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Clive Russell
Clive-russell-2018.jpg
Russell in 2018
Born (1945-12-07) 7 December 1945 (age 79)
Reeth, North Yorkshire, England
Occupation Actor
Years active 1960–present

Clive Russell (born 7 December 1945) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline in Ripper Street, Angus O'Connor in Happiness and Brynden Tully in the HBO series Game of Thrones.

He also appeared in the Scottish sitcoms Still Game and Rab C Nesbitt, teen drama Hollyoaks as Jack Osborne's brother Billy Brodie and British crime drama Cracker as Danny Fitzgerald and video game Still Wakes the Deep as oil rig manager, Davey Rennick.

Early life

Russell was born on 7 December 1945 in Reeth, North Riding of Yorkshire, but brought up in Fife, Scotland.

Career

Russell first performed before an audience in 1960 on The Shari Lewis Show, but it was not until 1980 that he had his first real acting job – performing on the London stage as the superintendent in Nobel Prize-winner Dario Fo's satire Accidental Death of an Anarchist, about police corruption in Italy. The reviews were good, and he reprised that role for television in 1983. After further honing his skills in various British TV productions and a handful of films – including Jute City, The Power of One, The Hawk and Seconds Out – Russell received exposure before international audiences as Caleb Garth in the celebrated BBC miniseries Middlemarch, based on the George Eliot novel of the same name. A year later, he fell in love on the movie screen with Helena Bonham Carter in Margaret's Museum, for which he earned a Genie nomination at the 16th Genie Awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. After more TV roles and another film, Russell played Ralph Fiennes' father in another critically acclaimed film, Oscar and Lucinda. Growing recognition of his acting skills then brought him major roles in four major TV miniseries: Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, The Railway Children and The Mists of Avalon.

Television

Standing 6' 6", Russell is a familiar and unforgettable face on British television and has appeared in numerous television series including Boys from the Blackstuff, Hope and Glory, Neverwhere, Great Expectations, The Mists of Avalon, Heartburn Hotel, Roughnecks, Monarch of the Glen, Midsomer Murders, Waking the Dead, Silent Witness, Rockface, and Spaced. Russell has also made appearances in Still Game, Happiness, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Cracker and The Railway Children. From 2005 to 2006, Russell played Phil Nail in ITV's Coronation Street. Russell made an appearance in Waterloo Road as Lisa and Lenny Brown's grandfather for one episode, also playing Billy Wilson for two in Shameless. He also appeared as a doctor in the 2006 My Family Christmas Special.

He has appeared as Jock in the third series of the BBC's Jam and Jerusalem, as "Bayard, King of Mercia" in Merlin and in Hotel Babylon as an artist forced to fake his own death when he is in debt. In 2012, he joined the cast of the HBO fantasy drama Game of Thrones as Brynden "The Blackfish" Tully.

In 2016, he joined the cast of Hollyoaks as Billy, brother of established character Jack Osborne

In January 2017 he had a small role in the BBC Three comedy "Uncle", portraying Sam and Andy's father and later in the year appeared in Doc Martin. He played Ken Hollister.

In 2020, he appeared as Wroth, Chief of a Fey tribe called the Tusks, a recurring character for 5 episodes in the Netflix series Cursed.

Films

In Margaret's Museum, he starred opposite Helena Bonham Carter as the Gaelic-speaking Neil Currie. Russell's other film credits include Festival, Ladies in Lavender, King Arthur, Made of Honour, Lecture 21, The 13th Warrior and The Wolfman.

He made an appearance in the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes as Captain Tanner, and reprised the role in the film's 2011 sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. He appeared in the 2010 film The Wolfman as MacQueen. Russell also appeared in Robin Hardy's The Wicker Tree which was released in the first quarter of 2012, playing the character of Beame alongside the Hobbit star Graham McTavish.

He played Inspector Frederick Abberline in BBC One's Ripper Street. He played Tyr in the live-action film Thor: The Dark World (2013).

Edinburgh Fringe 2010

In 2010, Russell made his debut one-man show Touching the Blue.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1992 The Power of One Sgt. Bormann
1993 The Hawk
1994 Fatherland Krebs
1995 Margaret's Museum Neil Currie
1996 Neverwhere Mr. Vandemar
The Tales of Para Handy McVicar Series 1, episode 4: "A Night Alarm"
1997 Oscar and Lucinda Theophilius
1998 Heartburn Hotel Duggie Strachan
1999 Great Expectations Joe
The 13th Warrior Helfdane
2001 Spaced Damien Knox
2001–2003 Happiness Angus O'Connor Main cast
2002 Mad Dogs Thin man
2003 The Mayor of Casterbridge Newson TV film
Silent Witness DCS Tom Leith Episode: Answering Fire
2004 Shameless Billy Wilson 2 episodes (season 1)
Ladies in Lavender Adam Penruddocke
King Arthur Lancelot's Father
The Rocket Post Angus Mackay
Still Game Big Innes Series 3, episode 4: "Big Yin"
2005 Faith Gordon TV film
Heartless Ricky
Monarch of the Glen Peter Finlay
2005–2006 Coronation Street Phil Nail Series Regular
2006 Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy McPherson TV film
My Family Doctor
2007 The Yellow House Monsieur Roulin TV film
Joe's Place Dave
The Wild West: Billy the Kid Sheriff Brady Broadcast March 2007, BBC2, Part 2 of a 3-part docu-drama series on notable Wild West events
2008 Made of Honour Cousin Finlay
Lecture 21 Hoffmeister
Merlin Bayard Series 1, episode 4: "The Poisoned Chalice"
2009 Book of Blood Wyburd
Sherlock Holmes Capt. Tanner
The Bill Danny Travis 2 episodes
2010 The Wolfman Maqueen
Cup Cake Mute McGill
The Fighter's Ballad Father John
2011 The Wicker Tree Beame
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Capt. Tanner
2012–2016 Ripper Street Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline
2013 Mary, Queen of Scots Douglas
Thor: The Dark World Tyr
The List Peter
Waterloo Road Lawrence Brown Guest role; 1 episode (Series 9)
2013–2016 Game of Thrones Brynden Tully 7 episodes
2014 Shetland Adam Markham Series 2, Episodes 3 and 4: "Dead Water"
Still Detective Penton
2014–2018 The Amazing World of Gumball Daniel Senicourt; Manly Warrior 4 episodes
2015 After Bannockburn Robert Bruce
2016 The Young Messiah Weer
Stella Uncle Clem
Outlander Lord Lovat 1 episode
Hollyoaks Billy Brodie Guest role
Barbarians Rising Cumelios Docudrama
2017 Uncle Neville Guest role
1066: A Year to Conquer England Harald Hardrada Docudrama
Back Paul Guest role
The Hatton Garden Job Kenny Collins Supporting
1745 David Andrews Supporting
Rellik Henry Parides Recurring
2018 The Terror Sir John Ross 2 episodes
Outlaw King Lord Mackinnon of Skye Supporting
2019 Curfew Mac 2 episodes
Jocky Wilson Said Jocky Wilson Voice performance
Supervized Jerry
2020 Cursed Wroth 5 episodes
Dracula Valentin 1 episode
2021 The Last Duel King's Uncle
Code 404 Clifford Major 4 episodes
Queen of the New Year Various roles 1 episode
2022 The Peripheral Frank Derosa 1 episode
2023 The Madame Blanc Mysteries Marco/Dura Season 2 episode 6
Tales of Babylon The Silver Dragon
2024 Casualty Callum Robertshaw Season 38 episode 16
2025 One Piece Crocus Season 2

Video Games

Year Title Role Notes
2024 Still Wakes the Deep Davey Rennick

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Clive Russell para niños

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