  peter firth (born 27 october 1953) is an english actor. he is best known for his role as sir harry pearce in the bbc one show spooks, in which he is the only actor to have starred in every episode of the show's ten-series lifespan. he is also known for playing a variety of starring roles in film and on television from the 1970s to present day. == early career == firth was born in bradford, west riding of yorkshire, england, the son of publicans mavis (nÃ©e hudson) and eric macintosh firth, who also had a daughter (shiela).  firth was a leading child actor by mid-1970, starring in the flaxton boys as archie weekes and the here come the double deckers series, which featured child actors in the leading roles. firth played scooper, the leader of the gang. in july 1973, he appeared at laurence olivier's national theatre, starring in the stage version of peter shaffer's play equus, as a teenager being treated by a psychiatrist, and in october 1974 repeated the role in the broadway production, receiving a tony award nomination for his performance as alan strang. his first major role as an adult was in the title role in a bbc television play of the month adaptation of oscar wilde's novel the picture of dorian gray (1976). the adaptation was based on a stage adaptation by john osborne and also starred jeremy brett and john gielgud. that same year saw the release of the world war i film aces high which featured firth as the inexperienced rfc pilot lt. stephen croft. firth played the lead role in the unsuccessful film adaptation of henry fielding's joseph andrews (1977). that same year, he starred in the film adaptation of equus, with richard burton. the film was only a moderate box office success, but earned firth a nomination for the academy award for best supporting actor and a golden globe award in the same category. fu
1953_births 20th-century_English_male_actors 21st-century_English_male_actors Actors_from_Bradford Audio_book_narrators Best_Supporting_Actor_Golden_Globe_(film)_winners Broadway_theatre_people English_male_child_actors English_male_film_actors English_male_stage_actors English_male_television_actors English_male_voice_actors Living_people