Trivia

Mentor and acting instructor of Kenneth Branagh.

He and Laurence Olivier are the only actors to have received both a Danish and a British Knighthood.

In 1963, when Jacobi auditioned for Britain's just-forming National Theatre, Olivier hired him as an understudy and spear-carrier. Luckily for Jacobi, the actor he was understudying, Jeremy Brett, got the call to Hollywood, and Jacobi inherited all his parts.

He has portrayed two different versions of the "Doctor Who" character the Master: an android copy of the first incarnation of the Master in the BBCi webcast Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka (2003) and the fifth incarnation of the Master in the Doctor Who (2005) episode "Utopia".

He has appeared in five films directed by Kenneth Branagh: Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), Hamlet (1996), Cinderella (2015) and Murder on the Orient Express (2017).

He was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) in the 1985 Queen's Birthday Honours List and became a Knight Bachelor in the 1994 Queen's New Year Honours List for his services to drama. In 1989 he became a Knight 1st Class of the Order of the Dannebrog of Denmark.

Once was invited to play Hamlet at Kronborg Castle, better known as Elsinore Castle, the setting of the play itself.

After Roger Delgado, Peter Pratt, Geoffrey Beevers, Anthony Ainley, Gordon Tipple and Eric Roberts, he is the seventh actor to play the Master, the Doctor's greatest enemy. He played the role in Utopia (2007). He was succeeded in the role by John Simm and Michelle Gomez.

Has a Victorian home in London, England.

Was on the short list of actors considered for the role of Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Won Broadway's 1985 Tony Award as Best Actor (Play) for William Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing." He was also Tony-nominated in the same category in 1988 for "Breaking the Code."

Along with Mark Gatiss, he is one of only two actors to play both the "Doctor Who" character the Doctor and his greatest enemy, the Master. He played the former (as well as a failed television writer named Martin Bannister) in the Big Finish "Doctor Who Unbound" audio drama Deadline. He played the latter in both the BBCi webcast Doctor Who: Scream of the Shalka (2003) and the Doctor Who (2005) episode "Utopia".

After 27 years together, registered his civil partnership with long-term partner Richard Clifford in March 2006, four months after civil unions became legal in England and Wales.

He won a Tony in 1985 for "Much Ado About Nothing".

Derek is a fan of Doctor Who (1963) and wanted to be cast in the series since the beginning. He has also wanted to be cast in Coronation Street (1960).

Patron of the British American Drama Academy, London.

Is a native of Leytonstone, in London's East End, which has also produced film maker Alfred Hitchcock, TV journalists & presenters Jonathan Ross and Paul Ross, TV cook Fanny Cradock, Bangra-DnB composer/producer Talvin Singh, Iron-Maiden bassist/songwriter Steve Harris, former England cricket captain Graham Gooch, and England soccer captain David Beckham.

He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1984 (1983 season) for Best Actor in a Revival for "Cyrano de Bergerac".

He has appeared in six films with his domestic partner Richard Clifford: Little Dorrit (1987), Henry V (1989), The Fool (1990), A Bunch of Amateurs (2008), My Week with Marilyn (2011) and Jail Caesar (2012).

An Associate Member of RADA.

He was awarded the 1983 London Critics Circle Theatre Award (Drama Theatre Award) for Best Actor for his performances in Cyrano de Bergerac and Much Ado About Nothing.

On the shortlist of actors considered for the main guest lead of Captain Rorvik (played by Clifford Rose) in the episode "Warriors' Gate" of Doctor Who (1963).

He claims to have been close to being cast as Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). The same is true of Daniel Day-Lewis.

He has two roles of Roman characters with common elements also portrayed by Charles Laughton: (1) Laughton played the Roman Emperor Claudius in I, Claudius (1937) while Jacobi played him in I, Claudius (1976) and (2) Laughton played Gracchus in Spartacus (1960) while Jacobi played a character of the same name in Gladiator (2000).

He was awarded the 1983 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor for his performance in Much Ado About Nothing.

Charlton Heston and Ronnie Barker had been considered for the role of Claudius in I, Claudius (1976) before he landed the role.

Played "Hamlet" opposite Timothy West and, later, John Turner as "Claudius" in the Prospect Theatre Company productions. He would later direct Kenneth Branagh in the title role, before appearing as "Claudius" in the film production directed by Branagh.

He has two roles in common with his Breaking the Code (1996) co-star Richard Johnson: (1) Johnson played King Claudius of Denmark in Hamlet (1970) while Jacobi played him in Hamlet (1996) and (2) Johnson played the Roman Emperor Claudius in The Lost Island (1975) while Jacobi played him in I, Claudius (1976).

He played Archibald Craven in two adaptations of the 1911 novel "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett: The Secret Garden (1987) and The Secret Garden (1994).

As of 2014, has appeared in three films that were nominated for the Best Picture Oscar: Gladiator (2000), Gosford Park (2001) and The King's Speech (2010). Of those, The King's Speech (2010) and Gladiator (2000) are winners in the category.

He was awarded the 1989 Drama-Logue Award for Performance for the play, "Byron-Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know," in the American Premiere in the Centre Theatre Group/Ahmanson Theatre production at the James A. Doolittle Theatre (University of California) in Los Angeles, California .

He was at the Old Vic for 8 years after Laurence Olivier saw him as a stuttering young Marlow in a television production of "She Stoops to Conquer".

He made his London debut at The Old Vic in 1963 as Laertes in the National Theatre production of "Hamlet".

Got first acting experience with the National Youth Theatre.

Born on exactly the same date as Christopher Lloyd.

Has appeared in several films as a character with a stutter: the title character in I, Claudius (1976), Frankie in Dead Again (1991), Alan Turing in Breaking the Code (1996). He also appears in The King's Speech (2010), though not as the character who stutters.