# Kevin McNally

Kevin Robert McNally (born 27 April 1956) is an English actor and writer. He began his acting career in the BBC TV adaptation of I, Claudius (1976), but is best known for portraying Joshamee Gibbs in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

## Early life and education

McNally was born in Bristol.
McNally spent his early years in Birmingham, attending Redhill Junior School in Hay Mills and Mapledene Junior School (now Mapledene Primary School) in Sheldon. He went to Central Grammar School for Boys on Gressel Lane in Tile Cross.

## Career

McNally's first professional acting work, at age 16, was at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. In 1973 he received a scholarship to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art where, in 1975, he won the Best Actor Bancroft Gold Medal.
In 1976, he appeared in BBC's I, Claudius and, in 1977, was a regular in the second series of Poldark playing Drake Carne, younger brother of Demelza Poldark. From 1991 to 1994, he wrote nine episodes of Minder, under the pseudonym Kevin Sperring, with writing partner Bernard Dempsey. He also wrote two episodes of Boon, and two episodes of Lock, Stock with Dempsey.
McNally played Joshamee Gibbs in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. He is one of only three actors who appear in all five films, and reprised the role in Kingdom Hearts III, making him the only actor from the film series to reprise a role in Kingdom Hearts. He also reprised the role in 2021 for Sea of Thieves' "A Pirate's Life" Tall Tale series.
Along with fellow British actors Ian McNeice and Kenneth Branagh, McNally appeared in two Second World War films, Valkyrie and Conspiracy, that depict behind the scenes activities of high-ranking officials in Nazi Germany.
In 2011, he was cast in the American television series Supernatural as Frank. In 2012, he performed as a voice actor for the best selling videogame Assassin's Creed III, providing the likeness and voice of the character of Robert Faulkner. In 2013, he began working on a science-fiction animation project, Starship Goldfish.
In 2014, he played the lead role in re-recorded radio plays of five lost episodes of Hancock's Half Hour for BBC Radio 4. Following this, a further video episode was re-recorded and broadcast on BBC Four as part of the Lost Sitcoms series.
From 2014 to 2017, McNally played Judge Richard Woodhull of Setauket, Long Island, in the AMC series Turn: Washington's Spies. In July 2019, he guest-starred as Inspector Grandjean in Season 2, Episode 1 of Amazon's mystery series Maigret.
In 2019, McNally portrayed Captain Mainwaring in a series of re-enactments of otherwise lost episodes of the sitcom Dad's Army.
In 2021, McNally appeared in three episodes of Flux, Doctor Who's thirteenth series, as Professor Jericho, quickly becoming a fan-favourite character. McNally previously appeared in Doctor Who in the 1984 serial The Twin Dilemma as Lieutenant Hugo Lang.

## Personal life

McNally was in a relationship with actress Stevie Harris and they have two children together.
He met actress Phyllis Logan in 1994, and they married in 2011. Their son was born in 1996. In 2013 the family lived in Chiswick.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 1977 | The Spy Who Loved Me | HMS Ranger Crewman |
| 1980 | The Long Good Friday | Irish Youth |
| 1982 | Enigma | Bruno |
| 1985 | Not Quite Paradise | Pete |
| 1985 | The Berlin Affair | Heinz von Hollendorf |
| 1987 | Cry Freedom | Ken Robertson |
| 1990 | Jekyll & Hyde | Sergeant Hornby |
| 1992 | Stalin | Sergey Kirov |
| 1997 | Spice World | Policeman |
| 1998 | Sliding Doors | Paul |
| 1999 | Entrapment | Haas |
| 2000 | When the Sky Falls | Tom Hamilton |
| 2001 | Conspiracy | Martin Luther |
| 2001 | High Heels and Low Lifes | Mason |
| 2003 | Johnny English | Prime Minister |
| 2003 | Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl | Joshamee Gibbs |
| 2004 | De-Lovely | Gerald Murphy |
| 2004 | The Phantom of the Opera | Joseph Buquet |
| 2005 | Irish Jam | Lord Hailstock |
| 2006 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | Joshamee Gibbs |
| 2006 | Scoop | Mike Tinsley |
| 2007 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | Joshamee Gibbs |
| 2008 | Tuesday | Jerry |
| 2008 | Valkyrie | Carl Goerdeler |
| 2011 | Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides | Joshamee Gibbs |
| 2012 | Hamilton: In the Interest of the Nation | Harold Smith |
| 2012 | The Raven | Henry Maddux |
| 2013 | Bounty Killer | Daft Willy |
| 2014 | 500 Miles North | Groundsman |
| 2015 | Legend | Harold Wilson |
| 2015 | The Man Who Knew Infinity | Percy Alexander MacMahon |
| 2016 | Macbeth Unhinged | Duncan |
| 2017 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales | Joshamee Gibbs |
| 2019 | Robert the Bruce | Sean |
| 2021 | Decrypted | Colonel Pike |
| 2021 | Painted Beauty | Det. Greene |
| 2024 | Apartment 7A | Roman Castevet |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Ref. |
| 1976 | I, Claudius | Castor | |
| 1976 | Survivors ("Parasites") | Jeff Kane | |
| 1977 | The Duchess of Duke Street ("A Lesson in Manners") | Tom Prince | |
| 1977 | Poldark | Drake Carne | |
| 1977 | Crown Court ("Street Gang") | Paul Adams | |
| 1978 | The Devil's Crown | Henry the Young King | |
| 1981 | Masada | Norbanus | |
| 1982 | Praying Mantis | Bernard | |
| 1984 | Diana | Jan | |
| 1984 | Doctor Who | Lieutenant Hugo Lang | Serial: The Twin Dilemma |
| 1987 | Casualty | Tom Bennod | |
| 1988 | The Contract | Johnny Donahue | |
| 1989 | Hard Cases | Richard Pearce | |
| 1991 | Bottom ("Smells") | Sex shop owner | |
| 1992 | The Common Pursuit | Stuart Thorne | |
| 1993 | Full Stretch | Baz Levick | |
| 1995 | A Bit of Fry & Laurie | Himself/Various | |
| 1995 | Ghosts | Craig Byatt | |
| 1997 | Underworld | Mr Jezzard | |
| 1997–1999 | Dad | Alan Hook | |
| 1999 | Rab C. Nesbitt ("Commons") | MP Tony Welthorpe | |
| 1999 | Midsomer Murders ("Blood Will Out") | Orville Tudway | |
| 2000 | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles | Walter Burton Harris | |
| 2002 | Shackleton | Captain Frank Worsley | |
| 2002 | Spooks | Robert Osborne | |
| 2002 | Bedtime | Simon | |
| 2005 | Bloodlines | James Hopkin | |
| 2007 | Life on Mars | Supt. Harry Woolf | |
| 2007 | The Minister of Divine | Wesley | |
| 2007 | The Murder of Princess Diana | Charles Davis | |
| 2009 | Demons | Mr Tibbs | |
| 2009 | Margaret | Kenneth Clarke | |
| 2009 | Wuthering Heights | Mr Earnshaw | |
| 2009 | Law & Order: UK | Harry Morgan | |
| 2010 | New Tricks ("Left Field") | Fred Blackledge | |
| 2010 | Agatha Christie's Marple ("The Blue Geranium") | Inspector Sumerset | |
| 2010 | Midsomer Murders ("The Noble Art") | Gerald Farquaharson | |
| 2011 | CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ("Freaks & Geeks") | Major Willie | |
| 2011–2012 | Supernatural (3 episodes) | Frank Devereaux | |
| 2011–2012 | Downton Abbey | Horace Bryant | |
| 2012 | Burn Notice ("Odd Man Out") | James Vanek | |
| 2013 | The Challenger Disaster | Lawrence Mulloy | |
| 2013 | The Mill | Mr. Timperley | |
| 2013 | Starship Goldfish | Ghostworth | |
| 2014–2017 | Turn: Washington's Spies | Richard Woodhull | |
| 2014 | 24: Live Another Day ("Day 9: 10:00PM – 11:00AM") | Russian agent | |
| 2015 | Count Arthur Strong | Ernest | |
| 2016 | Lost Sitcoms: Hancock's Half Hour | Tony Hancock | |
| 2016 | Designated Survivor | Harris Cochrane | |
| 2017 | Maigret's Night at the Crossroads | Inspector Grandjean | |
| 2018 | The Good Fight | Franz Mendelssohn | |
| 2018 | Unforgotten | James Hollis | |
| 2018 | The Outpost | The Smith | |
| 2018 | The ABC Murders | Inspector Japp | |
| 2018 | Das Boot | Greenwood senior | |
| 2019 | Dad's Army: The Lost Episodes | Captain Mainwaring | |
| 2019 | Catherine the Great | Count Alexei Orlov | |
| 2020 | The Crown | Bernard Ingham | |
| 2021 | Doctor Who | Professor Eustacius Jericho | Episodes: "Village of the Angels", "Survivors of the Flux" and "The Vanquishers" |
| 2022—present | The Wingfeather Saga | Podo Helmer (voice) | |
| 2023 | Stonehouse | Harold Wilson | |
| 2024 | Silent Witness | Professor Peter Cherry | |
| TBA | Miss Austen | TBA | |
Other television credits include: Z-Cars, The Bill, Casualty, The New Statesman and Murder Most Horrid. McNally also co wrote several episodes of the television series Minder and Boon in the 1980s.

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2006 | Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest | Joshamee Gibbs | |
| 2007 | Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End | Joshamee Gibbs | |
| 2007 | Pirates of the Caribbean Online | Joshamee Gibbs | |
| 2011 | Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game | Joshamee Gibbs | |
| 2012 | Assassin's Creed III | Robert Faulkner | |
| 2013 | Disney Infinity | Joshamee Gibbs | |
| 2019 | Kingdom Hearts III | Joshamee Gibbs | Credited as "Kevin R. McNally" |
| 2021 | Sea of Thieves: A Pirate's Life | Joshamee Gibbs | |

## Selected stage credits

| Title | Role | Theatre | Notes |
| King Lear | King Lear | Shakespeare's Globe | opposite Saskia Reeves, Burt Caesar |
| Hamlet | Claudius | Donmar at Wyndham's Theatre | opposite Jude Law, Ron Cook and Penelope Wilton |
| Ivanov | Lebedev | Donmar at Wyndham's Theatre | opposite Kenneth Branagh, Malcolm Sinclair and Gina McKee Nominated – Laurence Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role |
| Boeing Boeing | Bernard | Comedy Theatre | |
| The Lady in the Van | Alan Bennett 2 | Queen's Theatre | opposite Maggie Smith and Alan Bennett |
| Naked | Grotti | Almeida Theatre | opposite Juliette Binoche |
| Dead Funny | Richard | Savoy Theatre | |
| The Iceman Cometh | Paritt | National Theatre | |