Anton Lesser

Anton Lesser (born 14 February 1952) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series Game of Thrones, Thomas More in Wolf Hall, Harold Macmillan in The Crown, Clement Attlee in A United Kingdom, Chief Superintendent Bright in Endeavour, and Major Partagaz in Star Wars: Andor. An associate of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he has performed numerous Shakespearean roles on stage and television.
Early life
Born in Birmingham, Anton Lesser attended Moseley Grammar School and the University of Liverpool, where he read architecture. He then went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and on graduation in 1977 he was awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal as the most promising actor of his year. He is of Jewish background.
Career
As an associate artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), Lesser played many of Shakespeare's great roles. In the BBC Television Shakespeare productions he was Troilus (Troilus and Cressida), Edgar (King Lear), and Feste (Twelfth Night). On stage, he has portrayed Romeo, Hamlet, Brutus, Petruchio, Richard III, and others.
Lesser is a frequent radio contributor and played the title role in the BBC Radio adaptations of the first five Marcus Didius Falco mysteries by Lindsey Davis. He has also recorded many audiobooks, including much of the work of Charles Dickens. His recording of Great Expectations won him a Talkie Award. Other books range from John Milton's Paradise Lost, Homer and Rumi to contemporary novels by Robert Harris (Fatherland) and Philip Pullman. For two months in 2013, Lesser was a regular cast member playing Robin Carrow in Ambridge Extra, a BBC Radio 4 Extra spin-off from the BBC Radio 4 drama The Archers.
In 2013, during the third season of the HBO Max series Game of Thrones, Lesser began playing the recurring role of Qyburn, an enigmatic mad scientist who served as part of the retinue of Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey). Qyburn, and Lesser's portrayal of him, were popular with fans, particularly as the series went on and the character appeared more frequently and had greater influence over the narrative. The Ringer described him as "the last curious man in Westeros" and noted that the character "refuses to seem like a MacGuffin, despite totally being one." The character returned across the remainder of the series' run until the finale in 2019; Qyburn was one of the characters who perished in the final episode, which led to many fans producing memes about his abrupt death.
In 2015, Lesser was announced as a public supporter of Chapel Lane Theatre Company based in Stratford-upon-Avon, UK.
Lesser portrayed Thomas More in the BBC mini-series Wolf Hall, and received a nomination for the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.
In 2022, Lesser played Major Partagaz, a supporting antagonist in the Star Wars spinoff Andor. His performance of Partagaz, a ranking member of the Empire's intelligence agency, the Imperial Security Bureau, was noted by critics. Digital Spy noted that Lesser delivered dialogue on Imperial bureaucracy with "powerful coolness."
Personal life
With his wife Madeleine, he has two children, Harry and Lily Lesser. Lily is an actress, who by coincidence has acted alongside her father in Endeavour and Wolf Hall.
Filmography
Film
Television
Podcasts
Video games
Theatre performances
Romeo and Juliet Romeo, 1980, RSC
Hamlet Hamlet, 1982, Donmar Warehouse, London
Troilus and Cressida Troilus, 1981, RSC
The Plantagenets (Henry VI, part 1–3 and Richard III) Richard III, 1988, RSC
Two Shakespearean Actors Edwin Forrest, 1990, RSC
Richard II Henry Bullingbrook, 1990, RSC
The Taming of the Shrew Petruchio, 1992, RSC
The Merry Wives of Windsor Frank Ford, 1992, RSC
'Art' Serge, 1997, Wyndham's Theatre, London
Private Lives Elyot, 1999, Lyttelton Theatre, London
Cymbeline Iachimo, 2003, RSC
Julius Caesar Marcus Brutus, 2005, Barbican, London
The Winter's Tale Leontes, 2006, RSC
The Vertical Hour Oliver Lucas, 2008, Royal Court Theatre, London
A Doll's House Dr. Rank, 2009, Donmar Warehouse, London
Awards and nominations
References
External links
Lesser Anton
Living people
20th-century English male actors
21st-century English male actors
Alumni of RADA
Alumni of the University of Liverpool
English male film actors
English male Shakespearean actors
English male stage actors
English male television actors
English male voice actors
Jewish English male actors
Male actors from Birmingham, West Midlands
People educated at Moseley School
Lesser, Aton