Jonathan Stephen Firth (born 6 April 1967) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in such noted British television productions as ''

Middlemarch ''Middlemarch, A Study of Provincial Life'' is a novel by the English author Mary Anne Evans, who wrote as George Eliot. It first appeared in eight installments (volumes) in 1871 and 1872. Set in Middlemarch, a fictional English Midland town, i ...

'', ''

Far from the Madding Crowd ''Far from the Madding Crowd'' (1874) is Thomas Hardy's fourth novel and his first major literary success. It originally appeared anonymously as a monthly serial in ''Cornhill Magazine'', where it gained a wide readership. The novel is set in ...

'', and '' Victoria & Albert''. He lives 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 ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nor ...

Early life

Jonathan Firth was born in Brentwood, Essex, England, to David Norman Lewis and Shirley Jean (née Rolles) Firth. His parents were both children of Methodist missionaries in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

, who worked as teachers in

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

after their marriage. He is the younger brother of actor

Colin Firth Colin Andrew Firth (born 10 September 1960) is an English actor and producer. He was identified in the mid-1980s with the " Brit Pack" of rising young British actors, undertaking a challenging series of roles, including leading roles in '' A M ...

and voice coach Kate Firth. The family moved many times, from Billericay to Brentwood, Essex, and then to

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, whic ...

(USA) for a year when Jonathan was five. Upon returning to England the family settled in Winchester, Hampshire, where his father became a history lecturer at King Alfred's College and his mother was a comparative religion lecturer at King Alfred's College, Winchester (now the

University of Winchester , mottoeng = Wisdom and Knowledge , established = 1840 - Winchester Diocesan Training School1847 - Winchester Training College1928 - King Alfred's College2005 - University of Winchester , type = Public research university ...

). Firth studied at

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

and

Peter Symonds College Peter Symonds College is a sixth form college in Winchester, Hampshire, in the south of England. Founded as a boys' grammar school, it is one of the few specialist sixth form colleges which is also a boarding school. It serves Falkland Island ...

in Winchester. His flatmate at one time was actor

Rufus Sewell Rufus Frederik Sewell (; born 29 October 1967) is a British film and stage actor. In film, he has appeared in ''Carrington'' (1995), '' ''Hamlet' (1996), '' Dangerous Beauty'' (1998), '' Dark City'' (1998), ''A Knight's Tale ''(2001), '' The ...

. After graduation, he toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he made his debut at the age of twenty-seven as Henry VI (1994).

Acting career

In addition to his roles in the theatre, Firth has acted in cinematic films and radio dramas, narrated audiobooks, and has also made notable television appearances, such as Linton Heathcliff in '' Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights'' (1992); Fred Vincy in ''

'' (1994); Lord Byron in '' Highlander: The Series'' (1997)'';'' Sergeant Troy in ''

'', for which he received a nomination for best actor; Lord Arthur Goring in ''

An Ideal Husband ''An Ideal Husband'' is a four-act play by Oscar Wilde that revolves around blackmail and political corruption, and touches on the themes of public and private honour. It was first produced at the Haymarket Theatre, London in 1895 and ran for ...

'' (2000); and Prince Albert in '' Victoria & Albert'' (2001). He portrayed Joshua in the 2000 biblical film, ''In the Beginning''. In 2003, he acted in the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

's dramatised documentary '' Pompeii: The Last Day''. That same year, Firth appeared in the film '' Luther'', portraying Cardinal Aleander, the papal adviser who sought Luther's excommunication. For his performance, he received the CFT Excellence Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture. He has also guest-starred in ''

Van der Valk ''Van der Valk'' is a British television crime drama series produced for the ITV network. The first series ran from 1972 to 1992; followed by a remake in 2020. Created by Nicolas Freeling and based on his novels about a detective in Amsterda ...

'' (1991), ''

Inspector Morse Detective Chief Inspector Endeavour Morse, GM, is the eponymous fictional character in the series of detective novels by British author Colin Dexter. On television, he appears in the 33-episode drama series '' Inspector Morse'' (1987–2000), ...

'' (1992); '' Covington Cross'' (1992); '' Cadfael'' (1994); ''

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 H ...

: Hickory Dickory Dock'' (1995); '' Tales from the Crypt'' (1996); ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British crime drama television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the '' Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series (created by Caroline Graham), and broadcast on two channels of ...

'' The Killings at Badger's Drift (1997); '' Kangaroo Palace'' (1998), an Australian drama set in the 1960s; ''The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns'' (1999); ''

The Inspector Lynley Mysteries ''The Inspector Lynley Mysteries'' is a British crime drama television series that aired on BBC One from 12 March 2001 to 1 June 2008, consisting of six series and 24 episodes. The protagonist, Detective Inspector Thomas "Tommy" Lynley, 8th Earl o ...

'' (2002); ''

Sparkling Cyanide ''Sparkling Cyanide'' is a work of detective fiction by British writer Agatha Christie, first published in the US by Dodd, Mead and Company in February 1945 under the title of ''Remembered Death'' and in UK by the Collins Crime Club in the Dece ...

'' (2003); and '' Jericho'' (2005). He appeared in '' The Prince and Me 2: The Royal Wedding'' (2006), '' The Prince and Me 3: A Royal Honeymoon'' (2008) and '' The Prince and Me 4: The Elephant Adventure'' (2010). In 2008, Firth starred as the chef in a short film, ''The Chef's Letter'', played Evan in the radio production of Dame

Daphne du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Georg ...

's ''September Tide'', and was also featured in an episode of the American television series ''

Ghost Whisperer ''Ghost Whisperer'' is an American supernatural television series, which ran on CBS from September 23, 2005, to May 21, 2010. The series follows the life of Melinda Gordon (Jennifer Love Hewitt), who has the ability to see and communicate wit ...

''. In 2009, he portrayed Dr. David Fuller in the German film '. In 2016, he appeared as Rex Bishop in the BBC series ''

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

'' episode 4.1 "The Mask of the Demon".

Theatre

''Eden End'' (Farrant), Royal Theatre, June 2011
* ''Henry VI, Part III'' (Henry), Royal Shakespeare Company * ''The Lulu Plays'' (Schwartz), Almeida Theatre, London * Bad Company (Ian), National Theatre Studio

Audio books

* ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (russian: Война и мир, translit=Voyna i mir; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy that mixes fictional narrative with chapters on history and philosophy. It was first published ...

'' by

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

. Narrator, BBC Audiobooks, 1997 * ''Julius Caesa''r by William Shakespeare. Narrator, BBC Radio Collection, 1999 * ''Shadows of Glory'' by William Woodruff. Narrator, 2003 * ''

Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins V ...

'' by

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

. Narrator, BBC Audiobooks, 2005 *'' The Two Noble Kinsmen: Arkangel Complete Shakespeare''. Narrator, BBC Audiobooks, 2003 *'' Measure for Measure'' by William Shakespeare. Narrator, 2006 *'' Nobody True'' by

James Herbert James John Herbert, OBE (8 April 1943 – 20 March 2013) was an English horror writer. A full-time writer, he also designed his own book covers and publicity. His books have sold 54 million copies worldwide, and have been translated into 34 lan ...

. Narrator, 2007 * ''Sepulchre'' by James Herbert. Narrator, 2008 * ''I'll Never Be Young Again'' by

Daphne Du Maurier Dame Daphne du Maurier, Lady Browning, (; 13 May 1907 – 19 April 1989) was an English novelist, biographer and playwright. Her parents were actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and his wife, actress Muriel Beaumont. Her grandfather was Georg ...

. Narrator * ''In Search for Lost Time'' by

Marcel Proust Valentin Louis Georges Eugène Marcel Proust (; ; 10 July 1871 – 18 November 1922) was a French novelist, critic, and essayist who wrote the monumental novel '' In Search of Lost Time'' (''À la recherche du temps perdu''; with the previous En ...

. Narrator, BBC Audiobooks, 2009 * ''Short Stories: The Thinking Man's Collection.'' Narrator, 2010 * ''Heathrow Nights'' by Jan Mark. Narrator, 2011

References

External links

*
YouTube clip of Kangaroo Palace Downloaded 7/29/11
{{DEFAULTSORT:Firth, Jonathan 1967 births 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama English male film actors English male television actors People from Brentwood, Essex Living people British expatriates in Nigeria British expatriates in the United States