John Shrapnel

Birthday

1942-04-27

Place of Birth

Birmingham, England, UK

Biography

Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy (née Edwards) and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel.[1] As a stage actor, he was a member of Laurence Olivier's Royal National Theatre company and the Royal Shakespeare Company and most recently appeared as Sir Oliver Surface in The School for Scandal (directed by Deborah Warner) at the Barbican Centre in 2011. He has also appeared extensively in film and on television in roles in Elizabeth R, Z-Cars, Edward and Mrs. Simpson, 101 Dalmatians, Space: 1999, Inspector Morse, Coogan's Run, Notting Hill and Foyle's War. He presented an episode of the 1983 BBC television travel series Great Little Railways. He gave performances in three entries in the BBC Television Shakespeare plays and as Creon in the BBC's 1984 productions of the Three Theban plays of Sophocles. In America, he has starred in supporting roles as Senator Gaius in Gladiator, Nestor in Troy and Pompey in the second episode of Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. He also played the Jail Warden in the 10th Kingdom, an epic fantasy miniseries. He has the rare achievement of appearing in two episodes of Midsomer Murders as two different characters, in Death in Chorus and Written in Blood. Shrapnel appeared in an episode of Jonathan Creek as Professor Lance Graumann in the episode The Omega Man. He appears in Chemical Wedding alongside Simon Callow, telling the tale of the resurrection of occultist Aleister Crowley. Shrapnel also has experience in the field of BBC radio drama through such characters as Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse and William Gibson's Neuromancer. He is the son-in-law of Deborah Kerr through his 1975 marriage to her younger daughter Francesca Ann Bartley. They have three sons, the actors Lex Shrapnel (b.1979), Tom Shrapnel (b.1981) and the writer Joe Shrapnel (b.1976). They live in Highbury, north London.
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National Theatre Live: Macbeth

National Theatre Live: Macbeth

2013 7.9
National Theatre Live: Macbeth

as Duncan, King of Scotland/Seyton, attendant to Macbeth/Old Man

2013
The Awakening

The Awakening

2011 6.4
The Awakening

as Reverend Hugh Purslow

2011
Apparitions

Apparitions

2008 7.9
Apparitions

as Cardinal Bukovak

2008
The Duchess

The Duchess

2008 6.9
The Duchess

as General Grey

2008
Mirrors

Mirrors

2008 6.1
Mirrors

as Lorenzo Sapelli

2008
Alone

Alone

2002 4.2
Alone

as Hannah

2002
The Body

The Body

2001 5.3
The Body

as Moshe Cohen

2001
Bodyguards

Bodyguards

1997 8.1
Bodyguards

as Commander Alan MacIntyre

1997
Fatherland

Fatherland

1994 6.4
Fatherland

as General Globus

1994
Partition

Partition

1987 7
Partition

as General Flood

1987
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