Alan Williams (born 1954) is a British actor and playwright, who has performed in film, television and theatre in both the United Kingdom and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

."Success, Failure All Part of the Plan for Playwright". ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Free Press'' (or FP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press''; previously known as the ''Winnipeg Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, natio ...

'', 6 January 2015.

Life and career

Originally from

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and educated at The Manchester Grammar School, he took some classes in theatre school but received the bulk of his training as an apprentice with the Hull Truck Theatre."Tall tales from outsiders; Performer-playwright brings acclaimed trilogy to Ottawa". ''

Ottawa Citizen The ''Ottawa Citizen'' is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. History Established as the Bytown ''Packet'' in 1845 by William Harris (journalist), William Harris, it was renamed the ''Ci ...

'', 4 May 1988. He performed his Cockroach trilogy of one-man plays (''The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati'', ''The Return of the Cockroach'' and ''The Cockroach Has Landed'') at the influential London fringe venue The Bush Theatre and subsequently at the International Theatre Festival in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

in 1981, and then decided to remain in the city, becoming playwright in residence at the

Tarragon Theatre The Tarragon Theatre is a theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and one of the main centers for contemporary playwriting in the country.

."From Cockroach Trilogy to suburbia Williams battles theatre cliches". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', 11 January 1984. He later moved to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, becoming a theatre professor at the

University of Winnipeg The University of Winnipeg (UWinnipeg, UW, or U of W) is a public research university in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It offers undergraduate programs in art, business, economics, education, science and applied health as well as graduate progra ...

. His subsequent plays in Canada included ''The Warlord of Willowdale'', ''The White Dogs of Texas'', ''King of America'', ''Dixieland's Night of Shame'', ''Welcome to the NHL'' and ''The Duke of Nothing''. He also took some acting roles in other playwrights' work, most notably appearing opposite

Linda Griffiths Linda Pauline Griffiths (7 October 1953 – 21 September 2014) was a Canadian actress and playwright best known for writing and starring in the one woman play ''Maggie and Pierre'', in which she portrayed both Pierre Trudeau and his then-estrang ...

in her two-person play '' The Darling Family'' and its 1994 film adaptation by

Alan Zweig Alan Zweig is a Canadians, Canadian documentary filmmaker known for often using film to explore his own life. Early life Alan Zweig was born and raised in Toronto, Toronto, Ontario and has worked in the film industry as a writer, producer, di ...

. In 1996, his Cockroach trilogy was adapted into the film '' The Cockroach that Ate Cincinnati'' by filmmaker Michael McNamara. The film garnered Williams a

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

nomination for Best Actor at the 18th Genie Awards."Sweet Hereafter leads the Genie award pack". ''

The Province ''The Province'' is a daily newspaper published in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format in British Columbia by Pacific Newspaper Group, a division of Postmedia Network, alongside the ''Vancouver Sun'' broadsheet newspaper. Together, they ...

'', 5 November 1997. Soon after completing the film of ''The Cockroach that Ate Cincinnati'', Williams moved back to England,"U.K. artist finds truth stranger than fantasy". ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

'', 10 January 2015. where he has had roles in films such as ''

The Scold's Bridle ''The Scold's Bridle'' is a 1994 crime novel by English writer Minette Walters. The book, Walters' third, won a CWA Gold Dagger. Synopsis Mathilda Gillespie, an eccentric recluse known for her incredible meanness of nature, is found dead ...

'', '' Touching Evil'', '' The Life and Death of Peter Sellers'' and ''

Vera Drake ''Vera Drake'' is a 2004 British period drama film written and directed by Mike Leigh and starring Imelda Staunton, Phil Davis, Daniel Mays and Eddie Marsan. It tells the story of a working-class woman in London in 1950 who performs illegal ...

'', and television series including '' Always and Everyone'', ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

'', '' Wire in the Blood'', '' Life Begins'', '' The Virgin Queen'', ''

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

'', '' Luther'', ''

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective. He is featured in 53 short stories by English author G. K. Chesterton, published between 1910 and 1936. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuition and ...

'', '' Doc Martin'' and '' Starlings''. He returned to Canada in 2015 to tour his new theatre trilogy ''The Girl with Two Voices''.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Alan 20th-century British male actors 20th-century British dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Canadian male actors 20th-century Canadian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century British male actors 21st-century British dramatists and playwrights British male television actors British male film actors British male stage actors British male dramatists and playwrights British emigrants to Canada Canadian male television actors Canadian male film actors Canadian male stage actors Canadian male dramatists and playwrights Canadian expatriates in England Male actors from Manchester Writers from Manchester Academic staff of University of Winnipeg 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian male writers Living people 1954 births People educated at Manchester Grammar School