Rupert Graves
Encyclopedia
Rupert Graves is an English film
, television
and theatre
actor. He is best known for his role as DI Lestrade in the critically acclaimed television series Sherlock.
in Somerset
, England, to Mary Lousilla (née
Roberts) Graves, a travel coordinator, and Richard Harding Graves, a music teacher and musician.
, a state comprehensive school in his home town of Weston-super-Mare, which he left at the age of fifteen. The school has since closed and re-opened as the Hans Price Academy.
. He has appeared in over twenty-five films and over thirty-five television productions; he has also appeared on stage. During his career, he has starred alongside actress Helena Bonham Carter four times in A Room with a View
, Maurice
, Where Angels Fear to Tread and The Revengers' Comedies
.
He first came to prominence in costume-drama
adaptations of E. M. Forster
's novels A Room with a View
(1985) and Maurice
(1987), before going on to appear in films including A Handful of Dust
(1988), Different for Girls
(1996) and Intimate Relations (1996).
His role in Intimate Relations won him the Best Actor award at the 1996 Montreal World Film Festival
. He was also acclaimed for his portrayal of Jolyon Forsyte Jr. in the television miniseries
The Forsyte Saga
(2002).
productions in New York City, New York, of the plays Closer
(2000) and The Elephant Man
(2002).
Graves also appeared as Presley Stray in the play The Pitchfork Disney
(1991) at the Bush Theatre
in London, England and also "A Madhouse in Goa" opposite Vanessa Redgrave.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
actor. He is best known for his role as DI Lestrade in the critically acclaimed television series Sherlock.
Early life
He was born in Weston-super-MareWeston-super-Mare
Weston-super-Mare is a seaside resort, town and civil parish in the unitary authority of North Somerset, which is within the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. It is located on the Bristol Channel coast, south west of Bristol, spanning the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, England, to Mary Lousilla (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Roberts) Graves, a travel coordinator, and Richard Harding Graves, a music teacher and musician.
Education
Graves was educated at Wyvern Community SchoolWyvern Community School
The Hans Price Academy, formerly known as Wyvern Community School, is a secondary school with academy status in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England...
, a state comprehensive school in his home town of Weston-super-Mare, which he left at the age of fifteen. The school has since closed and re-opened as the Hans Price Academy.
Career
Graves's first job after leaving school was as a circus clownCircus clown
Clowns have always been an integral part of the circus, offering a source of amusement for patrons and providing relief from the array of animal acts and performances by acrobats and novelty artistes....
. He has appeared in over twenty-five films and over thirty-five television productions; he has also appeared on stage. During his career, he has starred alongside actress Helena Bonham Carter four times in A Room with a View
A Room with a View (film)
A Room with a View is a 1985 British drama film directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant. The film is a close adaptation of E. M...
, Maurice
Maurice (film)
Maurice is a 1987 British film based on the novel of the same title by E. M. Forster. It is a tale of homosexual love in early 20th century England, following its main character Maurice Hall from his school days through university until he is united with his life partner.It was produced by Ismail...
, Where Angels Fear to Tread and The Revengers' Comedies
The Revengers' Comedies (film)
The Revengers' Comedies was a 1997 film adaptation for television of the Alan Ayckbourn stage comedy of the same name. It was directed by Malcolm Mowbray and written by Mowbray and Ayckbourn together...
.
He first came to prominence in costume-drama
Costume drama
A costume drama or period drama is a period piece in which elaborate costumes, sets and properties are featured in order to capture the ambiance of a particular era.The term is usually used in the context of film and television...
adaptations of E. M. Forster
E. M. Forster
Edward Morgan Forster OM, CH was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist and librettist. He is known best for his ironic and well-plotted novels examining class difference and hypocrisy in early 20th-century British society...
's novels A Room with a View
A Room with a View (film)
A Room with a View is a 1985 British drama film directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant. The film is a close adaptation of E. M...
(1985) and Maurice
Maurice (film)
Maurice is a 1987 British film based on the novel of the same title by E. M. Forster. It is a tale of homosexual love in early 20th century England, following its main character Maurice Hall from his school days through university until he is united with his life partner.It was produced by Ismail...
(1987), before going on to appear in films including A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust
A Handful of Dust is a novel by Evelyn Waugh published in 1934. It is included in Modern Library List of Best 20th-Century Novels, and was chosen by TIME magazine as one of the one hundred best English-language novels from 1923 to present....
(1988), Different for Girls
Different for Girls
Different for Girls is a 1996 British/French comedy film in which one of the protagonists is a transsexual woman. The film is directed by Richard Spence and written by Tony Marchant, starring Rupert Graves and Steven Mackintosh.-Plot:...
(1996) and Intimate Relations (1996).
His role in Intimate Relations won him the Best Actor award at the 1996 Montreal World Film Festival
Montreal World Film Festival
The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF...
. He was also acclaimed for his portrayal of Jolyon Forsyte Jr. in the television miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
The Forsyte Saga
The Forsyte Saga (2002 miniseries)
In 2002 the first two books and the first interlude of John Galsworthy's trilogy The Forsyte Saga were adapted by Granada Television for the ITV network...
(2002).
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1978 | Return of the Saint Return of the Saint Return of the Saint was a British action-adventure television series that aired for one season in 1978 and 1979 in Britain on ITV, and was also broadcast on CBS in the United States... |
Prefect | TV series (1 episode: "Yesterday's Hero") |
| 1979 | The Famous Five The Famous Five (1970s TV series) The Famous Five is a British television series based on the children's books of the same name by Enid Blyton. It was broadcast on ITV over two series in 1978 and 1979. It was produced by Southern Television in 26 half-hour episodes.- Production :... |
Yan | TV series (2 episodes) |
| 1981 | Vice Versa | Tipping | TV series (6 episodes) |
| 1982 | All for Love | TV series (1 episode: "Mona") | |
| 1983 | St. Ursula's in Danger | Teddy | TV movie |
| Good and Bad at Games Good and Bad at Games Good and Bad at Games is a UK Television drama that was one of the first programmes broadcast on Channel 4 Television in 1983. The screenplay was written by William Boyd and the lead roles of Cox, Mount and Niles were played by Anton Lesser, Dominic Jephcott and Martyn Stanbridge. A young Rupert... |
Guthrie | TV movie | |
| 1984 | Puccini | Tonio | TV movie |
| 1985 | A Room with a View A Room with a View (film) A Room with a View is a 1985 British drama film directed by James Ivory and produced by Ismail Merchant. The film is a close adaptation of E. M... |
Freddie Honeychurch | |
| 1987 | Maurice Maurice (film) Maurice is a 1987 British film based on the novel of the same title by E. M. Forster. It is a tale of homosexual love in early 20th century England, following its main character Maurice Hall from his school days through university until he is united with his life partner.It was produced by Ismail... |
Alec Scudder | |
| Fortunes of War Fortunes of War (tv series) Fortunes of War is a 1987 BBC television adaptation of Olivia Manning's cycle of novels Fortunes of War. It stars Kenneth Branagh as Guy Pringle, lecturer in English Literature in Bucharest during the early part of the Second World War, and Emma Thompson as his wife Harriet... |
Simon Boulderstone | TV mini-series (3 episodes) | |
| 1988 | A Handful of Dust A Handful of Dust (film) A Handful of Dust is a 1988 film directed by Charles Sturridge. It stars James Wilby and Kristin Scott Thomas.-Cast:*James Wilby as Tony Last*Kristin Scott Thomas as Brenda Last*Rupert Graves as John Beaver*Anjelica Huston as Mrs. Rattery... |
John Beaver | |
| 1990 | The Plot to Kill Hitler The Plot to Kill Hitler (film) #The Plot to Kill Hitler is a 1990 television movie. It is about the 20 July 1944 plot by German officers to kill Adolf Hitler. Brad Davis stars as Colonel Claus Schenk Graf von Stauffenberg who plants a bomb in the conference room of the Führer's headquarters in East Prussia.- Plot summary :“The... |
Axel von dem Busche | TV movie |
| The Children | Gerald Ormerod | ||
| 1991 | A Private Affair | Milton | TV movie |
| Where Angels Fear to Tread | Philip Herriton | ||
| 1992 | The Sheltering Desert The Sheltering Desert The Sheltering Desert is a 1990 drama film directed by Regardt van den Bergh and starring Jason Connery, Rupert Graves and Joss Ackland. The film was a co-production between South Africa, the Republic of Ireland and the United Kingdom. It is listed in the movie list of the British production... |
Hermann Korn | |
| Inspector Morse Inspector Morse (TV series) Inspector Morse is a detective drama based on Colin Dexter's series of Chief Inspector Morse novels. The series starred John Thaw as Chief Inspector Morse and Kevin Whately as Sergeant Lewis. Dexter makes a cameo appearance in all but three of the episodes.... |
Billy | TV series (1 episode: "Happy Families") | |
| Damage | Martyn Fleming | ||
| 1993 | Screen One | Neil | TV series (1 episode: "Royal Celebration") |
| 1994 | Doomsday Gun Doomsday Gun Doomsday Gun is a 1994 television film produced by HBO, dramatizing the life of Canadian supergun designer Dr. Gerald Bull and his involvement in Project Babylon, Saddam Hussein's plan to build a supergun with a range of over 500 miles. It was the first television drama to deal with covert U.S... |
Jones | TV movie |
| Open Fire Open Fire (film) Open Fire is a 1994 British television film made for ITV which debuted on that channel on 11 December 1994. The film was written and directed by Paul Greengrass and concerns the 1982/83 police manhunt for David Martin, who escaped from custody following his arrest for shooting a police officer... |
David Martin | TV movie | |
| The Madness of King George The Madness of King George The Madness of King George is a 1994 film directed by Nicholas Hytner and adapted by Alan Bennett from his own play, The Madness of George III. It tells the true story of George III's deteriorating mental health, and his equally declining relationship with his son, the Prince of Wales, particularly... |
Greville | ||
| 1995 | Harry Harry (TV series) Harry is a television drama series that was made by Union Pictures for the BBC, and shown on BBC One between 1993 and 1995. The programme concerned a journalist called Harry Salter who ran a news agency in the town of Darlington in England.- Cast :* Harry Salter - Michael Elphick* Jonathan - Tom... |
Dominic Collier | TV series (1 episode: "Episode #2.6") |
| 1996 | 1914-1918 | Voice | TV series (2 episodes) |
| The Innocent Sleep The Innocent Sleep The Innocent Sleep is a 1996 British thriller film directed by Scott Michell and starring Rupert Graves, Michael Gambon and Franco Nero. A tramp witnesses a gangland killing and becomes a target himself.-Cast:* Oliver Cotton ... Lusano... |
Alan Terry | ||
| Intimate Relations | Harold Guppy | Montreal World Film Festival Montreal World Film Festival The Montreal World Film Festival , founded in 1977, is one of Canada's oldest international film festivals and the only competitive film festival in North America accredited by the FIAPF... - Best Actor |
|
| Different for Girls Different for Girls Different for Girls is a 1996 British/French comedy film in which one of the protagonists is a transsexual woman. The film is directed by Richard Spence and written by Tony Marchant, starring Rupert Graves and Steven Mackintosh.-Plot:... |
Paul Prentice | ||
| The Tenant of Wildfell Hall The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996 miniseries) The Tenant of Wildfell Hall is a 1996 British television serial adaptation of Anne Brontë's novel of the same name, produced by BBC and directed by Mike Barker... |
Arthur Huntingdon | TV mini-series (3 episodes) | |
| 1997 | Bent Bent (film) Bent is a 1997 British/Japanese drama film directed by Sean Mathias, based on the 1979 play of the same name by Martin Sherman, who also wrote the screenplay. It revolves around the persecution of homosexuals in Nazi Germany after the murder of Sturmabteilung leader Ernst Röhm on the Night of the... |
Officer on Train | |
| Mrs Dalloway | Septimus Warren Smith | ||
| 1998 | The Soldier's Leap | Christian | Short |
| The Revengers' Comedies The Revengers' Comedies (film) The Revengers' Comedies was a 1997 film adaptation for television of the Alan Ayckbourn stage comedy of the same name. It was directed by Malcolm Mowbray and written by Mowbray and Ayckbourn together... |
Oliver Knightly | ||
| 1999 | The Blonde Bombshell | Dennis Hamilton | TV movie |
| Cleopatra Cleopatra (1999 film) Cleopatra is a 1999 fictional film portrayal of the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, produced by Hallmark Entertainment, starring Leonor Varela as the title character, Timothy Dalton as Julius Caesar, Billy Zane as Mark Antony, Rupert Graves as Octavius, Sean Pertwee as Brutus and Bruce Payne as Cassius.... |
Octavian Augustus Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian... |
TV mini-series | |
| Vsichni moji blízcí | Nicholas Winton | ||
| Dreaming of Joseph Lees Dreaming of Joseph Lees Dreaming of Joseph Lees is a 1999 British romantic drama film directed by Eric Styles and starring Rupert Graves, Samantha Morton and Nicholas Woodeson. It is an adaptation of a story written by Catherine Linstrum set in rural England in the late 1950s. The film was distributed by the Fox... |
Joseph Lees | ||
| 2000 | Room to Rent | Mark | |
| Take a Girl Like You Take a Girl Like You (TV series) Take a Girl Like You is a 2000 British television comedy series adapted by Andrew Davies from the 1960 novel Take a Girl Like You by Kingsley Amis. It starred Sienna Guillory, Rupert Graves, Hugh Bonneville, Robert Daws, Leslie Phillips, Emma Chambers, Ian Driver and Deborah Cornelius. It was... |
Patrick Standish | TV movie | |
| 2002 | The Forsyte Saga The Forsyte Saga (2002 miniseries) In 2002 the first two books and the first interlude of John Galsworthy's trilogy The Forsyte Saga were adapted by Granada Television for the ITV network... |
Jolyon Forsyte Jr. | TV mini-series |
| Extreme Ops Extreme Ops Extreme Ops is a 2002 action thriller film directed by Christian Duguay, written by Michael Zaidan, Timothy Scott Bogart, and Mark Mullin, and starring Devon Sawa, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, Rupert Graves, and Rufus Sewell.-Premise:... |
Jeffrey | ||
| 2003 | The Forsyte Saga: To Let The Forsyte Saga: To Let (2003 miniseries) The Forsyte Saga: To Let is a 2003 British television serial produced by Granada Television for the ITV network, based on the book by John Galsworthy... |
Jolyon Forsyte Jr. | TV mini-series (4 episodes) |
| Charles II: The Power & the Passion Charles II: The Power and The Passion Charles II: The Power and the Passion is an award-winning British television mini-series, broadcast on BBC One in 2003, and produced by the BBC in association with the A&E Network in the United States... |
George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham George Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG, PC, FRS was an English statesman and poet.- Upbringing and education :... |
TV mini-series (4 episodes) | |
| 2004 | Pride | Linus | Voice |
| 2005 | Rag Tale | Eddy Taylor | |
| 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... |
William Sampson | TV series (1 episode: "Episode #4.3") | |
| A Waste of Shame: The Mystery of Shakespeare and His Sonnets A Waste of Shame A Waste of Shame is a 90-minute television drama on the circumstances surrounding William Shakespeare's composition of his sonnets. It takes its title from the first line of Sonnet 129... |
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"... |
TV movie | |
| 2006 | Son of the Dragon | The Lord of the North | TV mini-series |
| V for Vendetta V for Vendetta (film) V for Vendetta is a 2005 dystopian thriller film directed by James McTeigue and produced by Joel Silver and the Wachowski brothers, who also wrote the screenplay. It is an adaptation of the V for Vendetta comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd... |
Dominic | ||
| 2007 | To Be First | Dr. Christiaan Barnard | TV movie |
| Death at a Funeral | Robert | ||
| Clapham Junction Clapham Junction (film) Clapham Junction is a 2007 British television film, written by Kevin Elyot. Directed by Adrian Shergold, the film centers on the experiences of several gay men during a 36 hour period in the Clapham area of London and the consequences when their lives collide... |
Robin Cape | TV movie | |
| Intervention | Mark | ||
| The Waiting Room | George | ||
| The Dinner Party | Roger | TV movie | |
| 2008 | Ashes to Ashes Ashes to Ashes (TV series) Ashes to Ashes is a British science fiction and police procedural drama television series, serving as the sequel to Life on Mars.The series began airing on BBC One in February 2008. A second series began broadcasting in April 2009... |
Danny Moore | TV series (1 episode: "Episode #1.2) |
| Waking the Dead Waking the Dead (TV series) Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series... |
Colonel John Garrett | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| Midnight Man Midnight Man (TV serial) Midnight Man is a 2008 British television serial produced by Carnival Films for the ITV network. The three-part serial stars James Nesbitt as Max Raban, a former investigative journalist who discovers an international conspiracy involving government policy groups and death squads... |
Daniel Cosgrave | TV series (3 episodes) | |
| God on Trial God on Trial God on Trial is a 2008 BBC/WGBH Boston television play written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, starring Antony Sher, Rupert Graves and Jack Shepherd. The play takes place in Auschwitz during World War II. The Jewish prisoners put God on trial in absentia for abandoning the Jewish people... |
Mordechai | TV movie | |
| Marple: A Pocket Full of Rye Marple (TV series) Marple is a British television series based on the Miss Marple and other murder mystery novels by Agatha Christie. It is also known as Agatha Christie's Marple. The title character was played by Geraldine McEwan from the first to third series, until her retirement from the role. She was replaced... |
Lance Fortescue | TV movie | |
| 2009 | The Good Times Are Killing Me | Lexy | TV movie |
| Garrow's Law Garrow's Law Garrow's Law is a British period legal drama about the 18th-century lawyer William Garrow. The series debuted on 1 November 2009 on BBC One and BBC HD. A second series was announced on 7 July 2010 and aired from 14 November 2010... |
Sir Arthur Hill | TV series (7 episodes: 2009-2010) | |
| 2010 | Wallander | Alfred Harderburg | TV series (1 episode: "The Man Who Smiled") |
| Lewis | Alec Pickman | TV series (1 episode: "Falling Darkness") | |
| Sherlock | D.I. Lestrade | TV series (2 episodes) | |
| Made in Dagenham Made in Dagenham Made in Dagenham is a 2010 British film directed by Nigel Cole. The film stars Sally Hawkins, Miranda Richardson, Rosamund Pike and Jaime Winstone. It dramatises the Ford sewing machinists strike of 1968 that aimed for equal pay for women... |
Peter Hopkins | ||
| Law & Order: UK | John Smith | TV series (1 episode: "Defence") | |
| Single Father | Stuart | TV series (4 episodes) | |
| New Tricks | Adrian Levene | TV series (1 episode: "Fashion Victim") | |
| 2011 | The Filthy War | Eduardo | (in production) |
| Case Sensitive | Mark Bretherick | TV movie | |
| Scott & Bailey Scott & Bailey Scott & Bailey is a British detective drama series that debuted on ITV on 29 May, 2011. The programme's main characters are DC Rachel Bailey and DC Janet Scott , both of whom are members of the Major Incident Team of the fictional Manchester Metropolitan Police, headed by DCI Gill Murray... |
Nick Savage | TV series (3 episodes) |
Theatre work
In addition to his screen work, Graves has also won acclaim for his stage acting, including roles on the American stage in Broadway-theatreBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
productions in New York City, New York, of the plays Closer
Closer (play)
Closer is the third play written by English playwright Patrick Marber. The play was premiered at the Royal National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre in London in 1997, and made its North American debut at the Music Box Theatre on Broadway on 25 January 1999....
(2000) and The Elephant Man
The Elephant Man (play)
The Elephant Man is a 1977 play by Bernard Pomerance. The production's Broadway debut in 1979 was produced by Richmond Crinkley and Nelle Nugent, and directed by Jack Hofsiss...
(2002).
Graves also appeared as Presley Stray in the play The Pitchfork Disney
The Pitchfork Disney
The Pitchfork Disney is the first stage play by the multi-talented artist Philip Ridley. It was premiered at the Bush Theatre in London, England in 1991...
(1991) at the Bush Theatre
Bush Theatre
The Bush Theatre is based in Shepherd's Bush, in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. It was established in 1972 above The Bush public house by Brian McDermott, and has since become one of the most celebrated new writing theatres in the world. An intimate venue renowned for its close-up...
in London, England and also "A Madhouse in Goa" opposite Vanessa Redgrave.
External links
- rupert-graves.com, official website