caption birth_name birth_place imagesize birth_date yearsactive image article_title education name occupation
richard armitage at the 2010 bafta tv awards richard crispin armitage huncote , leicestershire , england 220px 22 august 1971 1988 -- present armitagebaftas2010.jpg richard armitage -lrb- actor -rrb-
 london academy of music and dramatic art richard armitage actor
richard armitage -lrb- actor -rrb-

richard crispin armitage -lrb- born 22 august 1971 -rrb- is an english film , television , theatre and voice actor .
he is best known internationally for his role as dwarf prince and leader thorin oakenshield in peter jackson 's film trilogy adaptation of `` the hobbit '' .
however , armitage first gained fame in britain for his portrayal of john thornton in the british television programme `` north & south '' -lrb- 2004 -rrb- .
he is also known for his roles as john standring in the tv film `` sparkhouse '' , guy of gisborne in the tv drama `` robin hood '' , harry kennedy in the tv comedy `` the vicar of dibley '' , lucas north in the tv drama `` spooks '' , john porter in the tv drama `` strike back '' , and francis dolarhyde in the tv drama `` hannibal '' .
after graduating from the london academy of music and dramatic art -lrb- lamda -rrb- , armitage initially sought theatre work and was a member of the royal shakespeare company -lrb- rsc -rrb- .
but he turned to film and television roles when he noticed that leading stage roles went to actors with name recognition who could bring in patrons to fill venues .
after twelve years away and having earned that name recognition , armitage returned to the stage in 2014 taking his first leading role in a major production .
he played john proctor in the highly successful and critically acclaimed production of `` the crucible '' at the old vic , and earned an olivier award nomination for best actor .
one of armitage 's trademarks is his baritone voice , which he has employed as a voice actor since 2006 .
while working on the tv series `` robin hood '' , he was asked to record audiobooks for the first season of that series .
since then , armitage has recorded many notable audiobooks as well as worked as a narrator on many tv and radio shows and adverts .
his flair for speaking in a multitude of dialects , accents and voices has garnered armitage numerous accolades for his narration skills , including the 2014 best audiobook of the year award from audible.com for his recording of `` hamlet , prince of denmark : a novel '' .
