Ian McNeice

Ian McNeice (born 2 October 1950) is an English actor and voice actor. He found fame portraying government agent Harcourt in the 1985 television series Edge of Darkness, and went on to feature in popular films such as The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain, Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls and Frank Herbert's Dune.
He played the Newsreader in historical drama Rome (2005–2007) and currently plays Bert Large in the comedy drama series Doc Martin (2004–present).
== Early life and education ==
McNeice was born in Basingstoke, Hampshire. His acting training started at the Taunton School in Somerset, followed by the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and two years at the Salisbury Playhouse. The next few years were spent in theatre, including a four-year career with the Royal Shakespeare Company and a production of Nicholas Nickleby on Broadway.
== Career ==
McNeice's television breakthrough was as Harcourt in the award-winning series Edge of Darkness. He played the alcoholic sous chef Gustave LaRoche on the television series Chef!, and went on to appear in the 2000 miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune as the evil Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, a role he later reprised for the 2003 sequel Children of Dune. His television appearances have included all seven series of Doc Martin, in which he plays Bert Large, as well as the third episode of the second series of Lewis. He appears as the Newsreader in the HBO/BBC production Rome. Also in Midsomer Murders in 2001 Series 4 Episode 4.
McNeice has also appeared in a number of films, including 84 Charing Cross Road, Day of the Dead, No Escape, From Hell and The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. His breakthrough into American films occurred when he played Fulton Greenwall in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995). He played the Nazi Gerhard Klopfer in the 2001 BBC/HBO television film Conspiracy. Since then, he has been in Around the World in 80 Days (2004) and the 2005 supernatural thriller White Noise. He also appeared as Potiphar in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.
McNeice gave his distinctive voice and accent to voice-acting roles like the Vogon character Kwaltz, director of the Vogon Constructor Fleet, in the 2005 film adaptation of Douglas Adams' The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In 2007, he made his Doctor Who debut when he guest-starred as villain Zeus in the Big Finish BBC Digital Radio 7 drama Immortal Beloved. He had a cameo role as Joachim von Kortzfleisch, a German general who refused to put his troops under the command of officers plotting to depose Hitler's government, in Valkyrie.
McNeice was initially cast in the role of Illyrio Mopatis in the HBO pilot of Game of Thrones, but because of scheduling conflicts the role was then given to Roger Allam.[1] McNeice appeared as Winston Churchill[2] in four episodes of Doctor Who in 2010 and 2011; he had previously played Churchill in the 2008 premiere production of the Howard Brenton play Never So Good, and later played him again in the 2012 stage version of The King's Speech.[3]
McNeice also stars as The Architect in the independent feature film, The House of Screaming Death, set to be released in 2017.[4][5][6]
== Filmography ==
=== Film and television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1982 	The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby 	Wackford Squeers / Scaley / Croupier	TV series
1983 	The Cleopatras 	Alexander 	TV series
1983 	Grizzly II: The Concert 	Bernie 	
1983 	Voice Over 	"Fats" Bannerman 	
1984 	Minder 	Eric Morgan 	Episode: "Rocky Eight and a Half"
1984 	Top Secret! 	Blind souvenir salesman 	
1985 	Edge of Darkness 	Harcourt 	TV Mini-Series
1987 	Personal Services 	Harry 	
1987 	84 Charing Cross Road 	Bill Humphries 	
1987 	Cry Freedom 	 	Uncredited
1987 	The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne 	Bernard Rice 	
1987 	A Perfect Spy 	Sefton Boyd 	
1988 	Whoops Apocalypse 	Thrush 	
1988 	The Raggedy Rawney 	Farmer 	
1989 	Valmont 	Azolan 	
1989 	Around the World in 80 Days 	Batcular 	TV Mini-Series
1990 	1871 	Prince of Wales 	
1990 	The Russia House 	Merrydew 	
1991 	Secret Friends 	First Businessman 	1991 "Lovejoy" Gervais Rackham
1992 	Year of the Comet 	Ian 	
1992 	B & B 	Horace Gilbert 	
1992 	The Blackheath Poisonings 	George Collard 	TV film
1992 	An Ungentlemanly Act 	Dick Baker 	TV film
1993 	Don't Leave Me This Way 	Oscar Ghilardi 	
1993 	Age of Treason 	Casca 	TV film
1994 	No Escape 	King 	
1995 	Pie in the Sky 	Mr Wilkes 	
1995 	Funny Bones 	Stanley Sharkey 	
1995 	Sharpe's Battle 	Wagonmaster-General Colonel Runciman	TV film
1995 	The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain	George Garrad 	
1995 	Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls 	Fulton Greenwall 	
1996 	Chef! 	Gustave LaRoche 	TV series
1996 	Cadfael : The Devil's Novice 	Canon Eluard 	TV series
1997 	The Beautician and the Beast 	Iva Grushinsky 	
1997 	A Life Less Ordinary 	Mayhew 	
1998 	How to Make the Cruelest Month 	Peggy Asks 	
1998 	Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant 	Mr. Tapling 	TV film
1999 	The Auteur Theory 	Sir Maximilian Fair Brown 	
1999 	Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat 	Potiphar 	
1999 	The Cherry Orchard 	Pishchik 	
1999 	A Christmas Carol 	Fezziwig 	TV film
1999 	David Copperfield 	Mr. Dick 	TV film
2000 	Longitude 	Doctor 	TV series
2000 	Frank Herbert's Dune 	Baron Vladimir Harkonnen 	TV miniseries
2000 	The Sleeper 	Mr. Tarburck 	TV film
2000 	The Nine Lives of Tomas Katz 	Inspector 	
2001 	Anazapta 	Bishop 	
2001 	The Body 	Dr. Sproul 	
2001 	Town & Country 	Peter Principal 	
2001 	Conspiracy 	Dr. Gerhard Klopfer 	TV film
2001 	The Fourth Angel 	MI5 officer Lewison 	
2001 	From Hell 	Dr. Robert Drudge 	
2002 	Amnèsia 	Doug Chandler 	
2002 	Man and Boy 	Nigel Batty 	
2002 	The Final Curtain 	Priest 	
2003 	Chaos and Cadavers 	Harry Kane 	
2003 	Frank Herbert's Children of Dune 	Baron Vladimir Harkonnen 	TV miniseries
2003 	I'll Be There 	Graham 	
2003 	Blackball 	Hugh the Sideburns 	
2004 	Spartacus 	Lentulus Batiatus 	TV film
2004 	Freeze Frame 	Forensic Profiler Saul Seger 	
2004 	Around the World in 80 Days 	Colonel Kitchener 	
2004 	The Rocket Post 	Alex Miln 	
2004 	Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason 	Quizmaster 	
2004– 	Doc Martin 	Bert Large 	TV series
2005 	White Noise 	Raymond Price 	
2005 	Cherished 	Bill Bache 	TV film
2005 	The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 	Kwaltz 	Voice
2005 	Oliver Twist 	Limbkins 	
2005–2007	Rome 	The Newsreader 	TV series
2006 	The Black Dahlia 	Coroner 	
2007 	New Tricks 	Michael Meadowcroft 	Series 4 Episode 8
2008 	Day of the Dead 	DJ Paul 	
2008 	Valkyrie 	Joachim von Kortzfleisch 	
2009 	Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer 	Cassius Dio(Historian) 	TV film
2010–2011	Doctor Who 	Winston Churchill 	4 episodes
2010 	Jonathan Creek 	Father Roderick Alberic 	
2012 	Nativity 2: Danger in the Manger 	Mr. Peterson Senior 	Film
2012 	The Mystery of Edwin Drood 	Mayor Sapsea 	TV film
2017 	We Are Tourists 	Harry 	
2017 	The Man Who Invented Christmas 	Edward Chapman 	Film
2017 	The House of Screaming Death 	The Architect 	
== References ==