Peter Macintosh Firth (born 27 October 1953) is an English actor. He is best known for his role as Sir Harry Pearce in the BBC One programme Spooks; he is the only actor to have appeared in every episode of the programme's ten-series lifespan. He has given many other television and film performances, most notably as Alan Strang in Equus (1977), earning both a Golden Globe Award and an Academy Award nomination for the role.
Peter Firth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Peter Macintosh Firth 27 October 1953 Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Nationality | British |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1958–present |
| Spouse | Alexandra Pigg |
Early life, family and education
editFirth was born on 27 October 1953 in Bradford, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of publicans Mavis (née Hudson) and Eric Macintosh Firth.[1] He attended Hanson School in Bradford.[2]
Early career
editChild actor
editFirth was a leading child actor by the middle of 1969, having starred in the first series of The Flaxton Boys as Archie Weekes and then the following year in the series Here Come the Double Deckers, both of which featured child actors in the leading roles. Firth played Scooper, the leader of the gang. In 1972 he also starred in the ITV (London Weekend Television) series The Adventures of Black Beauty, episode "The Runaway", playing David Abbott.
In July 1973, Firth appeared at Laurence Olivier's National Theatre,[3] starring in the stage version of Peter Shaffer's play Equus as a teenager being treated by a psychiatrist, and in October 1974 repeated the role in the Broadway production, receiving a Tony Award nomination for his performance as Alan Strang.
Firth starred in an episode of The Protectors, titled “Implicado”, first screened in November 1973. He played Stephen Douglas, an innocent young man, alongside Patrick Mower as a drug dealer.
Next stage of career
editFirth's first major role as an adult was the title part in a BBC Television Play of the Month adaptation of Oscar Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray (1976). The script was based on a stage adaptation by John Osborne, and also starred Jeremy Brett and John Gielgud. That same year saw the release of the World War I film Aces High which featured Firth as the inexperienced RFC pilot Lt. Stephen Croft.
Firth played the lead role in the film adaptation of Henry Fielding's Joseph Andrews (1977). That same year he starred with Richard Burton in the film adaptation of Equus. The film was only a moderate box-office success, but earned Firth a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a Golden Globe Award in the same category. Further film work quickly followed, most notably Roman Polanski's Tess (1979).
Film
editOther film work has included roles in Diamonds on Wheels (1973); When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? (1979); Lifeforce (1985); Letter to Brezhnev (1985); Northanger Abbey (1987), playing Henry Tilney; The Hunt for Red October (1990) playing the Soviet political officer Ivan Putin murdered early in the film; White Angel (1993), playing mild-mannered dentist Leslie Steckler; Amistad (1997) playing the strongly anti-slavery Captain Fitzgerald of the Royal Navy; Mighty Joe Young (1998); Pearl Harbor (2001); and The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005), playing Lord Northcliffe.
Television
editAlong with his film career, Firth has continued to appear in television productions, with several notable credits in various high-profile dramas. He starred in two science-fiction episodes of the BBC's Play for Today anthology series as the eponymous time-traveller in the romantic The Flipside of Dominick Hide (1980), and its sequel, Another Flip for Dominick (1982). Firth also had a starring role in Tales of the Unexpected in 1981. In 1994, in the Fourth Series of Heartbeat, he played Dr. Radcliffe who partnered with Dr. Rowan (Niamh Cusack) in Whitby. He also portrayed the Emperor Vespasian in "The Jewish Revolt" episode of the BBC series Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire.
For many years he had played a primary role as senior MI5 officer Harry Pearce in the BBC's popular spy drama series Spooks (2002–2011), and played Fred Hoyle in Hawking, a BBC dramatisation of the early career of Stephen Hawking. He was also Snaith in the three-part series South Riding in 2011. Firth has also appeared on American and Canadian television, on programmes such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Total Recall 2070, as well as in television films such as The Incident starring Walter Matthau.
In 2014, Firth played the part of the character Andrew Rawlins in Undeniable, a two-part series made for the ITV network. In 2015 he played Jacob Marley in four episodes of the BBC television series Dickensian.
In 2016, he played the part of Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland and King of Hanover, in ITV's drama series Victoria. In 2018, he played Milos Borisovich, a Belarusian drug lord.
Audiobooks
editFirth is also a narrator of audiobooks. He has been responsible for performances reading Pat Barker's Regeneration, The Ghost Road and The Eye in the Door, Suspicion by Robert McCrum, Maurice by E. M. Forster, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, Sebastian Faulks' Birdsong and Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles.
Honours and awards
editOn 17 July 2009, he was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Bradford as a Doctor of Letters for his services to acting, having been nominated by the School of Computing, Informatics & Media; he received his award during the school's degree ceremony.[4]
Personal life
editFirth lodged with Peter Shaffer throughout the Broadway run of Equus, in a father–son relationship.[5] Firth was interviewed with his Letter to Brezhnev co-star Alexandra Pigg on BBC Breakfast in April 2017, during which Firth explained that they dated briefly after making the film and that they have been in a relationship since 2010. They married in London on Christmas Eve 2017.
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Brother Sun, Sister Moon | ||
| Daniel and Maria | |||
| 1975 | King Arthur, the Young Warlord | Corin | |
| 1976 | Aces High | Lt Stephen Croft | |
| 1977 | Joseph Andrews | Joseph Andrews | |
| Equus | Alan Strang | ||
| 1979 | When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder? | Stephen Ryder | |
| Tess | Angel Clare | ||
| 1981 | Fire and Sword | Dinas | Original title: "Feuer und Schwert - Die Legende von Tristan und Isolde" |
| 1984 | Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | Sir Gawain | Voice: uncredited |
| White Elephant | Peter Davidson | ||
| 1985 | Lifeforce | Col Colin Caine | |
| Letter to Brezhnev | Peter | ||
| 1986 | A State of Emergency | Kenneth Parrish | |
| 1987 | Born of Fire | Paul Bergson | Science Fiction |
| 1988 | Prisoner of Rio | Clive Ingram | |
| 1989 | Tree of Hands | Terence | |
| Trouble in Paradise | Adriaan | ||
| 1990 | The Hunt for Red October | Senior Lieutenant Ivan Putin | The political officer of the Red October |
| Burndown | Jake Stern | ||
| The Rescuers Down Under | Red | Voice | |
| 1992 | The Pleasure Principle | Dick | |
| 1993 | El marido perfecto | Franz | |
| Shadowlands | Dr Craig | ||
| 1994 | White Angel | Leslie Steckler | |
| 1995 | An Awfully Big Adventure | Bunny | |
| 1996 | Merisairas | 1st Officer Ronald Jensen | |
| 1997 | Marco Polo: The Missing Chapter | Rusticello | |
| Gaston's War | Major Smith | ||
| Amistad | Captain Fitzgerald | ||
| 1998 | Woundings | Louise's Attacker | |
| Mighty Joe Young | Garth | ||
| 1999 | Chill Factor | Colonel Andrew Brynner | |
| 2001 | Pearl Harbor | Capt. Mervyn Bennion | |
| 2005 | The Greatest Game Ever Played | Lord Northcliffe | |
| 2010 | World Without End | Sir Roland | |
| 2015 | Spooks: The Greater Good | Harry Pearce | Film adaptation of BBC TV series. |
| 2016 | Risen | Pontius Pilate | |
| Happily Ever After | Walt |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | How We Used to Live | Urchin | Episode: "At the Seaside" |
| The Flaxton Boys | Archie Weeks | 13 episodes | |
| 1970-1971 | Here Come the Double Deckers | Scooper | 17 episodes |
| The Doctors | Charlie Higson | 7 episodes | |
| 1972 | The Magistrate | Cis Farringdon | BBC Play of the Month |
| The Adventures of Black Beauty | David Abbott | Episode: "Runaway" | |
| 1972-1973 | Country Matters | Roger Blackburn/Tommy Adams | 2 episodes |
| 1973 | Owen, M.D. | David Redman | Episode: "The Love Game" |
| Scene | Ben Bagot | Episode: "The Ballad of Ben Bagot" | |
| The Protectors | Stephen Douglas | Episode: "Implicado" | |
| Her Majesty's Pleasure | Arsenic | BBC1 Play for Today | |
| Arthur of the Britons | Corin | Episode: "The Pupil" | |
| Diamonds on Wheels | Robert 'Bobby' Stewart | TV film - Disney | |
| 1976 | The Picture of Dorian Gray | Dorian Gray | BBC Play of the Month |
| The Lady of the Camellias | Armand Duval | 2 episodes | |
| 1980 | Tales of the Unexpected | Hardy | Episode: "The Man at the Top" |
| The Flipside of Dominick Hide | Dominick Hide | BBC1 Play for Today | |
| 1982 | Another Flip for Dominick | Dominick Hide | BBC1 Play for Today |
| 1983 | The Aerodrome | Roy | TV film |
| 1987 | Tickets for the Titanic | Michael | Episode: "The Way, the Truth, the Video" |
| Northanger Abbey | Henry Tilney | BBC Screen Two | |
| 1990 | The Incident | Geiger | TV film |
| Children Crossing | Joe | BBC Screen Two | |
| Blood Royal: William the Conqueror | William Rufus | TV film | |
| Murder in Eden | Kenneth Potter | BBC mini series | |
| 1991 | The Laughter of God | Steve Clemant | BBC Screen Two |
| Prisoner of Honor | Maj Henry | ||
| 1993 | The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles | Stefan | Episode: "Istanbul, September 1918" |
| 1994 | Anna Lee | Peter Wainwright | Episode: "Stalker" |
| Highlander: The Series | Arthur Drake, aka Drakov | Episode: "Warmonger" | |
| Heartbeat | Dr. James Radcliffe | 7 episodes | |
| 1995 | Resort to Murder | Peter Dennigan | TV mini series |
| Soldier Soldier | Major Ben Collins | Episode: "Leaving" | |
| 1996 | The Witch's Daughter | Mr Jones | TV film |
| Band of Gold | Brian Roberts | 4 episodes | |
| And the Beat Goes On | Francis | 4 episodes | |
| 1997 | Holding On | Mick | TV mini series |
| The Broker's Man | Alex 'Godzilla' Turnbull | 4 episodes | |
| Kavanagh QC | Charlie Beck | Episode: "Ancient History" | |
| The Garden of Redemption | Nazi Commandant | TV film | |
| 1998 | Dead Man's Gun | Det. Insp. Archibald McCann | Episode: "The Ripper" |
| 1999 | The Magnificent Seven | Federal Marshal Walter Bryce | Episode: "The New Law" |
| Cracker | Mitchell Grady | Episode: "Best Boys" | |
| Total Recall 2070 | Vincent Nagle | 3 episodes | |
| 2000 | The Magicians | Simon Magus | TV film |
| 2000-2001 | That's Life | Victor Leski | 20 episodes |
| 2002 | Me & Mrs Jones | Benedict | TV film |
| The Vice | Keith Beaumont | Episode: "No Man's Land" | |
| 2002–2011 | Spooks | Harry Pearce | |
| 2004 | Hawking | Sir Fred Hoyle | TV film |
| 2005 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Preston Blair | Episode: "Identity" |
| 2006 | Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire | Vespasian | TV mini series documentary |
| The Battle for Rome | Vespasian | TV mini series | |
| 2011 | South Riding | Anthony Snaith | TV mini series |
| 2012 | World Without End | Sir Roland | |
| 2013 | Mayday | Malcolm Spicer | |
| 2014 | Undeniable | Andrew Rawlins | |
| Lives of the Infamous Comedy Blaps | Narrator | TV mini series | |
| 2015–2016 | Dickensian | Jacob Marley | |
| 2016 | Victoria | Duke of Cumberland | |
| 2018 | Strike Back | Milos Borisovich | TV series |
| 2019 | Cheat | Michael | TV series |
| Summer of Rockets | Tezler | TV series |
Video games
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Star Wars: Force Commander | Capt. Beri Tulon | Real-time strategy video game |
Audiobooks
edit| Year | Title | Author | Un-/Abridged | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | After Hannibal | Barry Unsworth | Unabridged | |
| 1997 | Brave New World | Aldous Huxley | Unabridged | |
| 1997 | Suspicion | Robert McCrum | Unabridged | |
| 2005 | Tess of the d'Urbervilles | Thomas Hardy | Abridged | 2 hrs and 49 mins |
| 2008 | Tess of the d'Urbervilles | Thomas Hardy | Unabridged | 14 hrs and 42 mins |
| 2009 | Witness | Nick Warburton | Unabridged | One of four narrators |
| 2010 | Maurice | E. M. Forster | Unabridged | |
| 2011 | Birdsong | Sebastian Faulks | Unabridged | |
| 2015 | Amok: An Audible Original Drama | Sebastian Fitzek | Unabridged | One of six narrators |
| 2019 | Regeneration | Pat Barker | Unabridged | Regeneration Trilogy - Book 1 |
| 2019 | The Eye in the Door | Pat Barker | Unabridged | Regeneration Trilogy - Book 2 |
| 2019 | The Ghost Road | Pat Barker | Unabridged | Regeneration Trilogy - Book 3 |
References
edit- ^ "Peter Firth Biography (1953–)". Film Reference Library. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
- ^ "My Yorkshire: Peter Firth". The Yorkshire Post. 19 November 2010. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
- ^ "National Theatre: 1970s". Rob Wilton Theatricalia. Archived from the original on 19 April 2003. Retrieved 27 January 2012.
- ^ "Honorary graduations at the University of Bradford". University of Bradford. Archived from the original on 23 July 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2009.
- ^ Gruen, John (27 October 1974). "'Equus' Makes A Star Of Firth". The New York Times. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
External links
edit- Peter Firth at AllMovie
- Peter Firth at the Internet Broadway Database
- Peter Firth at IMDb
- Peter Firth at the BFI's Screenonline
