Richard Crispin Armitage (born 22 August 1971) is an English actor

Actor

An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...

 famous for his roles as John Thornton in North and South

North and South (2004 TV serial)

North & South is a British television drama serial, produced by the BBC and originally broadcast in four episodes on BBC One between November and December 2004. It follows the story of Margaret Hale , a young woman from southern England who has to move to the North after her father decides to leave...

, Guy of Gisborne in Robin Hood, and Lucas North

Lucas North

Lucas North, formerly known as John Bateman, is a fictional character from the BBC espionage television series Spooks , which follows the exploits of Section D, a counter-terrorism division of MI5. North is portrayed by British actor Richard Armitage...

 in Spooks

Spooks

Spooks is a British television drama series that originally aired on BBC One from 13 May 2002 – 23 October 2011, consisting of 10 series. The title is a popular colloquialism for spies, as the series follows the work of a group of MI5 officers based at the service's Thames House headquarters, in a...

. He is currently cast as Thorin Oakenshield

Thorin Oakenshield

Thorin Oakenshield, son of Thráin, son of Thrór, King Under the Mountain is a major character in The Hobbit and is mentioned in passing in The Lord of the Rings...

 in the two-film adaptation of The Hobbit.
Born in Leicester

Leicester

Leicester is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, Richard Armitage attended Huncote Primary School in Huncote

Huncote

Huncote is a village and civil parish in the district of Blaby in the county of Leicestershire, England. It is just west of Narborough, and is on the Thurlaston Brook....

, Leicestershire

Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...

. Later at Brockington College

Brockington College

Brockington College is a C of E secondary school located on Blaby Rd in Enderby, Leicestershire. It is in the district of Blaby. The school is a specialist Technology College-The school:...

 in Enderby he studied music, performing cello

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

 in school and local orchestras as well as learning how to play flute

Flute

The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...

.