Alex Jennings facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alex Jennings
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|---|---|
| Born |
Alex Michael Jennings
10 May 1957 |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1978–present |
| Known for | The Queen (2006) The Lady in the Van (2015) The Crown (2016–2017) Victoria (2016–2019) A Very English Scandal (2018) Mr Bates vs The Post Office (2024) |
| Spouse(s) | Lesley Moors (m. 2012) |
| Children | 2 |
Alex Michael Jennings (born on May 10, 1957) is a talented English actor. He has performed a lot on stage and in movies and TV shows. He is known for his work with famous theatre groups like the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Alex Jennings has won three Olivier Awards, which are big awards for theatre in London. He is the only actor to win Olivier Awards for comedy, drama, and musicals. This shows how versatile he is!
You might know him from his movie roles. He played Prince Charles in the film The Queen (2006). He acted alongside Helen Mirren in this movie. He also appeared in The Lady in the Van (2015) with Maggie Smith.
On TV, Alex Jennings played Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor, in the Netflix series The Crown. He also played Leopold I of Belgium in the ITV series Victoria.
Contents
Alex Jennings's Early Life
Alex Jennings was born in Romford, Essex, England. His parents are Peggy Patricia and Michael Thomas Jennings. He went to Abbs Cross Technical High School in Hornchurch. After high school, he studied English and Theatre at the University of Warwick. He finished his studies in 1978.
He shared that seeing a play at the Old Vic Theatre during high school made him want to become an actor. After university, he trained for two years at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. This helped him learn how to act professionally.
Alex Jennings's Acting Career
Alex Jennings started his acting journey in the early 1980s. He performed in local theatres. He worked with director Nicholas Hytner many times.
Stage Successes
In 1988, he won his first Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance. This was for his role in the play Too Clever by Half. He also performed in many plays for the Royal National Theatre. These included The Winter's Tale and Albert Speer.
He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and played big roles. He won another Olivier Award in 1996 for playing the main character in Peer Gynt. He also played Richard II and Hamlet in Shakespeare's famous plays. In 2003, he won his third Olivier Award for My Fair Lady, a musical. He played Professor Henry Higgins in this show.
Film and TV Roles
Alex Jennings has been in many films. In 2006, he became widely known for playing Charles, Prince of Wales in The Queen. This film showed events around the British royal family. It was very popular and won many awards.
He also appeared in The Lady in the Van (2015). In this film, he played the writer Alan Bennett. He worked again with director Nicolas Hytner on this movie.
On television, he played important historical figures. He was Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor, in The Crown. He also played King Leopold I of Belgium in Victoria. In 2018, he was in A Very English Scandal. This series was about a real-life political event.
In 2020, he appeared in Small Axe: Mangrove. This TV movie told the true story of the Mangrove Nine. These were British Black activists who protested against police actions in 1970.
Alex Jennings's Work
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | War Requiem | Blinded Soldier | |
| 1996 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Theseus/Oberon | |
| 1997 | The Wings of the Dove | Lord Mark | |
| 1999 | Joseph and the Amazing technicolour dreamcoat | The Butler | |
| 2002 | The Four Feathers | Colonel Hamilton | |
| 2004 | Five Children and It | Father | |
| 2004 | Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason | Horatio | |
| 2006 | Babel | Ken Clifford | |
| 2006 | The Queen | Prince Charles | |
| 2008 | The Disappeared | Adrian Ballan | |
| 2010 | Words of the Blitz | George Orwell | |
| 2013 | Trap for Cinderella | Chance | |
| 2013 | Belle | Lord Ashford | |
| 2014 | Castles in the Sky | Henry Tizard | |
| 2015 | The Lady in the Van | Alan Bennett | |
| 2016 | Denial | Sir Charles Gray | |
| 2021 | Munich – The Edge of War | Sir Horace Wilson | |
| 2021 | Operation Mincemeat | John Masterman | |
| 2021 | The Forgiven | Lord Swanthorne | |
| 2022 | Your Christmas or Mine? | Humphrey Hughes | |
| 2023 | Your Christmas or Mine 2 | Humphrey Hughes | |
| 2024 | Blitz | Victor Smythe |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Smiley's People | P.C. Hall | "Episode No. 1.1" |
| 1986 | Kit Curran | PC Woods | Episode: "A Sick Society" |
| 1988 | The Franchise Affair | Nevil Bennet | 6 episodes |
| 1989 | The Return of Shelley | Jeremy | Episode: "The Gospel According to Shelley" |
| 1990 | Inspector Morse | Victor Preece | Episode: "The Sins of the Fathers" |
| 1990 | Alfonso Bonzo | Alfonso Bonzo | 6 episodes |
| 1991 | Ashenden | John Ashenden | 4 episodes |
| 1991 | Bye Bye Columbus | King Ferdinand | Television movie |
| 1992 | ScreenPlay | Byron | Episode: "Dread Poets' Society" |
| 1993 | The Inspector Alleyn Mysteries | Sebastian Parish | Episode: "Death at the Bar" |
| 1994 | Hard Times | Bitzer | Episode: "Episode No. 1.1" |
| 1997 | Liberty! The American Revolution | King George III | 6 episodes |
| 1999 | The Hunley | Lt. Alexander | Television movie |
| 2000 | Too Much Sun | Julian Edgbaston-Bowles | 6 episodes |
| 2001 | Bad Blood | Joe Harker | Television movie |
| 2002 | Great Britons | Churchill | Voice; Episode: "Sir Winston Churchill" |
| 2004 | London | Stephen Spender | Television movie |
| 2005 | A Very Social Secretary | Alastair Campbell | Television movie |
| 2005 | Riot at the Rite | Sergei Diaghilev | Television movie |
| 2005 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Dr Roberts | Episode: "Cards on the Table" |
| 2006 | Spooks | James Allan | Episode: "Episode No. 5.4" |
| 2006 | The State Within | James Sinclair | 6 episodes |
| 2007 | Waking the Dead | James Andrews | 2 episodes |
| 2008 | 10 Days to War | Vincent | Episode: "Failure Is Not an Option" |
| 2008 | Fairy Tales | Roger Bateman | Episode: "Rapunzel" |
| 2008 | Hancock & Joan | John Le Mesurier | Television movie |
| 2008 | The 39 Steps | Captain Kell | Television movie, BBC |
| 2009 | The Last Days of Lehman Brothers | Timothy Geithner | Television movie |
| 2009 | Agatha Christie's Marple | Inspector Curry | Episode: "They Do It with Mirrors" |
| 2007–2009 | Cranford | Reverend Hutton | 7 episodes |
| 2009–2010 | Whitechapel | Commander Anderson | 5 episodes |
| 2010 | Masterpiece Classic | Captain Kell | Episode: "The 39 Steps" |
| 2010 | Grandpa in My Pocket | Captain Shipshape | Episode: "Captain Shipshape and a Fish Called Bryan" |
| 2010 | On Expenses | Andrew Walker | Television movie |
| 2012 | Being Human | Griffin | Episode: "Eve of the War" |
| 2012 | Lewis | Rev Conor Hawes | Episode: "The Soul of Genius" |
| 2012 | New Tricks | Prof. Blake | Episode: "Body of Evidence" |
| 2011–2014 | Silk | Alan Cowdrey, QC | 13 episodes |
| 2012 | We'll Take Manhattan | John Parsons | Television movie |
| 2013 | The Lady Vanishes | The Professor | Television movie |
| 2015 | Churchill's Secret | Anthony Eden | Television movie, PBS |
| 2015 | Foyle's War | Clive Ord-Smith | Episode: "Trespass" |
| 2016–2019 | Victoria | King Leopold I | 9 episodes |
| 2016–2017, 2022 | The Crown | Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor | Main role (Seasons 1–2); Guest role (Season 5) |
| 2017 | The Halcyon | Lord Hamilton | Episode: #1.1 |
| 2018 | A Very English Scandal | Peter Bessell | 3 episodes |
| 2018 | Unforgotten | Tim Finch | 6 episodes |
| 2019 | Four Weddings and a Funeral | Andrew Aldridge | Miniseries, Hulu |
| 2019 | Gold Digger | Ted Day | 6 episodes |
| 2020 | Small Axe | Judge Clarke | Episode: "Mangrove" |
| 2022 | This Is Going to Hurt | Nigel Lockhart | 7 episodes |
| 2022 | The Undeclared War | David Neal | 5 episodes |
| 2024 | Mr Bates vs The Post Office | James Arbuthnot | 4 episodes |
| 2024 | A Very Royal Scandal | Sir Edward Young | 3 episodes |
| 2024 | Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light | Stephen Gardiner |
Theatre
| Year | Title | Role | Playwright | Venue | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1985 | The Scarlet Pimpernel | Performer | Baroness Orczy | Her Majesty's Theatre | |
| 1987–88 | Measure for Measure | Lucio | William Shakespeare | Royal Shakespeare Company | |
| 1988 | Too Clever by Half | Yegor Dimitrich Gloumov | Alexander Ostrovsky | Old Vic Theatre, London | |
| 1988 | The Country Wife | Performer | William Wycherley | Royal Exchange, Manchester | |
| 1989 | Ghetto | Kittel | Yehoshua Sobol | National Theatre | |
| 1990 | The Wild Duck | Hjalmar Ekdal | Henrik Ibsen | Peter Hall Company | |
| 1990 | The Liars | Dorante | Henry Arthur Jones | Old Vic Theatre, London | |
| 1990 | Richard II | Richard II | William Shakespeare | Royal Shakespeare Company | |
| 1992 | The Recruiting Officer | Captain Plume | George Farquhar | National Theatre | |
| 1993 | The Importance of Being Earnest | John Worthing | Oscar Wilde | Aldwych Theatre | |
| 1994 | Peer Gynt | Peer Gynt | Henrik Ibsen | Royal Shakespeare Company | |
| 1994–95 | Measure for Measure | Angelo | William Shakespeare | Royal Shakespeare Company | |
| 1996 | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Oberon/Theseus | William Shakespeare | Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, Broadway | |
| 1996 | Hyde Park | Performer | James Shirley | Royal Shakespeare Company | |
| 1996 | The Taming of the Shrew | Lucentio | William Shakespeare | ||
| 1997 | Hamlet | Hamlet | William Shakespeare | ||
| 2000 | Albert Speer | Albert Speer | David Edgar | Lyttelton Theatre, London | |
| 2001 | The Winter's Tale | Performer | William Shakespeare | Royal National Theatre | |
| 2001 | The Relapse | Foppington | John Vanbrugh | ||
| 2001 | My Fair Lady | Prof. Henry Higgins | George Bernard Shaw | ||
| 2007 | Present Laughter | Garry Essendine | Noël Coward | Royal National Theatre | |
| 2009 | The Habit of Art | Henry | Alan Bennett | National Theatre of Great Britain Lyttelton Theatre in London |
|
| 2011 | Collaborators | Mikhail Bulgakov | John Hodge | National Theatre of Great Britain Cottesloe Theatre in London |
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| 2012 | Hymn/Cocktail Sticks | Performer | Alan Bennett | National Theatre of Great Britain Lyttelton Theatre in London |
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| 2013 | Charlie and the Chocolate Factory | Willy Wonka | Roald Dahl | Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London | |
| 2016 | My Fair Lady | Prof. Henry Higgins | George Bernard Shaw | Sydney Opera House | |
| 2019 | Hansard | Robin Hesketh | Simon Woods | Royal National Theatre | |
| 2019 | The Light in the Piazza | Signor Naccarelli | Elizabeth Spencer | Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles Civic Opera House Chicago |
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| 2022 | The Southbury Child | David Highland | Stephen Beresford | Chichester Festival Theatre Bridge Theatre, London |
Filmed Theatrical Events
- 1999: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as Butler
- 2010: National Theatre Live: The Habit of Art as Henry / Benjamin Britten
- 2011: National Theatre Live: Collaborators as Mikhail Bulgakov
- 2013: National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage as Henry Higgins
- 2019: National Theatre Live: Hansard as Robin Hesketh
Awards and Nominations
Alex Jennings has won several important awards for his acting:
| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Olivier Award | Best Comedy Performance | Too Clever by Half | Won | |
| 1996 | Best Actor | Peer Gynt | Won | ||
| 2003 | Best Actor in a Musical | My Fair Lady | Won | ||
| 2019 | British Academy Television Awards | Best Supporting Actor | Unforgotten | Nominated |
In 2024, Alex Jennings was given a special honor. He was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). This award is for his great contributions to drama.
See Also
In Spanish: Alex Jennings para niños
