Hugh Bonneville

Hugh Richard Bonniwell Williams^[1] DL (born 10 November 1963), known professionally as Hugh Bonneville, is an English actor.^[2] He is well-known for portraying Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in the ITV historical drama series Downton Abbey. His performance on the show earned him a nomination at the Golden Globes and two consecutive Primetime Emmy Award nominations, as well as three Screen Actors Guild Awards. He reprised his role in the feature films, Downton Abbey (2019), and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022). He also appeared in the films Notting Hill (1999), Iris (2001), The Monuments Men (2014), and the Paddington films (2014-2023).

Hugh Bonneville DL
Bonneville at the 67th Berlin International Film Festival in 2017
Born	Hugh Richard Bonniwell Williams (1963-11-10) 10 November 1963 (age 59) Paddington, London, England
Alma mater	Corpus Christi College, Cambridge (BA) Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1990–present
Known for	Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham in Downton Abbey
Spouse	Lucinda Evans ​ (m. 1998)​
Children	1
Website	www.hughbonneville.uk

Early life and education

Hugh Richard Bonniwell Williams was born on 10 November 1963 in Paddington, London. His mother was a nurse and his father was a urological surgeon.^[3] He was educated at Dulwich College Preparatory School in south London and at Sherborne School,^[4].

Following secondary education, Bonneville read theology at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.^[5][6] He graduated from Cambridge with a 2:2 in theology.^[7] He went on to study at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London.

Bonneville is an alumnus of the National Youth Theatre.^[4]

Career

1990s

When he began acting, Bonneville chose Richard Bonneville, a variation of his middle names, as his stage name, because there was a well-known playwright named Hugh Williams. After appearing as Richard Bonneville for ten years, he changed Richard to Hugh.^[1]

Bonneville's first professional stage appearance was at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park. In 1987, he joined the National Theatre where he appeared in several plays, then the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1991, where he played Laertes to Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1992–1993). He played Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Bergetto in 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Kastril and later Surly in The Alchemist.^[8]

In 1994, Bonneville made his television debut, billed as Richard Bonneville in The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes episode "The Dying Detective". His debut film was 1994's Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with Robert De Niro and Kenneth Branagh. In the 1997 James Bond film Tommorrow Never Dies, he had a small role playing a naval sailor onboard "HMS Bedford". His early roles were usually good-natured bumbling characters like Bernie in Notting Hill (1999) and Mr Rushworth in Mansfield Park (1999).

2000s

In the BBC television series, Take a Girl Like You (2000) and Armadillo (2001), he played more villainous characters, leading up to the domineering Henleigh Grandcourt in Daniel Deronda (2002) and the psychopathic killer James Lampton in The Commander (2003) series. In Love Again, he played the poet Philip Larkin.

In Iris (2001), he played the young John Bayley opposite Kate Winslet, with his performance lauded by critics and receiving a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 2004, Bonneville played Sir Christopher Wren in the docudrama Wren – The Man Who Built Britain. Bonneville also works extensively in radio. He played the role of Jerry Westerby in the BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the John le Carré novel The Honourable Schoolboy, first broadcast in January 2010.^[9] Earlier, he appeared in the surreal parallel universe comedy Married.

2010s

From 2010 until 2015, he appeared in the ITV period drama Downton Abbey, as Robert, Earl of Grantham, a role he repeated in the 2019 film. Bonneville again reprised the role of Robert Crawley in the 2022 film “Downton Abbey: A New Era.”

In early 2010, he appeared in the comedy film Burke and Hare.^[10] In 2011 and 2012, he starred as Ian Fletcher in the award-winning BBC comedy series Twenty Twelve, and reprised the role in the 2014 BBC comedy series W1A. In December 2012, he appeared on BBC Two with co-star Jessica Hynes in World's Most Dangerous Roads, travelling through Georgia. He also appeared in the much-delayed film Hippie Hippie Shake with Cillian Murphy and Sienna Miller.

From 2011 until 2014, Bonneville was the narrator of the Channel 4 show The Hotel. On 18 November 2012, Bonneville appeared on stage at St Martin's Theatre in the West End for a 60th anniversary performance of Agatha Christie's The Mousetrap, the world's longest-running play.^[11]

Bonneville played Mr. Brown in the 2014 film Paddington and its 2017 sequel Paddington 2. He has appeared in the singing comedic role of Peter the Pillager, the Pirate King, in the ABC fairy tale-themed musical comedy extravaganza series Galavant during its 2015 and 2016 seasons. He also narrated the ITV series The Cruise.

In 2017, Bonneville portrayed Lord Mountbatten in director Gurinder Chadha's film Viceroy's House, which depicted the tumult and violence surrounding the Partition of India during the final days of British rule. Also in 2017, he portrayed the voice of Merlin in the movie based on the children's TV series Thomas & Friends, Journey Beyond Sodor. Also that year, he narrated the documentary A Return to Grace: Luther's Life and Legacy and it was announced that Bonneville would play Roald Dahl in an upcoming biopic about the author.^[12]

In 2018, Bonneville succeeded Julie Andrews as host and narrator of the annual "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration" episode of Great Performances, broadcast on New Year's Day on PBS in the United States.^[13] Also in 2018, he returned to voice Merlin in one of the episodes of the twenty-second series of Thomas & Friends.

In 2019, Bonneville portrayed C. S. Lewis at the Chichester Festival Theatre's production of Shadowlands,^[14] along with actors Liz White and Andrew Havill.

2020s

On 08 March 2023, Bonneville appeared on ITV’s DNA Journey with comedian, John Bishop.^[15]

Personal life

Bonneville married Lucinda "Lulu" Evans in 1998.^[16] They live with their son, Felix, in West Sussex.^[17]

In 2009, Bonneville was the voice of Justice Fosse in Joseph Crilly's British premiere of Kitty and Damnation for the Giant Olive Theatre Company at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town.^[18] Shortly thereafter he became Giant Olive's first patron.^[19] Bonneville is also a patron of the London children's charity Scene & Heard and an ambassador for WaterAid.^[20]

On 8 October 2019, Bonneville was appointed as a Deputy Lieutenant of the County of West Sussex.^[21]

Works

Key

Denotes works that have not yet been released

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1994	Mary Shelley's Frankenstein	Schiller
1997	Tomorrow Never Dies	Air Warfare Officer – HMS Bedford
1999	Notting Hill	Bernie
1999	Mansfield Park	Mr Rushworth
2001	Blow Dry	Louis
2001	High Heels and Low Lifes	Farmer
2001	The Emperor's New Clothes	Bertrand
2001	Iris	Young John Bayley
2003	Conspiracy of Silence	Fr. Jack Dowling
2004	Piccadilly Jim	Lord Wisbeach
2004	Stage Beauty	Samuel Pepys
2005	The Commander: Virus	James Lampton	Uncredited
2005	The Commander: Blackout	James Lampton	Uncredited
2005	Man to Man	Fraser McBride
2005	Asylum	Max Raphael
2005	Underclassman	Headmaster Felix Powers
2006	Scenes of a Sexual Nature	Gerry
2007	Four Last Songs	Sebastian Burrows
2007	Hola to the World	Painter	Short film
2008	One of Those Days	Mr Burrell	Short film
2008	French Film	Jed
2009	Knife Edge	Charles Pollock
2009	Glorious 39	Gilbert Williams
2009	From Time to Time	Captain Oldknow
2010	Critical Eye	Brian
2010	Shanghai	Ben Sanger
2010	Third Star	Beachcomber
2010	Burke & Hare	Lord Harrington
2010	Hippie Hippie Shake	John Mortimer	Unreleased^[22]
2011	Third Star	Beachcomber
2014	The Monuments Men	Lieutenant Donald Jeffries
2014	Muppets Most Wanted	Irish Journalist
2014	Paddington	Mr Henry Brown
2015	Stick Man	Santa Clause	Voice
2015	Silent Hours	Commander William Calthorpe
2017	Viceroy's House	Lord Mountbatten
2017	Paddington 2	Mr Henry Brown
2017	Journey Beyond Sodor	Merlin	Voice
2017	Breathe	Teddy Hall
2017	A Return to Grace: Luther's Life and Legacy	Narrator
2017	Secrets of the Magna Carta	Narrator	Documentary^[23]
2019	Downton Abbey	Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham
2020	Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey	Mr. Delacroix
2021	To Olivia	Roald Dahl
2022	Downton Abbey: A New Era	Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham
2022	I Came By	Sir Hector Blake
2022	The Amazing Maurice	The Mayor	Voice
2023	Bank of Dave	Sir Charles
2023	Mummies	Lord Sylvester Carnaby	Voice
TBA	Paddington in Peru	Mr Henry Brown

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1990	Chancer	Jas	2 episodes
1991	Dodgem	Rick Bayne	5 episodes
1993	Paul Merton: The Series	Captain	Episode: #2.6"
1993	Stalag Luft	Barton	Television movie
1994	The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes	Victor Savage	Episode: "The Dying Detective" Credited as Richard Bonneville
1994	Peak Practice	Dominic Kent	Episode: "Perfect Love" Credited as Richard Bonneville
1994	Cadfael	Daniel Aurifaber	Episode: "The Sanctuary Sparrow" Credited as Richard Bonneville
1994	Between the Lines	Henry Oakes	Episode: "Close Protection"
1995	The Vet	Alan Sinclair	6 episodes
1995	EastEnders	Headmaster	Episode: "14 December 1995"
1996	Married for Life	Steve Hollingsworth	7 episodes
1996	Bugs	Nathan Pym	Episode: "Bugged Wheat"
1997	Breakout	Peter Schneider	Television movie
1997	See You Friday	Daniel	Episode: "#1.1"
1997	The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous	Ferdinand Fitzgerald	Episode: #1.1"
1997	Get Well Soon	Norman Tucker	4 episodes
1998	Heat of the Sun	Edward Herbert	Episode: "Hide in Plain Sight"
1998	Mosley	Bob Boothby	4 episodes
1998	Holding the Baby	Gordon Muir	Unknown episodes
1998	The Scold's Bridle	Tim Duggan	Television movie
1999	Murder Most Horrid	Inspector Dawson	Episode: "Confessions of a Murderer"
2000	Take a Girl Like You	Julian Ormerod	3 episodes
2000	Thursday the 12th	Brin Hopper	Television movie
2000	Madame Bovary	Charles Bovary	Television movie
2001	Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale	Publisher	Television movie
2001	The Cazalets	Hugh Cazalet	6 episodes
2001	Armadillo	Torquil Helvoir Jayne	TV film
2002	Midsomer Murders	Hugh Barton	Episode: "Ring Out Your Dead"
2002	Tipping the Velvet	Ralph Banner	Episode: "#1.3"
2002	Daniel Deronda	Henleigh Grandcourt	3 episodes
2002	Impact	Phil Epson	Television movie
2002	The Gathering Storm	Ivo Pettifer	Television movie
2002	Right Under My Eyes	James	Television movie
2002	The Biographer	Eric	Television movie
2002	Doctor Zhivago	Andrey Zhivago	Television movie
2003	The Commander	James Lampton	Television movie
2003	Love Again	Philip Larkin	Television movie
2003	Hear the Silence	Andrew Wakefield	Television movie
2004	Wren: The Man Who Built Britain	Christopher Wren	TV documentary
2005	The Rotter's Club	Voice of Adult Ben	2 episodes
2005	The Robinsons	George Robinson	6 episodes
2006	Courting Alex	Julian/Charles Carter	10 episodes
2006	Beau Brummell: This Charming Man	Prince Regent	Television movie
2006	Tsunami: The Aftermath	Tony Whittaker	Television movie
2007	The Vicar of Dibley	Jeremy Ogilvy	Episode: "The Vicar in White"
2007	Five Days	DSI Iain Barclay	4 episodes
2007	The Replacements	Voice	Episode: "London Calling"
2007	The Diary of a Nobody	Charles Pooter	Television movie
2007	Miss Austen Regrets	Rev. Brook Bridges	Television movie
2007–08	Freezing	Matt	3 episodes
2008	Bonekickers	Gregory Parton	6 episodes
2008	Lost in Austen	Claude Bennet	4 episodes
2008	Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story	Sir Hugh Carleton Greene	Television movie
2008–11	Country House Rescue	Narrator	24 episodes
2009	Hunter	DSI Iain Barclay	2 episodes
2009	Ruth Watson's Hotel Rescue	Narrator	6 episodes
2009	Legally Mad	Gordon Hamm	unaired pilot^[24]
2010–15	Downton Abbey	Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham	52 episodes
2010	Ben Hur	Pontius Pilate	2 episodes
2010	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Edward Masterman	Episode: "Murder on the Orient Express"
2010	The Silence	Chris	4 episodes
2010–14	Rev.	Roland Wise	3 episodes
2011	Doctor Who	Captain Avery	Episodes: "The Curse of the Black Spot" "A Good Man Goes To War"
2011	Marple: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side	Inspector Hewitt	Television movie
2011–12	Twenty Twelve	Ian Fletcher	13 episodes
2011–14	The Hotel	Narrator	33 episodes
2012	Turn Back Time: The Family	Narrator	5 episodes
2012	Getting On	Philip Moore	Episode: "#3.6"
2012	World's Most Dangerous Roads	—	Episode: "#3.2"
2012	Mr Stink	Mr Stink	Television movie
2013	Da Vinci's Demons	Duke of Milan	Episode: "The Hanged Man"
2014	Top Gear	Himself	Episode: "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car"
2014–17	W1A	Ian Fletcher	14 episodes
2015–16	Galavant	Pirate King	2 Episodes
2015–18	Sofia the First	Book Narrator	5 episodes
2016	The Hollow Crown	Gloucester	Episode: "Henry VI, Part I"
2016	Walliams & Friend	Various	Episode 7
2017	The Grand Tour	Himself	Series 2 Episode 3
2017	A Return to Grace: Luther's Life and Legacy	Narrator	Documentary
2018	Countdown to Calvary	Host/Narrator	Documentary
2018	Thomas & Friends	Merlin	Voice; Episode: "Seeing is Believing"
2019	Last Week Tonight with John Oliver	Narrator	2 episodes
2018–23	Great Performances	Host/Narrator	Episode "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2018"
			Episode "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2019"
			Episode "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2020"^[25]
			Episode "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2021"
			Episode "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2022"
			Episode "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2023"
2020	Sandylands	One-Eyed Man	2 episodes
2020	Amphibia	Wigbert Ribbiton	Voice; Episode: "Swamp and Sensibility"^[26]
2020	DuckTales	Santa Claus	Voice; Episode: "How Santa Stole Christmas"^[27]
2022	The Hidden Lives of Pets	Narrator	Documentary series^[28]
	Secrets of the Royal Gardens	Narrator	Documentary series^[29]
2023	The Gold	DCI Brian Boyce	6 episodes
7 March 2023	DNA Journey	Himself

Audiobooks

Production Year	Book Title	Role	Notes
2004	Birds Without Wings	narrator
2014	Goldfinger	narrator
2016	Paddington Takes the Test	narrator
2016	Paddington At Large	narrator
2016	Paddington Marches On	narrator
2016	Paddington Abroad	narrator
2016	Paddington Helps Out	narrator
2017	Paddington At Work	narrator
2017	On the Banks of Plum Creek	narrator
2017	Paddington Goes to Town	narrator
2017	Farmer Boy	narrator
2018	Paddington Takes the Air	narrator
2018	Paddington On Top	narrator
2021	Absolute Proof	narrator
2022	Late Summer On State Street	narrator

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Project	Result
2001	British Academy Film Award	Best Supporting Actor	Iris	Nominated
	European Film Award	Best Actor		Nominated
2002	Berlin International Film Festival	New Talent Award		Won
2006	Monte-Carlo Television Festival	Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries	Tsunami: The Aftermath	Nominated
2012	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series	Downton Abbey	Nominated
2013				Nominated
2011	Golden Globe Awards	Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film		Nominated
2012	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Ensemble in a Drama Series		Won
2013				Nominated
2014				Won
2015				Won
2016				Nominated
2011	Monte-Carlo Television Festival	Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
2013				Nominated
2011	British Comedy Awards	Best TV Comedy Actor	Twenty Twelve	Nominated
2012				Nominated
2012	British Academy Television Award	Best Actor in a Comedy Programme		Nominated
2013				Nominated
2015			W1A	Nominated
2016				Nominated

Honours

Commonwealth honours

Commonwealth honours

Country	Date	Appointment	Post-nominal letters
United Kingdom	8 October 2019 – Present	Deputy Lieutenant of West Sussex^[30]^[31]	DL

Scholastic

University degrees

Location	Date	School	Degree
England		Corpus Christi College, Cambridge	Lower Second Class Honours Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Theology
England		Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art

Honorary degrees

Location	Date	School	Degree	Gave Commencement Address
England	October 2019	University of Winchester	Doctor of Arts (D.Arts)^[32]^[33]

References

1. Bonneville, Hugh (2022). Playing under the piano: from Downton to darkest Peru. New York. pp. 78–80. ISBN 978-1-63542-342-6. OCLC 1334493251.
2. Room, Adrian (2010). Dictionary of Pseudonyms: 13,000 Assumed Names and Their Origins (5th ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-7864-4373-4. OCLC 607613318. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
3. . Big Issue. Archived from the original on 24 July 2020. Retrieved 19 December 2015.
4. Greensteet, Rosanna (6 November 2004). "Q&A: Hugh Bonneville". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
5. . Corpus Christi College. Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
6. Franks, Alan (16 February 2008). "Hugh Bonneville and Tom Hollander on Freezing, fame and friendship". The Times. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
7. . The Cambridge Student. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
8. Trowbridge, Simon (2010). The Company: a Biographical Dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Oxford, England: Editions Albert Creed. pp. 52–53. ISBN 978-0-9559830-2-3.
9. "The Complete Smiley – The Karla Trilogy, Book 2: The Honourable Schoolboy". BBC. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
10. "Burke and Hare Teaser Art Debuts at Cannes". Dread Central. 16 September 2012. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
11. "Mousetrap celebrates 60 years with gala performance". BBC. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
12. "Hugh Bonneville to play Roald Dahl in new film". BBC News. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
13. "About From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2018". PBS. 13 November 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
14. "Shadowlands". 7 June 2022.
15. "Irish roots of "Downton Abbey's" Hugh Bonneville revealed in new "DNA Journey"". Irish Central. 7 March 2023. Retrieved 7 March 2023.
16. "Biography for Hugh Bonneville". Internet Movie Database. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
17. Myers, Marc (17 September 2019). "'Downton Abbey' Star Hugh Bonneville Grew Up in an Edwardian Home That Felt Grand". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 5 February 2020.
18. . What's on Stage. 3 July 2009. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
19. . Giant Olive Theatre Company. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
20. . sceneandheard.org. 2010. Archived from the original on 10 February 2009. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
21. "Deputy Lieutenant Commissions LIEUTENANCY OF WEST SUSSEX". The London Gazette. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
22. Meacham, Steve; Maddox, Garry (14 February 2011). "Hippies tossed aside in corporate decision". The Sydney Morning Herald. After a promised release failed to eventuate last year, the British production company, Working Title, has confirmed it will not reach cinemas. The managing director of the distributor Universal Pictures in Australia, Mike Baard, said: 'I suspect...it's going to land in the direct-to-video bin...it's off our release schedule.'
23. "Secrets of the Magna Carta, Written by Martin Durkin". The Objective Standard. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
24. Schneider, Michael (11 May 2009). "NBC passing on 'Legally Mad'". Variety. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
25. "From Vienna: The New Year's Celebration 2020". pbs.org. 26 November 2019.
26. Ramos, Dino-Ray (23 June 2020). "Disney Channel Renews 'Amphibia' For Season 3; Kermit The Frog, Jenifer Lewis, George Takei And More To Guest Star on Season 2". Deadline.
27. . Walt Disney Television Press. 19 October 2020. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
28. "The Secret Life of Our Pets". hughbonneville.uk. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
29. "Secrets of the Royal Gardens". hughbonneville.uk. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
30. Sampson, Annabel (9 October 2019). "Downton Abbey's Hugh Bonneville gains a real-life royal title". Tatler Magazine. Retrieved 29 April 2022.
31. "Deputy Lieutenant Commissions LIEUTENANCY OF WEST SUSSEX". The London Gazette. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
32. "Honorary Doctorates 2019" (PDF). Winchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 October 2021.
33. "Hugh Bonneville - Graduation 2019". YouTube. Archived from the original on 13 December 2021.

Further reading

• Trowbridge, Simon. The Company: A Biographical Dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Oxford: Editions Albert Creed, 2010. ISBN 978-0-9559830-2-3.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hugh Bonneville.

• Official website  
• Hugh Bonneville at the British Film Institute
• Hugh Bonneville at IMDb