manhattan.-History:Designed by architect George Keister for impresario David Belasco, the interior featured Tiffany lighting and ceiling panels, rich woodwork and expansive murals by American artist...

). He also played Aiden in the 2007 film Blood and Chocolate

Blood and Chocolate (film)

Blood & Chocolate is a 2007 film directed by Katja von Garnier, produced by Lakeshore Entertainment and distributed by MGM. It is very loosely based on the young-adult novel of the same name by Annette Curtis Klause, which was adapted into a screenplay by Ehren Kruger. The movie was released on DVD...

. He portrayed the character of Adam, a man with Asperger syndrome

Asperger syndrome

Asperger's syndrome that is characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction, alongside restricted and repetitive patterns of behavior and interests. It differs from other autism spectrum disorders by its relative preservation of linguistic and cognitive development...

, during pre-production, he was diagnosed with the syndrome through his meetings with Aspergers groups and clinical specialists for the 2009 independent film Adam. Dancy also appeared in the film adaptation

Savage Grace

Savage Grace is a 2007 film directed by Tom Kalin and written by Howard Rodman, based on the book Savage Grace by Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson. The story is based on the dysfunctional, allegedly incestuous relationship between heiress and socialite Barbara Daly Baekeland and her son, Antony...

 of the novel Savage Grace by Natalie Robins and Steven M. L. Aronson.

Hugh Dancy appeared in MCC Theater

MCC Theater

MCC Theater is an Off-Broadway theater company located in New York City, founded in 1986 by artistic directors Robert LuPone and Bernard Telsey along with six graduates of the New York University drama department, including Jana Herzen...

's The Pride, written by Alexi Kaye Campbell, at the Lucille Lortel Theatre

Lucille Lortel Theatre

The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse located at 121 Christopher Street in New York City's Greenwich Village.The venue was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse...

 in New York City. This off-Broadway production was directed by Joe Mantello

Joe Mantello

Joseph Mantello is an American actor and director best known for his work on Broadway productions of Wicked, Take Me Out and Assassins, as well as earlier in his career being one of the original Broadway cast of Angels in America...

 and co-starred Ben Whishaw

Ben Whishaw

Benjamin John "Ben" Whishaw is an English actor who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Whishaw is perhaps best known for his breakthrough role as Hamlet, and his role as the lead character in Tom Tykwer's film Perfume: The Story of a Murderer.-Early life:Whishaw was born and raised in...

 and Andrea Riseborough

Andrea Riseborough

-Early life:Riseborough grew up in Whitley Bay. In reference to The Long Walk To Finchley, she has described her parents as "working-class Thatcherites"....

.
In 2009 Dancy appeared in Confessions of a Shopaholic

Confessions of a Shopaholic (film)

Confessions of a Shopaholic is a 2009 American romantic comedy film based on the Shopaholic series of novels by Sophie Kinsella. Directed by P. J. Hogan, the film stars Isla Fisher as the shopaholic journalist and Hugh Dancy as her boss.-Plot:...

.

Personal life

Dancy met actress Claire Danes

Claire Danes

Claire Catherine Danes is an American actress of television, stage and film. She has appeared in roles as diverse as Angela Chase in My So-Called Life, as Juliet in Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet, as Kate Brewster in Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, as Yvaine in Stardust and as Temple Grandin in...

 on the set of Evening

Evening (film)

Evening is a 2007 German-American drama film directed by Lajos Koltai. The screenplay by Susan Minot and Michael Cunningham is based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Susan Minot.-Plot:...

 and they began dating after filming concluded. In February 2009, they announced their engagement. It was reported that the couple were secretly married in France in early September 2009.

His previous longtime girlfriend was UK artist Annie Morris.

Credits

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	Black Hawk Down	Sfc. Kurt Schmid
	Young Blades Young Blades Young Blades is an historical fantasy television series that aired on PAX from January to June 2005, lasting only thirteen episodes before cancellation...	D'Artagnan
2003	Tempo Tempo (film) Tempo is a 2003 film set primarily in Paris about a love triangle that gets increasingly complicated as criminal enterprises go wrong.-Cast:*Melanie Griffith as Sarah James*Rachael Leigh Cook as Jenny Travile*Hugh Dancy as Jack Ganzer...	Jack
	The Sleeping Dictionary The Sleeping Dictionary The Sleeping Dictionary is a 2003 film by Guy Jenkin. It was filmed in Sarawak and is set during the British colonial rule in the 1930s.- Plot :...	John Truscott
2004	King Arthur King Arthur (film) King Arthur is a 2004 film directed by Antoine Fuqua and written by David Franzoni. It stars Clive Owen as the title character, Ioan Gruffudd as Lancelot, and Keira Knightley as Guinevere....	Galahad
	Ella Enchanted Ella Enchanted (film) Ella Enchanted is a 2004 British-American romantic-comedy film loosely based on Gail Carson Levine's 1997 novel of the same name. The film stars Anne Hathaway as Ella and Hugh Dancy as Prince Charmont. It plays with the usual fairy-tale genre...	Prince Charmont
2005	Shooting Dogs Shooting Dogs Shooting Dogs, released in the United States as Beyond the Gates, is a 2005 film, directed by Michael Caton-Jones and starring John Hurt, Hugh Dancy and Claire-Hope Ashitey. It is based on the experiences of BBC news producer David Belton, who worked in Rwanda during the Rwandan Genocide...	Joe Connor
2006	Basic Instinct 2: Risk Addiction	Adam Towers
2007	The Jane Austen Book Club The Jane Austen Book Club (film) The Jane Austen Book Club is a 2007 American romantic drama film written and directed by Robin Swicord. The screenplay, adapted from the 2004 novel of the same name by Karen Joy Fowler, focuses on a book club formed specifically to discuss the six novels written by Jane Austen...	Grigg Harris
	Evening Evening (film) Evening is a 2007 German-American drama film directed by Lajos Koltai. The screenplay by Susan Minot and Michael Cunningham is based on the 1998 novel of the same name by Susan Minot.-Plot:...	Buddy Wittenborn
	Savage Grace Savage Grace Savage Grace is a 2007 film directed by Tom Kalin and written by Howard Rodman, based on the book Savage Grace by Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson. The story is based on the dysfunctional, allegedly incestuous relationship between heiress and socialite Barbara Daly Baekeland and her son, Antony...	Sam Green
	Blood & Chocolate	Aiden
2009	VH	Gavin Davies
	Confessions of a Shopaholic Confessions of a Shopaholic (film) Confessions of a Shopaholic is a 2009 American romantic comedy film based on the Shopaholic series of novels by Sophie Kinsella. Directed by P. J. Hogan, the film stars Isla Fisher as the shopaholic journalist and Hugh Dancy as her boss.-Plot:...	Luke Brandon
	Adam	Adam	Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama Satellite Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama The Satellite Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama is an annual award given by the International Press Academy as one of its Satellite Awards.- 1996–1999 :- 2000–2009 :-2010–2019:...
2010	Coach	Nick
	Down and Dirty Pictures	Unknown	Filming
	The Wildest Dream The Wildest Dream The Wildest Dream is a 2010 theatrical-release feature documentary film about the British climber George Mallory who disappeared on Mount Everest in 1924 with his climbing partner Andrew Irvine...	Andrew Irvine Andrew Irvine (mountaineer) Andrew "Sandy" Comyn Irvine was an English mountaineer who took part in 1924 British Everest Expedition, the third British expedition to the world's highest mountain, Mount Everest....	Voice
2011	Our Idiot Brother	Christian
	Martha Marcy May Marlene Martha Marcy May Marlene Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Sean Durkin, and starring Elizabeth Olsen , John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy...	Ted
	Hysteria Hysteria (2011 film) Hysteria is a British romantic comedy film directed by Tanya Wexler. It stars Felicity Jones, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Hugh Dancy. The film, set in the Victorian era, is about the invention of the vibrator...	Dr. Mortimer Granville
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	David Copperfield David Copperfield (2000 film) David Copperfield is a 2000 film that was a joint US/Irish TV film adaptation of Charles Dickens's novel David Copperfield. It was filmed in Ireland, and broadcast on the TV Channel TNT as a Hallmark Entertainment production on December 10–11, 2000....	David Copperfield
	Madame Bovary Madame Bovary Madame Bovary is Gustave Flaubert's first published novel and is considered his masterpiece. The story focuses on a doctor's wife, Emma Bovary, who has adulterous affairs and lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emptiness of provincial life...	Leon
2002	Daniel Deronda Daniel Deronda (TV serial) Daniel Deronda is a British television serial drama adapted by Andrew Davies from the George Eliot novel of the same name. The serial was directed by Tom Hooper, produced by Louis Marks, and was first broadcast in three parts on BBC One from 24 November to 7 December 2002...	Daniel Deronda
2006	Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (TV series) Elizabeth I is a 2005 British television miniseries directed by Tom Hooper. The teleplay by Nigel Williams concentrates on the last 25 years of the nearly 45-year-long reign of Elizabeth I of England....	Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599...	Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
2011	The Big C The Big C (TV series) The Big C is a Showtime original television series created by Darlene Hunt which premiered on August 16, 2010. It drew the largest audience for a Showtime original series premiere in eight years. On September 20, 2010, The Big C was renewed for a second season which premiered on June 27, 2011...	Lee

External links