Simon Russell Beale
Sir Simon Russell Beale CBE (born January 12, 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 2019. He has spent much of his theatre career working in productions for both the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. He has received ten Laurence Olivier Award nominations, winning three awards for his performances in Volpone (1996), Candide (2000), and Uncle Vanya (2003). For his work on the Broadway stage he has received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination for his performance as George in the Tom Stoppard play Jumpers in 2004. For his role as Henry Lehman in The Lehman Trilogy, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and was nominated for an Olivier Award. Beale has been described by The Independent as "the greatest stage actor of his generation". Beale made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama Orlando (1992). He continued acting in films such as Persuasion (1995), Hamlet (1996), My Week with Marilyn (2011), The Deep Blue Sea (2011), Into the Woods (2014), and Mary Queen of Scots (2018). In 2017, he starred in Armando Iannucci's dark comedy The Death of Stalin playing Lavrentiy Beria for which he received the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. He has also appeared in the television projects The Young Visiters (2003), Dunkirk (2004), and as Falstaff in the BBC made-for-television films Henry IV, Part I and Part II (2012). He was part of the main cast of Showtime's Penny Dreadful.
Known For
Credits
- 2026 · The Magic Faraway Tree as
- 2025 · The Choral as Sir Edward Elgar
- 2025 · Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale as Sir Hector Moreland
- 2024 · Firebrand as Stephen Gardiner
- 2024 · Mary & George as Sir George Villiers
- 2022 · House of the Dragon as Ser Simon Strong
- 2022 · Thor: Love and Thunder as Dionysus
- 2022 · Operation Mincemeat as Winston Churchill
- 2022 · The Outfit as Roy Boyle
- 2021 · Benediction as Robbie Ross
- 2020 · A Christmas Carol as Scrooge's voice (voice)
- 2020 · Radioactive as Professor Lippmann
- 2018 · Mary Queen of Scots as Robert Beale
- 2018 · Vanity Fair as John Sedley
- 2018 · Operation Finale as David Ben-Gurion
- 2018 · Museo as Frank Graves
- 2017 · The Death of Stalin as Lavrenti Beria
- 2016 · The Legend of Tarzan as Mr. Frum
- 2014 · Into the Woods as Baker's Father
- 2014 · The Mysterious Mr Webster as Self - Interviewee
- 2014 · Penny Dreadful as Ferdinand Lyle
- 2013 · National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage as Hamlet
- 2012 · The Hollow Crown as Falstaff
- 2011 · My Week with Marilyn as Cotes-Preedy
- 2011 · Royal Opera House: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland as The Duchess / Introduced by
- 2010 · National Theatre Live: London Assurance as Sir Harcourt Courtly
- 2004 · Dunkirk as Winston Churchill
- 2002 · Spooks as William Towers
- 2002 · Spooks as Home Secretary
- 1999 · Alice in Wonderland as King Cedric of Hearts
- 1997 · A Dance to the Music of Time as Widmerpool
- 1996 · Hamlet as Second Gravedigger
- 1995 · Persuasion as Charles Musgrove
- 1992 · Orlando as Earl of Moray
- 1988 · American Experience as John Adams (voice)
- Future · Prima Facie as
- 2026 · De Gaulle: The Sovereign Edge (Film 2) as Winston Churchill
- 2026 · De Gaulle: Tilting Iron (Film 1) as Winston Churchill
- 2024 · Douglas Is Cancelled as Bently
- 2024 · Home! Home! as Narrator (voice)
- 2022 · Remembers… as Self
- 2020 · The Hour as Himself
- 2019 · National Theatre Live: The Lehman Trilogy as Henry Lehman
- 2019 · National Theatre Live: The Tragedy of King Richard the Second as Richard II
- 2017 · My Cousin Rachel as Couch
- 2017 · RSC Live: The Tempest as Prospero
- 2016 · Cunk on Shakespeare as Self - Actor
- 2016 · Shakespeare Live! From the RSC as Richard II
- 2015 · Monteverdi in Mantua - The Genius of the Vespers as presenter
- 2014 · National Theatre Live: King Lear as Lear, King of Britain
- 2013 · Legacy as Hookey
- 2013 · Lava Land - Glowing Hawaii as Narrator
- 2013 · Muse of Fire as Self
- 2012 · National Theatre Live: Timon of Athens as Timon
- 2012 · Shakespeare's Sonnets as
- 2012 · Simon Schama's Shakespeare as
- 2011 · A Musical Nativity with John Rutter as
- 2011 · Sacred Music: God's Composer as Presenter
- 2011 · National Theatre Live: Collaborators as Joseph Stalin
- 2011 · The Deep Blue Sea as Sir William Collyer
- 2011 · Symphony as
- 2010 · Sacred Music: A Christmas History as Presenter
- 2010 · BBC Proms: Sondheim's 80th Birthday as Himself - Performer
- 2008 · An Easter Celebration as presenter
- 2008 · Sacred Music as Presenter
- 2006 · Deep Water as Donald Crowhurst (voice)
- 2003 · The Young Visiters as Prince of Wales
- 2003 · The Gathering as Luke Fraser
- 1999 · Blackadder: Back & Forth as Wellington
- 1999 · An Ideal Husband as Sir Edward
- 1997 · The Temptation of Franz Schubert as Franz Schubert
- 1993 · The Mushroom Picker as Anthony
- 1986 · A Very Peculiar Practice as Mark Stibbs
- 1985 · Time and the Conways as Party Guest