Raymond Fearon is an English actor. He played garage mechanic

Nathan Harding '' Coronation Street'' is a British television soap opera. It was first broadcast on ITV on 9 December 1960. The following is a list of all the former characters and the actors who portrayed them in chronological order. __NOTOC__ 1960s Last ...

on ITV's long-running soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Orig ...

'' and voiced the

centaur A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse. Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as bein ...

Firenze Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...

in the

Wizarding World The Wizarding World (previously known as J. K. Rowling's Wizarding World) is a fantasy media franchise and shared universe, shared fictional universe centred on the ''Harry Potter'' novel series by J. K. Rowling. A series of Film, films have b ...

film series ''

Harry Potter ''Harry Potter'' is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J. K. Rowling. The novels chronicle the lives of a young wizard, Harry Potter, and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, all of whom are students at ...

'' and '' Fantastic Beasts''.

Career

Theatre

After studying drama at

Rose Bruford College Rose Bruford College (formerly Rose Bruford College of Theatre & Performance) is a drama school in the south London suburb of Sidcup. The college has degree programmes in acting, actor musicianship, directing, theatre arts and various discipl ...

, Fearon went on to make his reputation as a stage actor, working at

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

's Everyman Theatre; Manchester Contact Theatre; Manchester Royal Exchange;

Oxford Playhouse Oxford Playhouse is a theatre designed by Edward Maufe and F.G.M. Chancellor. It is situated in Beaumont Street, Oxford, opposite the Ashmolean Museum. History The Playhouse was founded as ''The Red Barn'' at 12 Woodstock Road, North Ox ...

; Barn Theatre, Kent; The Almeida; The Crucible, Sheffield; The Donmar Warehouse; The Royal Shakespeare Theatres in Stratford and the National Theatre. He has also toured in the United States and Europe and the Far East. Fearon starred in ''Othello—''opposite Gillian Kearney's Desdemona— in Liverpool at the age of 24, becoming the first black actor to play Othello on RSC main stages for over 40 years. His other early stage roles included Charles Surface in ''The School for Scandal''; Betty/Martin in ''Cloud Nine''; Longaville in ''Love's Labour's Lost''; Ferdinand in ''The Tempest''; and Pete in ''Blues for Mr Charlie''. His early theatre work in London included Hugo/Frederick in ''Ring Round the Moon'' at the Lilian Baylis Theatre; the title role in ''The Invisible Man'' (his one-man show) at the Bridewell Theatre; and Pierre in ''Venice Preserv'd'' at the Almeida. He has worked extensively with the

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 ...

in their Stratford and London theatres and on tour. He was the first black actor to play the title role in ''Othello'' in the main Royal Shakespeare theatre (director

Michael Attenborough Michael John Attenborough (born 13 February 1950) is an English theatre director. Background Attenborough was born on 13 February 1950 in London, the only son of actress Sheila Sim and actor-director Richard Attenborough. He is the nephew ...

, 1999) giving a performance alongside Richard McCabe's strong and repressed Iago. They also played opposite one another in 1996's ''The White Devil'' (Deborah Warner, Swan theatre) where he played Brachiano and McCabe the villain Flamineo. Fearon was directed by Attenborough also as Romeo in ''Romeo and Juliet'' (RSC, Swan Theatre, 1997) alongside Zoe Waites as Juliet. Other RSC roles have included the First Knight and First Tempter in ''Murder in the Cathedral'' (Swan, 1993), Stubb in ''Moby Dick'' (TOP, 1993), the Prince of Morocco in ''The Merchant of Venice'' (RST, 1994), Paris in ''Troilus and Cressida'' (Ian Judge, RST, 1996), the Marquis of Posa in ''Don Carlos'' (1999), Pericles in

Adrian Noble Adrian Keith Noble (born 19 July 1950) is a theatre director, and was also the artistic director and chief executive of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1990 to 2003. Education and career Noble was born in Chichester, Sussex, England. After le ...

's ''

Pericles, Prince of Tyre ''Pericles, Prince of Tyre'' is a Jacobean play written at least in part by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected works despite questions over its authorship, as it was not included in the First Folio. It was p ...

'' (RST and Roundhouse, 2002) and Mark Antony in Julius Caesar (2012). In 2003, he played 'Oberon' in ''

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 a ...

'' at

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire ...

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's ...

. In 2004, he appeared in as Jean Kiyabe in ''World Music'' by Steve Waters at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Mi ...

, and in the same year at the National Theatre as Mark in ''Sing Yer Hearts Out for the Lads'' by Roy Williams. In 2010, he starred as Walter Lee Younger in ''

A Raisin in the Sun ''A Raisin in the Sun'' is a play by Lorraine Hansberry that debuted on Broadway in 1959. The title comes from the poem "Harlem" (also known as "A Dream Deferred") by Langston Hughes. The story tells of a black family's experiences in south Chi ...

'' by

Lorraine Hansberry Lorraine Vivian Hansberry (May 19, 1930 – January 12, 1965) was a playwright and writer. She was the first African-American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Her best-known work, the play ''A Raisin in the Sun'', highli ...

. This critically acclaimed production was directed by

Michael Buffong Michael Buffong (born 1964) is an English theatre director and the Artistic Director of Talawa Theatre Company. His work is characterised by reworking stage classics delivered to high degree of detail. Buffong has been described as "one of the most ...

at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. In July 2013 he played Macduff opposite

Kenneth Branagh Sir Kenneth Charles Branagh (; born 10 December 1960) is a British actor and filmmaker. Branagh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and has served as its president since 2015. He has won an Academy Award, four BAFTAs (plus ...

(as Macbeth) and

Alex Kingston Alexandra Elizabeth Kingston (born 11 March 1963) is an English actress. Active from the early 1980s, Kingston became noted for her television work in both Britain and the US in the 1990s, including her regular role as Dr. Elizabeth Corday in ...

(as Lady Macbeth) in ''

Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...

'' at Manchester International Festival. His performance was broadcast to cinemas on 20 July as part of

National Theatre Live National Theatre Live is an initiative operated by the Royal National Theatre in London, which broadcasts live via satellite, performances of their productions (and from other theatres) to cinemas and arts centres around the world. About I grew ...

. In December 2017 he played Nathan Detroit in ''

Guys and Dolls ''Guys and Dolls'' is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Jo Swerling and Abe Burrows. It is based on " The Idyll of Miss Sarah Brown" (1933) and "Blood Pressure", which are two short stories by Damon Runyon, and also b ...

'' at the Royal Exchange, Manchester. The production was directed by

Television, film and radio

Fearon played

in ''

'' from 2005 to 2006 and in 2001 he appeared in ''

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' is a 1997 fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. The first novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series and Rowling's debut novel, it follows Harry Potter (character), Harry Potter, a youn ...

'' (as

the centaur). He had a minor role as a sentry in Kenneth Branagh's 1996 film version of ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

''. He was in the 2006 series of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 j ...

'', partnered by

Camilla Dallerup Camilla Sacre-Dallerup (born 6 April 1974) is a Danish author, life coach, hypnotherapist and former ballroom dancer. Dance career Dallerup was born in Aalborg, where she started dancing at the age of two and a half when her mother took her to ...

, and was voted out in week 6. He also appeared as a fictionalised version of historical figure

Carlo de' Medici Carlo di Cosimo de' Medici (1428 or 1430 – May 29, 1492) was an Italian priest. A member of the powerful Medici family, he became a senior clergyman and collector. Early life Born in Florence, he was the illegitimate son of Cosimo de' Me ...

on the Starz series '' Da Vinci's Demons'', which ran from 2013 to 2015. In 2019, Fearon played the role of Hot Misogynist in season two of the acclaimed BBC Three comedy-drama ''

Fleabag ''Fleabag'' is a British comedy-drama television series created and written by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, based on her one-woman show first performed in 2013 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. It was originally produced by Two Brothers Pictures for d ...

''. In the BBC's 2003 radio adaptation of ''

His Dark Materials ''His Dark Materials'' is a trilogy of fantasy novels by Philip Pullman consisting of '' Northern Lights'' (1995; published as ''The Golden Compass'' in North America), '' The Subtle Knife'' (1997), and '' The Amber Spyglass'' (2000). It follo ...

'', Fearon appeared as the narrator and as the angel Balthamos.Kim Bunce (28 December 2003
"Dark Drama"
The Observer. Retrieved 24 August 2015.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fearon, Ray Living people 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of Rose Bruford College Black British male actors English male film actors English male soap opera actors English male television actors Year of birth missing (living people)