Simon Russell Beale facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Sir Simon Russell Beale CBE
Beale in 2011
Born	(1961-01-12) 12 January 1961 (age 64) Penang, Federation of Malaya
Education	Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge (BA) Guildhall School of Music and Drama (GrDip)
Occupation	Actor author historian
Years active	1985–present
Awards	Full list

Sir Simon Russell Beale (born on January 12, 1961) is a very famous English actor. Many people say he is one of the greatest stage actors of his generation. He has won many important awards for his acting. These include two BAFTA Awards, three Olivier Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2019, Queen Elizabeth II made him a knight for his amazing work in drama.

Simon Russell Beale began his acting career with the Royal Shakespeare Company and the National Theatre. He has been nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award ten times. He won three of these awards for his roles in Volpone (1996), Candide (2000), and Uncle Vanya (2003). On Broadway, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as George in Jumpers in 2004. He later won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his part as Henry Lehman in The Lehman Trilogy.

He first appeared in movies in 1992 in Orlando. He became well-known for his roles in films like Persuasion (1995) and Hamlet (1996). He also appeared in My Week with Marilyn (2011) and The Deep Blue Sea (2011). More recently, he was in Mary Queen of Scots (2018), Benediction (2021), and The Outfit (2022). In 2017, he played Lavrentiy Beria in The Death of Stalin. For this role, he won a BIFA Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Simon Russell Beale has also acted in many TV shows. These include The Young Visiters (2003), Dunkirk (2004), and Vanity Fair (2018). He won two British Academy Television Awards. One was for Best Actor for A Dance to the Music of Time (1998). The other was for Best Supporting Actor for Henry IV, Part I and Part II (2012). From 2014 to 2016, he was a main actor in Penny Dreadful. Since 2024, he has been in House of the Dragon.

His Early Life and Education

Simon Russell Beale was born on January 12, 1961. He was one of six children. His father, Sir Peter Beale, was a high-ranking officer in the Army Medical Services. He was born in Penang, Malaya, where his father was working. His father later became the top doctor for the British Armed Forces. Many other people in his family also had successful careers in medicine.

Simon Russell Beale first became interested in performing when he was eight years old. He became a chorister (a singer in a choir) at St Paul's Cathedral. He also went to school there. He later attended Clifton College in Bristol for his high school education.

His very first performance on stage was as Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream at primary school. In high school, he also acted in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead. He would later star in this play at the National Theatre.

After high school, he went to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He earned a top degree in English. He then studied further at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, finishing in 1983.

Becoming a Famous Actor

Early Theatre Work

Simon Russell Beale first became known in the late 1980s. He gave many praised funny performances. These included plays like The Man of Mode and Restoration at the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). In the early 1990s, he showed his wider acting skills. He gave moving performances in plays like Chekhov's The Seagull and Ibsen's Ghosts. In 1991, he received a special award for his roles in The Seagull, Troilus and Cressida, and Edward II at the RSC.

At the RSC, he first worked with director Sam Mendes. Mendes directed him in Troilus and Cressida and as Ariel in The Tempest. In The Tempest, he showed he had a beautiful singing voice. Mendes also directed him in Othello at the Royal National Theatre. Later, in 2002, they worked together on Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night. Simon Russell Beale played the main role in Uncle Vanya. He won an Olivier Award for this in 2003.

Since 1995, he has often performed at the National Theatre. He played Mosca in Volpone and George in Jumpers. He also played the main part in Humble Boy, a role written just for him. In 1997, he played Kenneth Widmerpool in a TV show called A Dance to the Music of Time. He won the Best Actor award for this role in 1998. The next year, he was a key part of Trevor Nunn's group of actors. He performed in Candide, Money, and Summerfolk at the National Theatre. In 2006, he played Galileo in Life of Galileo and Face in The Alchemist.

Theatre Roles in the 2000s

In 2000, he played Hamlet in a National Theatre production. In 2005, he played Cassius in Julius Caesar alongside Ralph Fiennes. That same year, he played the main role in Macbeth. In 2007, he played King Arthur in the musical Spamalot in London.

From 2007 to 2008, he played Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. From 2008, he played Andrew Undershaft in Major Barbara. He also appeared in Harold Pinter's A Slight Ache and Landscape.

In 2008, he started presenting a TV show for the BBC called Sacred Music. He has presented more episodes and a second series since then. In 2009, he worked with Sam Mendes again on The Winter's Tale and The Cherry Orchard. He played Leontes and Lopakhin in these plays.

From 2009 to 2010, he played George Smiley in a BBC Radio 4 series. This series adapted all the John le Carré novels that featured Smiley. In 2010, he played Sir Harcourt Courtly in London Assurance. In August 2010, he appeared in Deathtrap. In March 2011, he performed with The Royal Ballet in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In October 2011, he starred as Joseph Stalin in Collaborators. He won a Best Actor award for this role in 2012.

Acting in the 2010s

In 2010 and 2011, Simon Russell Beale played William Towers in the TV spy drama Spooks. He played the main role in Timon of Athens at the National Theatre from July to October 2012. This play was shown in cinemas around the world. He also starred in Privates on Parade from December 2012 to March 2013.

In 2013, he won a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor. This was for his role as Falstaff in The Hollow Crown TV series. This series was about Shakespeare's historical plays. That same year, he appeared in National Theatre Live: 50 Years On Stage.

Simon Russell Beale appeared in Harold Pinter's The Hothouse from May to August 2013. From January 2014, he played the main role in King Lear at the National Theatre. Sam Mendes directed this play. Also from 2014 to 2016, he was a main actor in Penny Dreadful. In this show, he played a unique Egyptologist. In 2014, he became a special professor at Oxford University.

From May to July 2015, he starred in Temple. This was a new play about the 2011 United Kingdom anti-austerity protests. In September and October 2015, he played Samuel Foote in Mr Foote's Other Leg. This play later moved to the Theatre Royal Haymarket.

In November 2016, he returned to the Royal Shakespeare Company. He played Prospero in The Tempest. In June 2017, this play moved to the Barbican Centre in London. In July 2018, Simon Russell Beale returned to the National Theatre. He starred in The Lehman Trilogy, again directed by Mendes. This play moved to the Piccadilly Theatre in London in May 2019. He also starred as King Richard II in Richard II from December 2018 to February 2019.

Recent Work in the 2020s

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Simon Russell Beale was a guest speaker for an online performance of Timon of Athens.

In the summer of 2021, he played JS Bach in a new play called Bach and Sons. This play was directed by Nicholas Hytner.

He also rehearsed again for The Lehman Trilogy on Broadway. Its performances had stopped because of the pandemic. Simon Russell Beale played his role again. He won a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his performance in The Lehman Trilogy.

In April 2023, it was announced that he would play Ser Simon Strong in the second season of House of the Dragon.

Personal Life

Simon Russell Beale is a past president of the Anthony Powell Society. This is a group that honors the author whose character Kenneth Widmerpool he played.

He was made a knight by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace on October 9, 2019.

Movies and TV Shows

Film

Television

Theatre

Some of his theatre roles:

Awards and Honours

Simon Russell Beale has received many awards and honours:

• 2003 – He was made a CBE. This is a special honour from the Queen.
• 2005 – He received an Hon DLitt from the University of Warwick.
• 2010 – He became an Honorary Bencher of Middle Temple.
• 2010 – He received an Hon DUniv from the Open University.
• 2011 – He was given the Freedom of the City of London for his work in drama.
• 2015 – He became a visiting professor at St. Catherine's College, Oxford.
• 2018 – He won the Premio Shakespeare Award.
• 2019 – He was made a Knight Bachelor by the Queen for his services to drama.
• 2024 – He became an Honorary Fellow of Somerville College, Oxford.

See also

In Spanish: Simon Russell Beale para niños