Thomas John Ellis (born 17 November 1978) is a Welsh actor. He is known for playing Lucifer Morningstar in the Fox urban fantasy series ''

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passa ...

'' and its ''Crisis on Infinite Earths'' crossover appearance in the

Arrowverse The Arrowverse is an American superhero media franchise and a shared universe that is centered on various interconnected television series based on DC Comics superhero characters, primarily airing on The CW as well as web series on CW See ...

franchise, Gary Preston in the

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

sitcom '' Miranda'', Hollywood doctor William P. Rush in the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

series '' Rush'', and Mark Etches in the supernatural drama series '' The Fades''.

Early life

Thomas John Ellis was born in

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

on 17 November 1978, the son of Marilyn Jean (née Hooper) and Christopher John Ellis. He has three sisters, one of whom is his twin. His father, uncle, and one of his sisters are all

Baptist minister Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compe ...

s. After his birth, the family moved to England and he grew up in

Sheffield, South Yorkshire Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, 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 Historic counties o ...

. He attended Sheffield's High Storrs School and played the

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

in the City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra. He later earned a BA in Dramatic Studies at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

Career

Ellis' breakout role was that of Gary Preston on the

sitcom '' Miranda'' (2010–2015); he has also appeared as King Cenred on the BBC fantasy series ''Merlin'' (2008); Justyn in

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

's ''

No Angels No Angels are an all-female pop group from Germany, formed in 2000. Originally a quintet, consisting of band members Nadja Benaissa, Lucy Diakovska, Sandy Mölling, Vanessa Petruo, and Jessica Wahls, they originated on the debut season o ...

''; and Thomas Milligan in the '' Doctor Who'' series three finale " Last of the Time Lords". He has appeared in the long-running BBC One soap opera '' EastEnders''; the BBC sketch comedy show ''

The Catherine Tate Show ''The Catherine Tate Show'' is a British television sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate and Derren Litten. Tate also stars in all but one of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters. ''The Catherine Tate Show'' airs on ...

''; and the BBC medical drama '' Holby City''. In July and August 2009, he starred in the ITV comedy drama '' Monday Monday''. He was cast as Detective Inspector Bland in ''

Agatha Christie's Poirot ''Poirot'' (also known as ''Agatha Christie's Poirot'') is a British mystery drama television programme that aired on ITV from 8 January 1989 to 13 November 2013. David Suchet starred as the eponymous detective, Agatha Christie's fictional Her ...

''. In February 2015, Ellis was cast as Lucifer Morningstar in the Fox series ''

'', based on

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

' publication and character of the same name, which premiered on 25 January 2016. The show later moved to

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

. On 23 June 2020, it was announced that Netflix had renewed the show for a sixth and final season. He reprised the role of Lucifer during

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

's '' The Flash'' episode of the

crossover "

Crisis on Infinite Earths "Crisis on Infinite Earths" is a 1985 American comic book crossover storyline published by DC Comics. The series, written by Marv Wolfman and pencilled by George Pérez, was first serialized as a 12-issue limited series from April 1985 to Mar ...

". In 2021, Ellis won the Tell-Tale TV Award for Favorite Actor in a Cable or Streaming Sci-fi/Fantasy/Horror Series.

Personal life

In 2006, Ellis married actress

Tamzin Outhwaite Tamzin Maria Outhwaite (; born 5 November 1970) is an English actress, presenter and narrator. Since playing the role of Mel Owen in the BBC soap opera ''EastEnders'', she has starred in a number of theatre and television productions, includi ...

, with whom he has two daughters. He has a third daughter from another relationship. They divorced in April 2014. He married American screenwriter

Meaghan Oppenheimer Meaghan Oppenheimer (born 1986)1978 births Living people 20th-century Welsh male actors 21st-century Welsh male actors Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Male actors from Cardiff People educated at High Storrs School Welsh expatriates in Canada Welsh male film actors Welsh male soap opera actors Welsh male television actors