James Morgan (born 8 August 1985) is a Welsh actor.

Career

Stage

Morgan was born in

Maesteg Maesteg (; ) is a town and community in Bridgend County Borough, Wales. Maesteg lies at the northernmost end of the Llynfi Valley, close to the border with Neath Port Talbot. In 2011, Maesteg had a population of 20,612. The English translatio ...

, South Wales on 8 August 1985. He began acting in 1996, at the age of ten, when he was cast in the role of Charlie Bates in the Maesteg Amateur Operatic Society production of ''

Oliver! ''Oliver!'' is a stage musical, with book, music and lyrics by Lionel Bart. The musical is based upon the 1838 novel ''Oliver Twist'' by Charles Dickens. It premiered at the Wimbledon Theatre, southwest London in 1960 before opening in the W ...

''. He built up a reputation through acting in pantomime and musical theatre performances in the local community. He began to accrue significant roles on stage including Chino in ''

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

'' and Cosmo in ''

Singin' in the Rain ''Singin' in the Rain'' is a 1952 American musical romantic comedy film directed and choreographed by Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, starring Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds, and featuring Jean Hagen, Millard Mitchell, Rita Moreno a ...

'' for Bridgend County Youth Theatre. This led to the role of Mark Anthony in ''

A Chorus Line ''A Chorus Line'' is a 1975 musical conceived by Michael Bennett with music by Marvin Hamlisch, lyrics by Edward Kleban, and a book by James Kirkwood Jr. and Nicholas Dante. Set on the bare stage of a Broadway theater, the musical is cent ...

'' at the

Sherman Theatre The Sherman Theatre () is a venue in the Cathays district of Cardiff. It was built as a twin-auditorium venue in 1973 with financial support from University College Cardiff (now Cardiff University). Sherman Cymru was the name of the Sherman Thea ...

in Cardiff as part of the International Festival of Musical Theatre in 2005. In 2008 Morgan joined the Swansea Little Theatre - the company that once counted

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer, whose works include the poems " Do not go gentle into that good night" and " And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Un ...

as a member - playing George Milton in

John Steinbeck John Ernst Steinbeck ( ; February 27, 1902 – December 20, 1968) was an American writer. He won the 1962 Nobel Prize in Literature "for his realistic and imaginative writings, combining as they do sympathetic humor and keen social percep ...

's ''

Of Mice and Men ''Of Mice and Men'' is a 1937 novella written by American author John Steinbeck. It describes the experiences of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant worker, migrant ranch workers, as they move from place to place in California ...

'' at the Dylan Thomas Theatre. The production received favourable reviews, earning him a Best Actor nomination at the Glammie Awards in South Wales. In 2010 he returned to Swansea, playing the role of Ethan in the musical adaptation of ''

The Full Monty ''The Full Monty'' is a 1997 comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. The film is set ...

''. With positive reviews after a full house run at the Dylan Thomas Theatre the show was transferred to the Grand Theatre, Swansea for a one-off final performance. 2019 saw Morgan back at the Dylan Thomas Theatre, this time playing

in the play ''3 Knights and 2 Welshmen'', about the friendship between the Welsh poet and actor

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

. Inspired by actual events, the play was set in an Austrian hotel during the production of eight-hour epic ''Wagner'' (which also featured Sir John Gielgud, Sir Ralph Richardson, and Sir Laurence Olivier, who all appear as characters in the play). He followed this up with a turn as John Proctor in Arthur Miller's ''

The Crucible ''The Crucible'' is a 1953 play by the American playwright Arthur Miller. It is a dramatized and partially fictionalized story of the Salem witch trials that took place in the Province of Massachusetts Bay from 1692 to 1693. Miller wrote ...

'' at the Grand Theatre, Swansea, a performance which was described as "faultless" by the UK's National Operatic and Dramatic Association, and earned him a NODA Wales & Ireland award for Best Individual Performance in a Drama. 2020 saw Morgan make his London West End debut in ''The Man Whose Hair Grew Black'' playing the role of Brian Thomas for Gurnwah Productions at the Leicester Square Theatre in February.

Screen

Away from the stage, Morgan has taken a series of roles in television, with parts in the ITV Wales shorts ''What Goes on Tour'' and ''Covered'' - the latter winning him the Best Actor prize at the It's My Shout Awards in South Wales in 2004. In 2010 Morgan appeared on BBC1 in ''The Indian Doctor'', a period comedy-drama set in the 1960s, with a cast that included

Sanjeev Bhaskar Sanjeev Bhaskar (born 31 October 1963) is a British actor, comedian and television presenter. He is best known for his work in the BBC Radio 4 and BBC Two sketch comedy series ''Goodness Gracious Me (TV series), Goodness Gracious Me'' and as t ...

, Ayesha Dharker, Mark Williams and

Beth Robert Beth Robert is a Welsh television actress from Pont-rhyd-y-groes, Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the En ...

. 2012 saw his return to show playing the role of minor Harri. In 2011 he appeared in the lead role of Jason Rees in the Seraphim Pictures short film ''The Final Punchline''. In 2014 he made a return to television in 24: Live Another Day as a DSS Agent for 1 episode, and followed this up in 2016 playing Morgan in "The Corpse Series" which was released through Crypt TV in the US in 2017. In 2018 he was cast in ''Human Resources'', the first episode of the Watchers Productions series ''Strange Tales'', playing the role of Noah.WatchersProductions.com "Casting Announcement"
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Morgan, James 1985 births Living people Welsh male stage actors Welsh male television actors