
Simon Russell Beale
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.
Known For
Credits
- 2025 · Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale as
- 2024 · Douglas Is Cancelled as Bently
- 2024 · Firebrand as Stephen Gardiner
- 2024 · Mary & George as Sir George Villiers
- 2022 · House of the Dragon as Ser Simon Strong
- 2022 · Thor: Love and Thunder as Dionysus
- 2022 · Operation Mincemeat as Winston Churchill
- 2022 · The Outfit as Roy Boyle
- 2020 · Radioactive as Professor Lippmann
- 2018 · Mary Queen of Scots as Robert Beale
- 2018 · Vanity Fair as John Sedley
- 2018 · Operation Finale as David Ben-Gurion
- 2017 · The Death of Stalin as Lavrenti Beria
- 2017 · My Cousin Rachel as Couch
- 2016 · The Legend of Tarzan as Mr. Frum
- 2014 · Into the Woods as Baker's Father
- 2014 · Penny Dreadful as Ferdinand Lyle
- 2012 · The Hollow Crown as Falstaff
- 2012 · Simon Schama's Shakespeare as
- 2011 · My Week with Marilyn as Cotes-Preedy
- 2011 · Symphony as
- 2006 · Deep Water as Donald Crowhurst (voice)
- 2004 · Dunkirk as Winston Churchill
- 2002 · Spooks as William Towers
- 2002 · Spooks as Home Secretary
- 1999 · Alice in Wonderland as King Cedric of Hearts
- 1999 · An Ideal Husband as Sir Edward
- 1997 · A Dance to the Music of Time as Widmerpool
- 1996 · Hamlet as Second Gravedigger
- 1995 · Persuasion as Charles Musgrove
- 1992 · Orlando as Earl of Moray
- 1988 · American Experience as John Adams (voice)
- 1986 · A Very Peculiar Practice as Mark Stibbs
- 1983 · Blackadder as Napoléon
- Future · De Gaulle – Partie 1 : La France Libre as Winston Churchill
- 2024 · Home! Home! as Self (narrator)
- 2021 · Benediction as Robbie Ross
- 2020 · A Christmas Carol as Scrooge's voice (voice)
- 2020 · The Hour as Himself
- 2019 · National Theatre Live: The Lehman Trilogy as Henry Lehman
- 2019 · National Theatre Live: The Tragedy of King Richard the Second as Richard II
- 2018 · Museo as Frank Graves
- 2017 · RSC Live: The Tempest as Prospero
- 2016 · Cunk on Shakespeare as Self - Actor
- 2016 · Shakespeare Live! From the RSC as Richard II
- 2015 · Monteverdi in Mantua - The Genius of the Vespers as presenter
- 2014 · The Mysterious Mr Webster as Self - Interviewee
- 2014 · National Theatre Live: King Lear as Lear, King of Britain
- 2013 · Legacy as Hookey
- 2013 · Lava Land - Glowing Hawaii as Narrator
- 2013 · National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage as Hamlet
- 2013 · Muse of Fire as Self
- 2012 · National Theatre Live: Timon of Athens as Timon
- 2012 · Shakespeare's Sonnets as
- 2011 · The Deep Blue Sea as Sir William Collyer
- 2011 · Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House) as The Duchess / Introduced by
- 2010 · A Christmas History as Presenter
- 2003 · The Young Visiters as Prince of Wales
- 2003 · The Gathering as Luke Fraser
- 1999 · Blackadder: Back & Forth as Wellington
- Future · De Gaulle – Partie 2 as Winston Churchill
- 1993 · The Mushroom Picker as Anthony
- 1985 · Time and the Conways as Party Guest
- Future · The Magic Faraway Tree as
- Future · The Choral as
- 2011 · National Theatre Live: Collaborators as Joseph Stalin
- 2010 · National Theatre Live: London Assurance as Sir Harcourt Courtly
- 2010 · BBC Proms: Sondheim's 80th Birthday as Himself - Performer
- 2008 · An Easter Celebration as presenter