Anthony Colin Gerald Andrews (born 12 January 1948) is an English actor. He played Lord Sebastian Flyte in the ITV miniseries Brideshead Revisited (1981), for which he won Golden Globe and BAFTA television awards and was nominated for an Emmy. His other lead roles include Operation Daybreak (1975), Danger UXB (1979), Ivanhoe (1982) and The Scarlet Pimpernel (1982), and he played UK Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin in The King's Speech (2010).
Early life and career Andrews was born in London, the son of Geraldine Agnes (née Cooper), a dancer, and Stanley Thomas Andrews, an arranger and conductor for the BBC. He grew up in North Finchley, London. At the age of eight, he took dancing lessons, making his stage debut as the White Rabbit in a stage adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland. He attended the Royal Masonic School for Boys in Bushey, Hertfordshire.
After a series of jobs that included catering, farming and journalism, he secured a position at the Chichester Theatre, where he worked as an assistant stage manager and later as a stand-in producer. In 1968, he auditioned for a production of Alan Bennett's play Forty Years On, which featured John Gielgud as the headmaster of a British public school during the World War I period. Andrews was cast as Skinner, one of 20 schoolboys. In 1974, he played Lord Robert, Marquis of Stockbridge, in the TV series Upstairs, Downstairs. In 1975, he had a leading role in the Spanish film Las adolescentes (The Adolescents), opposite Koo Stark.
In June 1977, Andrews was cast as Bodie in the ITV series The Professionals, but after three days of filming, the creator and producer Brian Clemens believed the chemistry between Andrews and Martin Shaw (Doyle) did not work and that "the pair did not have the required undercurrent of menace to carry off the concept". Lewis Collins replaced Andrews. In 1979, Andrews was the main star of the ITV television series Danger UXB, playing a bomb disposal officer in the London Blitz. The series first aired in the United Kingdom in 1979 on the ITV network.
His subsequent work includes the leading role of Lord Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revisited (1981). In 1982, he won a Golden Globe and BAFTA TV Award for his performance and was nominated for an Emmy Award. In the United States, Andrews is best known for his portrayal of the titular character in the television film Ivanhoe as well as that of Sir Percy Blakeney in the film The Scarlet Pimpernel (both 1982).
At the National Theatre in London, he appeared in Coming in to Land (1986/1987) by Stephen Poliakoff, alongside Dame Maggie Smith. He also played Henry Higgins in a stage version of My Fair Lady (2003) and Count Fosco in Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Woman in White (2005).
Andrews narrated a 21st-anniversary BBC Radio 2 special broadcast of Cameron Mackintosh's musical Les Misérables, sung by the then West End cast at the Mermaid Theatre in London on Sunday 8 October 2006. He appeared as Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin in the film The King's Speech (2010), for which he and his castmates won a 2011 Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
Personal life
Andrews met actress Georgina Simpson, whose family owned the Simpsons of Piccadilly Department Store. They married on 1 December 1971 and have three children.
Andrews survived a case of water intoxication in 2003. The condition, also known as hyponatraemia ("low blood sodium"), occurs when sodium ions in the body are diluted so far that nerves are unable to function properly. The condition has symptoms similar to those of dehydration, such as headaches, nausea and cramps. While performing as Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady, Andrews consumed up to eight litres of water a day. He lost consciousness and spent three days in intensive care.
Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes1972 A War of Children Reg Hogg TV film A Day Out Brothers TV film 1973 Take Me High Hugo Flaxman 1974 Percy's Progress Catchpole1975 The Adolescents Jimmy Operation Daybreak Jozef Gabčík 1976 Call Girl Marcos 1978 Much Ado About Nothing Claudio TV film 1981 Mistress of Paradise Buckley TV film1982 Ivanhoe Wilfred of Ivanhoe TV film La Ronde The Young Gentleman TV film The Scarlet Pimpernel Sir Percy Blakeney TV film 1983 Sparkling Cyanide Tony Browne TV film 1984 Under the Volcano Hugh Firmin 1985 The Holcroft Covenant Johann von Tiebolt 1986 The Second Victory Major Hanlon 1987 The Lighthorsemen Major Richard Meinertzhagen1988 Bluegrass Michael Fitzgerald TV film The Woman He Loved Prince of Wales TV film Hanna's War McCormack 1990 Hands of a Murderer Professor Moriarty TV film 1991 Lost in Siberia Andrei Miller 1995 Haunted Robert Mariell 2000 David Copperfield Edward Murdstone TV film 2007 Last Night Dad Short film 2010 The King's Speech Stanley Baldwin 2019 The Professor and the Madman Benjamin Jowett
Television Year Title Role Notes 1968 The Wednesday Play Harry Episode: "A Beast with Two Backs"1972 Dixon of Dock Green Paul Richards Episode: "First Offenders" Doomwatch Carlos Episode: "Say Knife, Fat Man" Follyfoot Lord Beck Episode: "The Awakening" Thirty-Minute Theatre Michael Warren Episode: "The Judge's Wife"1974 The Fortunes of Nigel Sir Nigel Olifaunt Mini-series, 5 episodes QB VII Stephen Kelno Mini-series, 2 episodes The Pallisers Earl of Silverbridge Recurring role, 7 episodes 1974-1975 David Copperfield Steerforth Mini-series, 4 episodes 1975 Upstairs, Downstairs Marquis (sic) of Stockbridge Recurring role, 3 episodes1976 The Duchess of Duke Street Marcus Carrington Episode: "Lottie's Boy"BBC Play of the Month Hon. Alan Howard Episode: "French Without Tears" Charles Courtley Episode: "London Assurance"1977 Wings Lieutenant Walker Episode: "The Prisoner's Friend" The Sunday Drama Harry Episode: "A Superstition" BBC Play of the Month Horner Episode: "The Country Wife" 1978 BBC Television Shakespeare Mercutio Episode: "Romeo and Juliet" 1979 Danger UXB Brian Ash Series regular, 13 episodes1981 The Love Boat Tony Selkirk Recurring role, 3 episodes Brideshead Revisited Sebastian Flyte Recurring role, 6 episodes 1984 Play for Today John Loomis Episode: "Z for Zachariah" 1985 A.D. Nero Mini-series, 5 episodes 1988 American Playhouse Johnnie Aysgarth Episode: "Suspicion"1988 Bluegrass Michael Fitzgerald TV movie1989 A Fine Romance Michael Trent Episode: "Pilot" Columbo Elliott Blake Episode: "Columbo Goes to the Guillotine" Nightmare Classics Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Edward Hyde Episode: "Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde"1992 Danielle Steel's Jewels William Whitfield Mini-series, 2 episodes Screen Two Christopher Edwardes Episode: "The Law Lord"1996 The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Luke Crossland Episode: "Heartstones" Tales from the Crypt Jonathan Episode: "About Face" 1997 Screen Two Robin Episode: "Mothertime" 2001 Love in a Cold Climate Boy Mini-series, 3 episodes 2003 Cambridge Spies King George VI Mini-series, 1 episode 2004 Rosemary & Thyme Richard Oakley Episode: "The Invisible Worm" 2006 Agatha Christie's Marple Tommy Episode: "By the Pricking of My Thumbs" 2012 Birdsong Colonel Barclay Mini-series, 1 episode 2015 The Syndicate Lord Hazelwood Series regular, 6 episodes 2020 The English Game Lord Kinnaird Recurring role, 5 episodes
Theatre Year Title Role Venue Notes1968 Dragon Variations Douglas Blake Duke of York's Theatre, London Forty Years On Skinner Apollo Theatre, London1971 Romeo and Juliet Balthasar Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, London with New Shakespeare Company A Midsummer Night's Dream Mustardseed Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, London with New Shakespeare Company 1986 One of Us Garonway Rees Greenwich Theatre, London 1987 Coming Into Land Neville Lyttelton Theatre, London 1999 Vertigo Theatre Royal, Windsor 2001 Ghosts Pastor Manders Comedy Theatre, London 2003 My Fair Lady Henry Higgins Drury Lane Theatre, London 2005 The Woman in White Count Fosco Palace Theatre, London 2007 The Letter Howard Joyce Wyndham's Theatre, London 2011 Bully Boy Major Oscar Hadley Nuffield Theatre, Southampton 2012 A Marvellous Year for Plums Sir Anthony Eden Chichester Festival Theatre, Chichester
Producing credits Lost in Siberia (1991) Haunted (1995)
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Work Result1982 British Academy Television Awards Best Actor Brideshead Revisited Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Brideshead Revisited 1983 Golden Globe Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Brideshead Revisited 1991 CableACE Award Best Actor in a Dramatic Series Nightmare Classics 1993 Golden Globe Awards Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Danielle Steel's Jewels 2011 Santa Barbara International Film Festival Best Motion Picture Ensemble of the Year (with Claire Bloom, Helena Bonham Carter, Jennifer Ehle, Colin Firth, Michael Gambon, Derek Jacobi, Guy Pearce, Geoffrey Rush & Timothy Spall) The King's Speech Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture (with Helena Bonham Carter, Jennifer Ehle, Colin Firth, Michael Gambon, Derek Jacobi, Guy Pearce, Geoffrey Rush & Timothy Spall) The King's Speech
References
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