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Ben Daniels

Acting

Born June 10, 1964 · Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, UK

Also known as بن دنیلز

Biography

Ben Daniels (born 10 June 1964) is a British actor. A graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), he has taken on roles in numerous productions. On television he has appeared in, among other shows, The Lost Language of Cranes (1991), Conspiracy (2001), Cutting It (2002–2005), Ian Fleming: Bondmaker (2005), The Virgin Queen (2005) and The State Within (2006). On the silver screen, Daniels has appeared mostly in supporting roles, including parts in The Bridge (1992), Beautiful Thing (1996), I Want You (1998), Madeline (1998) and Doom (2005). An exception was the 1997 independent film Passion in the Desert, based on a short story by novelist Honoré de Balzac. Daniels was born on 10 June 1964 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire.[6] His father was an engineer at Rolls-Royce and later a grocer, while his mother owned a children's clothes shop. He has recalled: "I was quite a shy child, but quite disruptive as well. "I was very sneaky and underhanded." Daniels was educated at Manor Park School, a state comprehensive school in Nuneaton, near Coventry, in Warwickshire (since closed). According to Daniels, drama lessons at O-levels gave him a voice, and when he attended sixth form studies at Stratford College between 1980 and 1982, doing A-levels in theatre studies and English literature, he attended Royal Shakespeare Company performances. A fellow student recalled that Daniels, whom he knew as Dave, "was very serious about his work, and struck me as incredibly intelligent... you got the sense his mind was working; the cogs were ticking over". Daniels subsequently trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) for three years. Daniels has had most success with theatre work. He was nominated for Best Actor at the Evening Standard Awards for 900 Oneonta (1994), for Best Actor in the M.E.N. Theatre Awards for Martin Yesterday (1998), and for Best Supporting Actor in the 15th Laurence Olivier Awards for Never the Sinner (1991). He eventually won the latter award at the 25th Laurence Olivier Awards (2001), as well as the Best Supporting Actor award at the 2001 Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Theatre Awards, for his performance in the Arthur Miller play All My Sons. Other theatre credits include Tales From Hollywood (2001), Three Sisters (2003), Iphigenia at Aulis (2004), The God of Hell (2005), The Wild Duck (2005–2006) and Thérèse Raquin (2006). In 2008 Daniels made his Broadway début with American actress Laura Linney in a revival of Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons), for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play.

Awards & recognition

  • Theatre World Award · 2008
  • Laurence Olivier AwardBest Actor in a Supporting Role · 2001
  • Tony AwardBest Actor in a Play · 2008 · nominated

Filmography43 titles

Lark Rise to Candleford

2008

The Crown

2016as Lord Snowdon

House of Cards

2013as Adam Galloway

The Simpsons

1989as Irish Priest (voice)

Merlin

2008as Tristan

Agatha Christie's Marple

2004as Alfred Crackenthorpe

Foundation

2021as Bel Riose

Spooks

2002as Oleg Korsakov

Interview with the Vampire

2022as Santiago

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

2016as General Merrick

The Hollow Crown

2012as Buckingham

Silent Witness

1996

A Touch of Frost

1992as Roger Massie

The State Within

2006as Nicholas Brocklehurst

The Exorcist

2016as Father Marcus Brennan

The Paradise

2012as Tom Weston

Conspiracy

2001as Josef Bühler

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

2022as Círdan

Beautiful Thing

1996as Tony

Moving On

2009as John Murphy

Law & Order: UK

2009as James Steel

Drop the Dead Donkey

1990

Jupiter's Legacy

2021as Walter Sampson / Brainwave

Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert

2018as Pontius Pilate

The Exception

2016as Col Sigurd von Ilsemann

Locke

2013as Gareth (voice)

Britannic

2000as Townsend

Soldier Soldier

1991as Capt Andy Wright

Flesh and Bone

2015as Paul

Luna

2014as Grant

The Virgin Queen

2005as Francis Walsingham

Wish You Were Here

1987as Maisie Mathews

Jamaica Inn

as Francis Davey

The Wipers Times

2013as Lieutenant Colonel Howfield

Benediction

2021as Dr. Rivers

Madeline

1998as Leopold the Tutor

Casualty

1986as Graham Marda

Argylle

2024as Bartender

Jack the Giant Slayer

2013as Fumm

Passion in the Desert

1997as Augustin Robert

Captive State

2019as Daniel

The Last Days of Lehman Brothers

2009as John Thain

Doom

2005as Goat