Leigh Lawson
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Allan Leigh Lawson (born 21 July 1945) is an English actor, director and writer.


Life and career

Lawson was born in
Atherstone Atherstone is a market town and civil parish in the North Warwickshire district of Warwickshire, England. Located in the far north of the county, Atherstone is on the A5 national route, and is adjacent to the border with Leicestershire which ...
,
Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
. He initially studied at
Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts, formerly Mountview Theatre School, is a drama school in Peckham, south London, England, founded in 1945. The Academy provides specialist vocational training in acting and musical theatre, as well as production ...
before training further at the
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Sen ...
, Lawson has acted in film and television since the early 1970s, and has directed plays in the West End and on
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
. He has worked with the National Theatre,
Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...
(RSC) and with film directors such as
Roman Polanski Raymond Roman Thierry Polański , group=lower-alpha, name=note_a (né Liebling; 18 August 1933) is a French-Polish film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. He is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, two ...
and
Franco Zeffirelli Gian Franco Corsi Zeffirelli (12 February 1923 – 15 June 2019), was an Italian stage and film director, producer, production designer and politician. He was one of the most significant opera and theatre directors of the post-World War II era, ...
. He has been quoted as saying that the only time in his career when he didn't feel he should be somewhere else doing something else was when he was with the RSC. Lawson's portrayals in films include Bernardo in ''
Brother Sun, Sister Moon ''Brother Sun, Sister Moon'' ( it, Fratello Sole, Sorella Luna) is a 1972 film directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring Graham Faulkner and Judi Bowker. The film is an examination of the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. Plot Francesco, the sp ...
'' (1972) and Alec d'Urberville in ''
Tess Tess or TESS may refer to: Music * Tess (band), a Spanish pop band active from 2000 to 2005 * TESS (musician), a UK musician Film and theatre * ''Tess'' (1979 film), a 1979 film adaptation of '' Tess of the d'Urbervilles'' * ''Tess'' (2016 film ...
'' (1979). He played the leading role as Alan Lomax in the television drama series '' Travelling Man'' (1984–85), and guest starred in television series such as ''
The Duchess of Duke Street ''The Duchess of Duke Street'' is a BBC television drama series set in London between the late 1800s and 1925. It was created by John Hawkesworth, previously the producer of the ITV period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. It starred Gemma Jo ...
'' (1976), ''
Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a centr ...
'' (1978), '' Feuer und Schwert - Die Legende von Tristan und Isolde'' (1982), ''
The Ray Bradbury Theatre ''The Ray Bradbury Theater'' is an anthology series that ran for three seasons on First Choice Superchannel in Canada and HBO in the United States from 1985 to 1986, and then on USA Network, running for four additional seasons from 1988 to 19 ...
'' (1988) and ''
Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC, which focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, the series was created by Nigel McC ...
'' (2005–2007). He also guested, with his wife
Twiggy Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949) is an English model, actress, and singer, widely known by the nickname Twiggy. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenaged model during the swinging '60s in London. ...
, playing themselves in an episode of the comedy series, ''
Absolutely Fabulous ''Absolutely Fabulous'' (also known as ''Ab Fab'') is a British television sitcom based on the ''French and Saunders'' sketch, "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Jennifer Saunders. The show was created and written by Saund ...
'' (2001). In 1999 Lawson co-wrote and directed the musical ''If Love Were All'', which tells of the friendship between
Gertrude Lawrence Gertrude Lawrence (4 July 1898 – 6 September 1952) was an English actress, singer, dancer and musical comedy performer known for her stage appearances in the West End of London and on Broadway in New York. Early life Lawrence was born Gertr ...
and
Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time'' magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and ...
. ''The Dream: An Actor's Story'', a theatrical memoir about the day-to-day life of a working actor, was published in September 2009. ()


Personal life

In 1976, Lawson and his first wife, Mondy, were divorced. He met the actress
Hayley Mills Hayley Catherine Rose Vivien Mills (born 18 April 1946) is an English actress. The daughter of Sir John Mills and Mary Hayley Bell, and younger sister of actress Juliet Mills, she began her acting career as a child and was hailed as a promising ...
in 1975, when they performed in London's West End in ''A Touch of Spring''; the following year, they had a son, Jason. Lawson also served as a stepfather to
Crispian Mills Crispian Mills (born 18 January 1973 as Crispian John David Boulting; spiritual name Krishna Kantha Das) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and film director. Active since 1988, Mills is best known as the frontman of the psychedelic i ...
, Mills's son with director
Roy Boulting John Edward Boulting (21 December 1913 – 17 June 1985) and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting (21 December 1913 – 5 November 2001), known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and identical twins who became known for thei ...
. During that time, he appeared with Mills's father,
John Mills Sir John Mills (born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills; 22 February 190823 April 2005) was an English actor who appeared in more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades. He excelled on camera as an appealing British everyman who often portray ...
, in the film '' The Devil's Advocate'' (1977). Lawson and Mills ended their relationship in the mid-1980s. Lawson met the model
Twiggy Dame Lesley Lawson (''née'' Hornby; born 19 September 1949) is an English model, actress, and singer, widely known by the nickname Twiggy. She was a British cultural icon and a prominent teenaged model during the swinging '60s in London. ...
in 1984. In 1988, they both worked in the film ''
Madame Sousatzka ''Madame Sousatzka'' is a 1988 drama film directed by John Schlesinger, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. It is based upon the 1962 novel of the same name by Bernice Rubens. __TOC__ Plot Bengali immigrant Sushila Sen (Shabana Azmi) l ...
'' and were married on 23 September that year, in Tony Walton's back yard in
Sag Harbor Sag Harbor is an incorporated village in Suffolk County, New York, United States, in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton on eastern Long Island. The village developed as a working port on Gardiner's Bay. The population was 2,772 at the 2 ...
,
Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
. The couple reside in
West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...
and also own a home in
Southwold Southwold is a seaside town and civil parish on the English North Sea coast in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk. It lies at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is a ...
,
Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...
. He adopted Twiggy's daughter, Carly, who took his surname. Lawson has played a large part in the lives of his children and of his nephew, Saul Dismont, who is the son of Lawson's sister and
Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = " Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , e ...
politician Russell Dismont.


Partial filmography

* ''
Brother Sun, Sister Moon ''Brother Sun, Sister Moon'' ( it, Fratello Sole, Sorella Luna) is a 1972 film directed by Franco Zeffirelli and starring Graham Faulkner and Judi Bowker. The film is an examination of the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. Plot Francesco, the sp ...
'' (1972) - Bernardo * ''
Ghost Story A ghost story is any piece of fiction, or drama, that includes a ghost, or simply takes as a premise the possibility of ghosts or characters' belief in them."Ghost Stories" in Margaret Drabble (ed.), ''Oxford Companion to English Literature'' ...
'' (1974) - Robert * ''
QB VII ''QB VII'' by Leon Uris is a dramatic courtroom novel published in 1970. The four-part novel highlights the events leading to a libel trial in the United Kingdom. The novel was Uris's second consecutive #1 ''New York Times'' Best Seller and th ...
'' (1974, TV Mini-Series) - Dix * ''
Percy's Progress ''Percy's Progress'' is a 1974 British comedy film directed by Ralph Thomas. It was written by Sid Colin, Harry H. Corbett and Ian La Frenais. It was released in the United States under the title ''It's Not the Size That Counts''. The US ...
'' (1974) - Percy Edward Anthony * ''
The God King ''The God King'' is a 1974 British–Sri Lankan historical film directed by Lester James Peries. The film is based on the historical clash between brothers Kasyapa and Moggalana on Sigiriya Rock. Producer Dimitri de Grunwald financed the epic fi ...
'' (1974) - Kassapa * ''
Love Among the Ruins Love Among the Ruins may refer to: Literature * "Love Among the Ruins" (poem), a poem by Robert Browning * ''Love Among the Ruins. A Romance of the Near Future'', a novel by Evelyn Waugh * ''Love Among the Ruins'', a novel by Warwick Deeping * ''L ...
'' (1975, TV Movie) - Alfred Pratt * ''The Tiger Lily'' (1975) - Michael * ''
The Duchess of Duke Street ''The Duchess of Duke Street'' is a BBC television drama series set in London between the late 1800s and 1925. It was created by John Hawkesworth, previously the producer of the ITV period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. It starred Gemma Jo ...
'' (1976, Episode: "For Love Or Money") * '' Space: 1999'' (1976, Episode: "One Moment of Humanity") * '' The Devil's Advocate'' (1977) - Giacomo Nerone * ''
Golden Rendezvous ''Golden Rendezvous'' is a 1977 South African action thriller film directed by Ashley Lazarus and starring Richard Harris, Ann Turkel and David Janssen. It was based on the 1962 novel '' The Golden Rendezvous'' by Alistair MacLean. Plot The '' ...
'' (1977) - Tony Cerdan * ''
Tess Tess or TESS may refer to: Music * Tess (band), a Spanish pop band active from 2000 to 2005 * TESS (musician), a UK musician Film and theatre * ''Tess'' (1979 film), a 1979 film adaptation of '' Tess of the d'Urbervilles'' * ''Tess'' (2016 film ...
'' (1979) - Alec d'Urberville * ''
Why Didn't They Ask Evans? ''Why Didn't They Ask Evans?'' is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by the Collins Crime Club in September 1934 and in the United States by Dodd, Mead and Company in 1935 under the title of ...
'' (1980, TV Movie) - Roger Bassington-ffrench * ''
Hammer House of Horror ''Hammer House of Horror'' is a British television series made in 1980. An anthology series created by Hammer Films in association with Cinema Arts International and ITC Entertainment, it consists of 13 hour-long episodes, originally broadca ...
'' (1980, Episode: "Charlie Boy") - Graham * '' Fire and Sword'' (1982) - Mark * ''
Lace Lace is a delicate fabric made of yarn or thread in an open weblike pattern, made by machine or by hand. Generally, lace is divided into two main categories, needlelace and bobbin lace, although there are other types of lace, such as knitted o ...
'' (1984, TV Mini-Series) - Count Charles de Chazalle * ''
Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense ''Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense'' is a short-lived (one season) anthology television series produced in Britain in 1984/85 by Hammer Film Productions. Though similar in format to the 1980 series '' Hammer House of Horror'', the ''Mystery ...
'' (1984, Episode: "Black Carrion") - Paul Taylor * '' Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight'' (1984) - Humphrey * ''
Madame Sousatzka ''Madame Sousatzka'' is a 1988 drama film directed by John Schlesinger, with a screenplay by Ruth Prawer Jhabvala. It is based upon the 1962 novel of the same name by Bernice Rubens. __TOC__ Plot Bengali immigrant Sushila Sen (Shabana Azmi) l ...
'' (1988) - Ronnie Blum * ''Out of Depth'' (2000) - Tate * '' Back to the Secret Garden'' (2000) - Sir Colin Craven * ''
Being Julia ''Being Julia'' is a 2004 comedy-drama film directed by István Szabó and starring Annette Bening and Jeremy Irons. The screenplay by Ronald Harwood is based on the novel ''Theatre'' (1937) by W. Somerset Maugham. The original film score was com ...
'' (2004) - Archie Dexter * ''
Casanova Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...
'' (2005) - Mother's Lover / Tito * ''Silence Becomes You'' (2005) - Father * ''
Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC, which focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, the series was created by Nigel McC ...
: The Meaning of Death'' (2005) - Nikki's Father * ''
The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler ''The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler'' is a 2009 television film directed by John Kent Harrison. The teleplay by Harrison and Lawrence John Spagnola, based on the 2007 biography ''Die Mutter der Holocaust-Kinder: Irena Sendler und die geretteten ...
'' (2009, TV Movie) - Rabbi Rozenfeld * '' The Red Tent'' (2014, TV Mini-Series) - Laban


Stage appearances

* Ivan Kaliayev, The Price of Justice, Mermaid Theatre, London, (1972). * A Touch of Spring, with Hayley Mills, Comedy Theatre, London's West End, (1975–78). * Aubrey Tanqueray,
The Second Mrs. Tanqueray ''The Second Mrs. Tanqueray'' is a problem play by Arthur Wing Pinero. It utilises the "Woman with a past" plot, popular in nineteenth century melodrama. The play was first produced in 1893 by the actor-manager George Alexander and despite ca ...
, Royal National Theatre (1981). * Louis Dubedat, The Doctor's Dilemma, Greenwich Theatre, London, 1981 * Amnon
Yonadab
directed by Peter Hall, Royal National Theatre (1985). * Antonio,
The Merchant of Venice ''The Merchant of Venice'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1596 and 1598. A merchant in Venice named Antonio defaults on a large loan provided by a Jewish moneylender, Shylock. Although classified as ...
in London's West End and on Broadway (1989). * Oberon,
A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...
, produced by Adrian Noble, Royal Shakespeare Company, (1990). * Loveless,
The Relapse ''The Relapse, or, Virtue in Danger'' is a Restoration comedy from 1696 written by John Vanbrugh. The play is a sequel to Colley Cibber's '' Love's Last Shift, or, The Fool in Fashion''. In Cibber's ''Love's Last Shift'', a free-living Rest ...
, Royal Shakespeare Company, (1996). * Marc,
Art Art is a diverse range of human activity, and resulting product, that involves creative or imaginative talent expressive of technical proficiency, beauty, emotional power, or conceptual ideas. There is no generally agreed definition of wha ...
, London's West End and UK Tour, (2002). * Lloyd,
Noises Off ''Noises Off'' is a 1982 play by the English playwright Michael Frayn. Frayn conceived the idea in 1970 while watching from the wings a performance of ''The Two of Us'', a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave. He said, "It was funnier f ...
, London's West End and on Broadway (2003). * Death and the Maiden, King's Head Theatre, London (2004). *
Nicholas Nickleby ''Nicholas Nickleby'' or ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby'' (or also ''The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, Containing a Faithful Account of the Fortunes, Misfortunes, Uprisings, Downfallings, and Complete Career of the ...
, Chichester Festival Theatre, (2006). * Shoreditch Madonna, with Francesca Annis, Soho Theatre, (2006). * Messerschmann,
Ring Round the Moon ''Ring Round the Moon'' is a 1950 adaptation by the English dramatist Christopher Fry of Jean Anouilh's ''Invitation to the Castle'' (1947). Peter Brook commissioned Fry to adapt the play and the first production of ''Ring Round the Moon'' was ...
, Playhouse Theatre, London, (2008)


Directed

* ''If Love Were All'', (1999), opened off-Broadway at the
Lucille Lortel Theatre The Lucille Lortel Theatre is an off-Broadway playhouse at 121 Christopher Street in Manhattan's West Village. It was built in 1926 as a 590-seat movie theater called the New Hudson, later known as Hudson Playhouse. The interior is largely unch ...
with Twiggy as Gertrude Lawrence and Harry Groener as Noël Coward, written by Sheridan Morley & Leigh Lawson, directed by Leigh Lawson. * ''The Restaurant'', New York * ''
The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' (russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit=Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by ''Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition ...
'', USLeigh Lawson Biography http://www.twiggylawson.co.uk/leighlawson.html * '' Death and the Maiden'', King's Head Theatre, Islington, (2004) * ''
Jack and the Beanstalk "Jack and the Beanstalk" is an English fairy tale. It appeared as "The Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean" in 1734 4th edition On Commons and as Benjamin Tabart's moralized "The History of Jack and the Bean-Stalk" in 1807. Henry Cole ...
'', Pantomime, Brighton Theatre Royal, (2005), starring Twiggy


References


External links

* *
Fandango: Leigh Lawson filmographyUnited AgentsImage of Leigh Lawson and Twiggy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawson, Leigh 1945 births Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors Living people People from Atherstone Alumni of the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts