Simon Russell Beale
Acting • Born 1961-01-12
Biography
Sir Simon Russell Beale CBE (born January 12, 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 2019. He has spent much of his theatre career working in productions for both the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. He has received ten Laurence Olivier Award nominations, winning three awards for his performances in Volpone (1996), Candide (2000), and Uncle Vanya (2003). For his work on the Broadway stage he has received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination for his performance as George in the Tom Stoppard play Jumpers in 2004. For his role as Henry Lehman in The Lehman Trilogy, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and was nominated for an Olivier Award. Beale has been described by The Independent as "the greatest stage actor of his generation". Beale made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama Orlando (1992). He continued acting in films such as Persuasion (1995), Hamlet (1996), My Week with Marilyn (2011), The Deep Blue Sea (2011), Into the Woods (2014), and Mary Queen of Scots (2018). In 2017, he starred in Armando Iannucci's dark comedy The Death of Stalin playing Lavrentiy Beria for which he received the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. He has also appeared in the television projects The Young Visiters (2003), Dunkirk (2004), and as Falstaff in the BBC made-for-television films Henry IV, Part I and Part II (2012). He was part of the main cast of Showtime's Penny Dreadful.
Filmography
74 credits
Lava Land - Glowing Hawaii
Movie • 2013
Narrator
The Mysterious Mr Webster
Movie • 2014
Self - Interviewee
Orlando
Movie • 1992
Earl of Moray
The Hour
Movie • 2020
Himself
Persuasion
Movie • 1995
Charles Musgrove
The Deep Blue Sea
Movie • 2011
Sir William Collyer
The Young Visiters
Movie • 2003
Prince of Wales
My Week with Marilyn
Movie • 2011
Cotes-Preedy
Firebrand
Movie • 2024
Stephen Gardiner
Into the Woods
Movie • 2014
Baker's Father
Legacy
Movie • 2013
Hookey
Hamlet
Movie • 1996
Second Gravedigger
National Theatre Live: King Lear
Movie • 2014
Lear, King of Britain
Thor: Love and Thunder
Movie • 2022
Dionysus
Time and the Conways
Movie • 1985
Party Guest
The Legend of Tarzan
Movie • 2016
Mr. Frum
The Gathering
Movie • 2003
Luke Fraser
BBC Proms: Sondheim's 80th Birthday
Movie • 2010
Himself - Performer
Home! Home!
Movie • 2024
Narrator (voice)
Monteverdi in Mantua - The Genius of the Vespers
Movie • 2015
presenter
An Easter Celebration
Movie • 2008
presenter
The Choral
Movie • 2025
Sir Edward Elgar
Deep Water
Movie • 2006
Donald Crowhurst (voice)
Blackadder: Back & Forth
Movie • 1999
Wellington
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Movie • 2025
Sir Hector Moreland
De Gaulle: Tilting Iron (Film 1)
Movie • 2026
Winston Churchill
The Magic Faraway Tree
Movie • 2026
Cunk on Shakespeare
Movie • 2016
Self - Actor
The Death of Stalin
Movie • 2017
Lavrenti Beria
Alice in Wonderland
Movie • 1999
King Cedric of Hearts
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
Movie • 2016
Richard II
De Gaulle: The Sovereign Edge (Film 2)
Movie • 2026
Winston Churchill
Muse of Fire
Movie • 2013
Self
National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage
Movie • 2013
Hamlet
RSC Live: The Tempest
Movie • 2017
Prospero
National Theatre Live: London Assurance
Movie • 2010
Sir Harcourt Courtly
National Theatre Live: Collaborators
Movie • 2011
Joseph Stalin
Royal Opera House: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Movie • 2011
The Duchess / Introduced by
National Theatre Live: Timon of Athens
Movie • 2012
Timon
Museo
Movie • 2018
Frank Graves
My Cousin Rachel
Movie • 2017
Couch
An Ideal Husband
Movie • 1999
Sir Edward
Radioactive
Movie • 2020
Professor Lippmann
Operation Finale
Movie • 2018
David Ben-Gurion
Mary Queen of Scots
Movie • 2018
Robert Beale
A Christmas Carol
Movie • 2020
Scrooge's voice (voice)
National Theatre Live: The Tragedy of King Richard the Second
Movie • 2019
Richard II
Sacred Music: A Christmas History
Movie • 2010
Presenter
National Theatre Live: The Lehman Trilogy
Movie • 2019
Henry Lehman
Operation Mincemeat
Movie • 2022
Winston Churchill
Benediction
Movie • 2021
Robbie Ross
Shakespeare's Sonnets
Movie • 2012
The Outfit
Movie • 2022
Roy Boyle
A Musical Nativity with John Rutter
Movie • 2011
Sacred Music: God's Composer
Movie • 2011
Presenter
The Temptation of Franz Schubert
Movie • 1997
Franz Schubert
Prima Facie
Movie
Dunkirk
TV • 2004
Winston Churchill
A Dance to the Music of Time
TV • 1997
Widmerpool
Penny Dreadful
TV • 2014
Ferdinand Lyle
American Experience
TV • 1988
John Adams (voice)
Simon Schama's Shakespeare
TV • 2012
Vanity Fair
TV • 2018
John Sedley
The Hollow Crown
TV • 2012
Falstaff
Symphony
TV • 2011
Spooks
TV • 2002
William Towers
Mary & George
TV • 2024
Sir George Villiers
Spooks
TV • 2002
Home Secretary
House of the Dragon
TV • 2022
Ser Simon Strong
Douglas Is Cancelled
TV • 2024
Bently
The Mushroom Picker
TV • 1993
Anthony
Sacred Music
TV • 2008
Presenter
A Very Peculiar Practice
TV • 1986
Mark Stibbs
Remembers…
TV • 2022
Self