# Timothy Spall

Timothy Leonard Spall (/ˈspɔːl/ SPAWL; born 27 February 1957) is an English actor. He gained recognition for his character actor roles on stage and screen. In 2000, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) by Queen Elizabeth II.
Spall is known for his collaborations with director Mike Leigh, acting in six of his films: Home Sweet Home (1982), Life is Sweet (1990), Secrets & Lies (1996), Topsy-Turvy (1999), All or Nothing (2002), and Mr. Turner (2014). He received nominations for the BAFTA Award for his roles in Secrets and Lies and Topsy-Turvy as well as received the Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Award for his portrayal of J. M. W. Turner in Mr. Turner.
Spall has acted in films such as Hamlet (1996), Still Crazy (1998), Nicholas Nickleby (2002), The Last Samurai (2003), Enchanted (2007), Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), The Damned United (2009), The King's Speech (2010), Ginger and Rosa (2012), Denial (2016), The Party (2017), and Spencer (2021). He voiced Nick the rat in Chicken Run (2000), and portrayed Peter Pettigrew in five Harry Potter films, from Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) to Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010).
On television, Spall played Barry Spencer Taylor in the ITV comedy drama series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983–2004) and Lord Arthur Wallington in the BBC Cold War drama Summer of Rockets (2019). He won the 2024 International Emmy Awards and BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for his performance as Peter Farquhar in The Sixth Commandment.
From 2010 to 2012 the BBC broadcast three documentary series Timothy Spall: ...at Sea about Spall's voyage around Britain in his barge.

## Early life

Spall, the third of four sons, was born on 27 February 1957 in Battersea, London. His mother, Sylvia R. (née Leonard), was a hairdresser, and his father, Joseph L. Spall, was a postal worker. Spall attended Battersea County Comprehensive School. At that time, he was planning on going to art school or joining the army. Spall's ambitions turned towards acting when he was 16, after appearing in a school play as the lion in the Wizard of Oz: "I was up there on stage being funny, and people laughed. I wanted to do it again and again." He trained at the National Youth Theatre, and at RADA, graduating in 1978, after being awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal as the most promising actor in his year.

## Career

Spall initially made his mark in theatre performing in productions for Birmingham Rep, including the UK premier of Arnold Wesker's The Merchant, and, later, the Royal Shakespeare Company, including The Merry Wives of Windsor, Three Sisters, Nicholas Nickleby and The Knight of the Burning Pestle. At The National Theatre Spall played the Dauphin in George Bernard Shaw's St Joan.
Following a film debut in Quadrophenia and wider TV exposure playing, as Wayne says, "the gormless radish" [awkward] Barry Taylor in all four series of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Kevin in Outside Edge and Aubrey the appalling chef in Mike Leigh's Life is Sweet, Spall has since appeared in the films Crusoe, Secrets & Lies, Shooting the Past, Topsy-Turvy, Vanilla Sky, Rock Star, All or Nothing, The Last Samurai, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events and The King's Speech. He performed as Peter Pettigrew ("Wormtail") in the Harry Potter film series. In 1991 he guest starred in the series 5 Red Dwarf episode "Back to Reality". In 1993, Spall was a guest in the Scottish comedy series Rab C. Nesbitt.
He was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2000 New Year Honours.
Spall performed lead vocals on the song "The Devil is an Englishman" from the Ken Russell film Gothic (1986), in which Spall portrayed John William Polidori. Spall played the starring role of Albert Pierrepoint in the 2005 film Pierrepoint, which was released as The Last Hangman in the United States. In the 2006 video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories, Spall voiced Phil Collins' manager, Barry Mickelthwaite. In 2007, he starred as Nathaniel in Disney's Enchanted and Beadle Bamford in Tim Burton's production of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. He also starred as Georgie Godwin in a one-off television drama The Fattest Man in Britain on ITV1 which aired on 20 December 2009. The drama also featured Bobby Ball, Frances Barber, Aisling Loftus and Jeremy Kyle.
In 2010, he portrayed Winston Churchill in the film The King's Speech, for which, as a member of the ensemble, he was jointly awarded the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture. Spall reprised the role at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony.
In 2012, Spall filmed Wasteland (known as The Rise in Britain), with actors Matthew Lewis and Vanessa Kirby. The Newport Beach Film Festival in Newport Beach, California, screened Wasteland in April 2013. Also in 2012 Spall played Charlie Morgan in the edgy film Comes a Bright Day.
In 2014, he won the Best Actor Award at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival for Mr. Turner, a biographical film on J. M. W. Turner directed by Mike Leigh. Spall has mentioned that this role is his personal favourite as it inspired him to take on painting. In 2016, Spall portrayed Holocaust denier David Irving in the film Denial, directed by Mick Jackson.
From 29 March to 14 May 2016, Spall played the title role of Davies in Harold Pinter's play The Caretaker, directed by Matthew Warchus at the Old Vic theatre in London opposite George MacKay and Daniel Mays.
In 2018 he played Terry Perkins, one of the robbers, in the ITV miniseries Hatton Garden.
Spall went on to play Major Alistair Gregory in the acclaimed dramatic film Spencer (2021). He shared several psychologically charged scenes with Kristen Stewart who portrayed Princess Diana.
Spall received the 2024 BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, for his performance as Peter Farquhar in the BBC's true life drama series The Sixth Commandment, which aired in 2023.

## Personal life

Spall and his wife Shane have three children including Rafe, who is also an actor. He lives in Forest Hill, South East London.
In 1996, Spall was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukaemia, but has since been in remission. He has said of his illness:
   I didn't know what made me ill but stress had something to do with it and the point is now to head off stress at the pass. It made me aware of things and become more selective. I am less worried about employment. I really do my homework so I am not getting stressed on the set because I don't know what I'm doing.
He is the owner of a Dutch barge, in which he and his wife sailed around the British Isles as part of a BBC Four TV series Timothy Spall: Back at Sea.

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 1996 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Secrets & Lies | Nominated |
| 2000 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Topsy-Turvy | Nominated |
| 1999 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Actor | Our Mutual Friend | Nominated |
| 2000 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Actor | Shooting the Past | Nominated |
| 2002 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Actor | Vacuuming Completely Nude in Paradise | Nominated |
| 2024 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Actor | The Sixth Commandment | Won |
| 2001 | British Independent Film Awards | Best Actor | Lucky Break | Nominated |
| 2002 | British Independent Film Awards | Best Actor | All or Nothing | Nominated |
| 2014 | British Independent Film Awards | Best Actor | Mr. Turner | Nominated |
| 2014 | Cannes Film Festival | Best Actor | Mr. Turner | Won |
| 2014 | Capri Hollywood International Film Festival | Best Actor | Mr. Turner | Won |
| 2008 | Critics' Choice Awards | Best Acting Ensemble | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Nominated |
| 2002 | European Film Awards | Best Actor | All or Nothing | Nominated |
| 2014 | European Film Awards | Best Actor | Mr. Turner | Won |
| 2024 | International Emmy Awards | Best Actor | The Sixth Commandment | Won |
| 1984 | Laurence Olivier Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Saint Joan | Nominated |
| 1997 | London Film Critics' Circle Awards | British Actor of the Year | Secrets & Lies | Nominated |
| 2001 | London Film Critics' Circle Awards | Supporting Actor of the Year | Topsy-Turvy | Nominated |
| 2007 | London Film Critics' Circle Awards | British Actor of the Year | Pierrepoint: The Last Hangman | Nominated |
| 2010 | London Film Critics' Circle Awards | Supporting Actor of the Year | The Damned United | Nominated |
| 2015 | London Film Critics' Circle Awards | Actor of the Year | Mr. Turner | Nominated |
| 2015 | London Film Critics' Circle Awards | British Actor of the Year | Mr. Turner | Won |
| 2002 | National Board of Review Awards | Best Cast | Nicholas Nickleby | Won |
| 2014 | National Society of Film Critics Awards | Best Actor | Mr. Turner | Won |
| 2014 | New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Actor | Mr. Turner | Won |
| 2009 | Satellite Awards | Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture | The Damned United | Nominated |
| 2010 | Screen Actors Guild Award | Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture | The King's Speech | Won |