Peter Egan - wikipedia Peter Egan This article is about the British actor. For the American columnist, see Peter Egan ( columnist ). This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. ( March 2013 ) Peter Egan ( 1946 - 09 - 28 ) 28 September 1946 ( age 70 ) London, England, UK Occupation Actor Spouse ( s ) Myra Frances ( m. 1977 ) Website Official website Peter Egan ( born 28 September 1946 ) is a British actor known for his TV roles, including Hogarth in Big Breadwinner Hog, the future King George IV of the United Kingdom in Prince Regent ( 1979 ) ; smooth neighbour Paul Ryman in the sitcom Ever Decreasing Circles ( 1984 -- 89 ) ; and Hugh `` Shrimpie '' MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire, in Downton Abbey ( 2012 -- 15 ). He is married to retired actress Myra Frances. Contents 1 Early life 2 Life and career 3 Animal rights activism 4 Selected filmography 5 References 6 External links Early life Egan was born in London, England, the son of Doris ( née Pick ) and Michael Thomas Egan, who is of Irish descent. He was educated at St. George 's Roman Catholic Comprehensive School, Maida Vale. He also attended the London Oratory School and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Life and career Peter Egan 's first stage performance was in ' Charlie Girl '. Peter Egan 's first television role was as the sex - and - cinema - obsessed Seth Starkadder in a BBC serialisation of Cold Comfort Farm ( 1968 ). In 1969 he had come to notoriety as the acid - throwing gangster Hogarth in the controversial Granada TV series Big Breadwinner Hog. Later he had other starring roles as John Everett Millais in the BBC serial The Love School ( 1975 ), and as Oscar Wilde in the serial Lillie ( 1978 ), starring Francesca Annis as Lillie Langtry ; as Magnus Pym in the BBC dramatisation of John le Carré 's A Perfect Spy ( 1987 ) and another BBC sitcom, Joint Account ( 1989 -- 90 ). He played the title role in the BBC series Prince Regent ( 1979 ), and was a sinister immortal Knight Templar in Michael J. Bird 's BBC series The Dark Side of the Sun ( 1983 ). Egan also played Fothergill in the TV series Reilly, Ace of Spies ( 1983 ). In 1986 he had the role of Henry Simcox in the television dramatization of John Mortimer 's Paradise Postponed. In 1988 he narrated the Video 125 drivers eye view 1066DC, which was a cab ride in a Network Southeast class 411 4CEP EMU from Hastings to London. He also guest - starred in episodes of The Ruth Rendell Mysteries ( `` A New Lease of Death, '' 1991 ) and A Touch of Frost ( `` Private Lives, '' 1999 ). Other roles have included the character Michael Cochrane in the programme The Ambassador ( 1998 ), and on film as the suave secret agent Meres in TV spin - off Callan ( 1974 ), and the Duke of Sutherland in Chariots of Fire ( 1981 ). In 2007 he took the role of Victor in the film Death at a Funeral. In 2009 Egan toured as lead Sir Hugo Latymer in Nikolai Foster 's revival of Noël Coward 's A Song at Twilight. He is the narrator for the US and UK versions of Forza Motorsport 3 and its sequel, Forza Motorsport 4. He also voiced the Witch Trial Judge in Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright : Ace Attorney. In 2012, he first appeared as Hugh `` Shrimpie '' MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire, in the Christmas special episode of ITV 's Downton Abbey. On the show 's 5th series, Shrimpie became a recurring character ; he also briefly appeared in Series 6. In 2012 he played in Alan Bennett 's People alongside Frances de la Tour at the National Theatre. Animal rights activism Egan is a longtime animal lover and vegetarian. Starting in around 2010, he began to campaign publicly on behalf of animal rights and animal welfare. He is an ambassador for the dog rescue Saving Suffering Strays in Sarajevo, Bosnia. He and his wife Myra adopted their Bosnian dog Tidus from this dog rescue. They continue to give support to stray street dogs of Sarajevo and their lone rescuer Milena Malesevic. Egan is an active ambassador for the Animals Asia Foundation, which is a charity that works to end cruelty to animals in Asia. He is also patron of `` All Dogs Matter '', a dog rescue and rehoming charity in and around London and Norfolk. In keeping with his beliefs, during the filming of Downton Abbey Egan refused to have meat on his plate during dinner scenes and to be shown firing a gun during a hunting scene. In May 2015, Egan became Patron of Chaldon Animal Sanctuary, a charity that offers homes for life for dogs and cats. Egan personally took one of the Bosnian dogs now named Crusoe to the sanctuary in May. In August 2015, Egan was announced as patron of the science - based campaign For Life On Earth ( FLOE ), which fights against animal testing in the field of human medical research. In January 2016, Egan participated in Veganuary, and has remained vegan. Selected filmography One Brief Summer ( 1970 ) Elizabeth R ( 1971 ) The Hireling ( 1973 ) Callan ( 1974 ) Hennessy ( 1975 ) Chariots of Fire ( 1981 ) A Woman of Substance ( 1984 ) To Catch a King ( 1984 ) A Perfect Spy ( 1987 ) BBC Bean ( 1997 ) 2001 : A Space Travesty ( 2000 ) The King 's Beard ( 2002 ) The I Inside ( 2003 ) The Wedding Date ( 2005 ) Man to Man ( 2005 ) Death at a Funeral ( 2007 ) The Witcher 2 : Assassins of Kings ( 2011 ) Downton Abbey ( 2012 - 2015 ) Grantchester ( 2014 ) Unforgotten ( 2015 ) References Jump up ^ `` Peter Egan Film Reference biography ''. Filmreference.com. Retrieved 20 June 2014. Jump up ^ Cavendish, Dominic ( 2 March 2009 ). `` A Song at Twilight, review ''. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 20 June 2014. Jump up ^ PETER EGAN ON ACTING AND ANIMALS, Compassion in World Farming, 17 August 2015 Jump up ^ `` Saving Suffering Strays - Sarajevo ''. savingsufferingstrays.com. Jump up ^ `` Animals Asia ''. peter-egan.co.uk. Retrieved 20 June 2014. Jump up ^ `` All Dogs Matter ''. Jump up ^ Shakespeare, Sebastian ( 18 November 2014 ). `` SEBASTIAN SHAKESPEARE : It 's an Ecclestone behind bars ( no, not Bernie ) - although daughter Tamara 's husband has had scrapes with the authorities in the past ''. Daily Mail. Jump up ^ `` Chaldon Animal Sanctuary ''. chaldonanimalsanctuary.co.uk. Jump up ^ West, Bradley. `` FLOE 's Patron Peter Egan ''. www.forlifeonearth.org. Retrieved 9 September 2015. Jump up ^ `` Veganuary Chats to Downton Abbey 's Peter Egan ''. veganuary.com. External links Peter Egan on IMDb Official website Peter Egan Interview BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles Most Promising Newcomer to Film Claire Bloom ( 1952 ) Norman Wisdom ( 1953 ) David Kossoff ( 1954 ) Paul Scofield ( 1955 ) Eli Wallach ( 1956 ) Eric Barker ( 1957 ) Paul Massie ( 1958 ) Hayley Mills ( 1959 ) Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles Albert Finney ( 1960 ) Rita Tushingham ( 1961 ) Tom Courtenay ( 1962 ) James Fox ( 1963 ) Julie Andrews ( 1964 ) Judi Dench ( 1965 ) Vivien Merchant ( 1966 ) Faye Dunaway ( 1967 ) Dustin Hoffman ( 1968 ) Jon Voight ( 1969 ) David Bradley ( 1970 ) Dominic Guard ( 1971 ) Joel Grey ( 1972 ) Peter Egan ( 1973 ) Georgina Hale ( 1974 ) Valerie Perrine ( 1975 ) Jodie Foster ( 1976 ) Isabelle Huppert ( 1977 ) Christopher Reeve ( 1978 ) Dennis Christopher ( 1979 ) Most Outstanding Newcomer to Leading Film Roles Judy Davis ( 1980 ) Joe Pesci ( 1981 ) Ben Kingsley ( 1982 ) Most Outstanding Newcomer to Film Phyllis Logan ( 1983 ) Haing S. Ngor ( 1984 ) VIAF : 2661912 LCCN : no2011046835 GND : 1062058046 BNF : cb139456929 ( data ) Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Egan&oldid=788625623 '' Categories : 1946 births Living people English male film actors English male television actors Male actors from London Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from November 2016 BLP articles lacking sources from March 2013 All BLP articles lacking sources Articles with hCards Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch فارسی Italiano עברית Svenska Edit links This page was last edited on 2 July 2017, at 14 : 25. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. 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Question: who did peter egan play in downton abbey
Answer: Hugh "Shrimpie" MacClare