Ian Christopher Hallard (born 9 November 1974) is an English actor and writer. His work includes acting roles in the West End, including the lead role of Michael in a revival of

Mart Crowley Edward Martino Crowley (August 21, 1935 – March 7, 2020) was an American playwright best known for his 1968 play '' The Boys in the Band''. Biography Crowley was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi. After graduating from The Catholic University of ...

's '' The Boys in the Band''; at the National Theatre and on television. He has also written and script edited for both television and stage.

Early and personal life

Hallard was born in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...

, West Midlands on 9 November 1974. Following his education at

Solihull School Solihull School is a coeducational independent day school in Solihull, West Midlands, England. Founded in 1560, it is the oldest school in the town and is a member of the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference. History In 1560 the reve ...

and an undergraduate degree at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth C ...

, he trained at the

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 ...

on the Post Graduate Acting course, won a singing scholarship, and graduated in 1998. He lives with his husband, the actor and screenwriter

Mark Gatiss Mark Gatiss (; born 17 October 1966) is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter, director, producer and novelist. His work includes writing for and acting in the television series '' Doctor Who'', '' Sherlock'', and '' Dracula''. Together with ...

. The couple live in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ...

in London.

Career

Theatre

Hallard has been acting professionally since 1999, when he appeared in a production of '' Seven Brides for Seven Brothers'' at the

Battersea Arts Centre The Battersea Arts Centre ("BAC") is a performance space specialising in theatre productions. Located near Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, it was formerly Battersea Town Hall. It is a Grade I ...

. Since then his roles have included Sordo in '' Scenes from an Execution'' at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

Lysander Lysander (; grc-gre, Λύσανδρος ; died 395 BC) was a Spartan military and political leader. He destroyed the Athenian Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital city, capital a ...

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 ...

'', Bill Taylor in the

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce '' Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy''. His novels, such as ''Towards the End of the Mo ...

farce '' Donkeys' Years'', Jack Worthing in ''

The Importance of Being Earnest ''The Importance of Being Earnest, A Trivial Comedy for Serious People'' is a play by Oscar Wilde. First performed on 14 February 1895 at the St James's Theatre in London, it is a farcical comedy in which the protagonists maintain fictitious ...

'' and Judah in ''

Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' (often colloquially known as ''Joseph'') is a sung-through musical with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, based on the character of Joseph from the Bible's Book of Genesis. Th ...

''. His recent work includes the National Theatre production ''

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

'' by

Richard Bean Richard Anthony Bean (born 11 June 1956) is an English playwright. Early years Born in East Kingston upon Hull, Hull, Bean was educated at Hull Grammar School, and then studied social psychology at Loughborough University, graduating with a 2: ...

in the ensemble multi-character role of Jimmy the Bins/ St. John/Felix. In 2015 he played the leading role of

Alan Turing Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical c ...

in the UK premiere of the

Snoo Wilson Andrew James Wilson (2 August 1948 – 3 July 2013), better known as Snoo Wilson, was an English playwright, screenwriter and director. His early plays such as ''Blow-Job'' (1971) were overtly political, often combining harsh social comment wit ...

play ''Lovesong of the Electric Bear'' at the

Arts Theatre The Arts Theatre is a theatre in Great Newport Street, in Westminster, Central London. History It opened on 20 April 1927 as a members-only club for the performance of unlicensed plays, thus avoiding theatre censorship by the Lord Chamber ...

. He played the lead role of Michael in a revival of

's '' The Boys in the Band'' at the Park Theatre (London) and on a short UK tour in autumn 2016. He then reprised the role when the show transferred to the

Vaudeville Theatre The Vaudeville Theatre is a West End theatre on the Strand in the City of Westminster. As the name suggests, the theatre held mostly vaudeville shows and musical revues in its early days. It opened in 1870 and was rebuilt twice, although each ...

in February 2017. His performance led to him being nominated as Best Actor in the

Whatsonstage.com WhatsOnStage.com is a London-based website that provides information about, and offers tickets for, theatrical performances in the United Kingdom. It also organises the annual WhatsOnStage Awards. Founded in 1996, it has been owned by the Americ ...

theatre awards, alongside

Ian McKellen Sir Ian Murray McKellen (born 25 May 1939) is an English actor. His career spans seven decades, having performed in genres ranging from Shakespearean and modern theatre to popular fantasy and science fiction. Regarded as a British cultural ...

Jamie Parker Jamie Parker (born 14 August 1979) is an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as Harry Potter in the original cast for the West End play ''Harry Potter and the Cursed Child'', for which he received a Laurence Olivier Award f ...

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 t ...

, and

Ralph Fiennes Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes ( ; born 22 December 1962) is an English actor, film producer, and director. A Shakespeare interpreter, he excelled onstage at the Royal National Theatre before having further success at the Royal S ...

. In 2019, he starred in the revival of '' Closer to Heaven'', the musical written by Jonathan Harvey and

Pet Shop Boys The Pet Shop Boys are an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1981. Consisting of primary vocalist Neil Tennant and keyboardist Chris Lowe, they have sold more than 50 million records worldwide, and were listed as the most successful duo ...

at Above the Stag Theatre. In March 2021, he played the role of Richard in the first play he wrote, ''Adventurous'', produced by

Jermyn Street Theatre Jermyn Street Theatre is a performance venue situated on Jermyn Street, in London's West End. It is an off-west end studio theatre. History Jermyn Street Theatre opened in August 1994. It was formerly the changing rooms for staff at a Spaghetti ...

. For the 2021/22 panto season, he was the

panto dame A pantomime dame is a traditional role in British pantomime. It is part of the theatrical tradition of ''travesti'' portrayal of female characters by male actors in drag. Dame characters are often played either in an extremely camp style, or else ...

in Beauty and the Beast at the Towngate Theatre, also starring

Simon Fielding Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genu ...

, Sophie Ladds and Madeleine Leslay. For the 2022/23 panto season, he will appear as Mrs

Smee Mr. Smee is a fictional character who serves as Captain Hook's boatswain in J. M. Barrie's 1904 play ''Peter Pan, or the Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up'' and 1911 novel ''Peter and Wendy''. History Mr. Smee seems an oddly genial man for a pirate; Ba ...

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythi ...

at the Towngate again alongside Sophie Ladds.

Television

Hallard has appeared in cult

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

shows such as '' Doctor Who'' as Alan-a-Dale in the 2014 episode " Robot of Sherwood"; in '' Sherlock'' as Mr Crayhill in the 2011 episode "

The Reichenbach Fall "The Reichenbach Fall" is the third and final episode of the second series of the BBC television series '' Sherlock''. It was written by Stephen Thompson and stars Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes, Martin Freeman as Dr John Watson, and ...

", and on the long-running BBC Daytime TV series '' Doctors''. He played one of the original directors of '' Doctor Who'', Richard Martin, in the BBC docu-drama '' An Adventure in Space and Time''. He appears in the sixth episode of the second season (“Vergangenheit”) of Netflix's series ''The Crown,'' as an employee of the minister of foreign affairs.

Writing

Hallard co-wrote '' The Big Four'' (2013) with

for the ITV series '' Agatha Christie: Poirot'', starring

David Suchet Sir David Courtney Suchet''England & Wales, Civil Registration Birth Index, 1916–2007'' ( ; born 2 May 1946) is an English actor known for his work on British stage and television. He portrayed Edward Teller in the television serial ''Oppenh ...

. He was the Script Associate on the Poirot episodes '' Cat Among the Pigeons'' (2008) and '' Hallowe'en Party'' (2010).Q&A With Ian Hallard. Investigating Poirot. http://www.agathachristie.com/news/feature/adapting-poirot His debut play ''Adventurous'' was produced by

, and streamed online from 16–28 March 2021. Other writing for theatre includes ''Horse-Play'' at

Riverside Studios Riverside Studios is an arts centre on the banks of the River Thames in Hammersmith, London, England. The venue plays host to contemporary performance, film, visual art exhibitions and television production. Having closed for redevelopment in ...

, a comedy starring David Ames, Jake Maskall and Matt Lapinskas; and ''The Way Old Friends Do'', which has been announced as premiering at

Birmingham Repertory Theatre Birmingham Repertory Theatre, commonly called Birmingham Rep or just The Rep, is a producing theatre based on Centenary Square in Birmingham, England. Founded by Barry Jackson, it is the longest-established of Britain's building-based theatre ...

in February 2023.

Selected filmography

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hallard, Ian 1974 births Living people 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors English gay actors English male television actors People from Birmingham, West Midlands