Paul Hilton (born 1970) is an English actor on stage, radio, and TV. He is an alumnus of the Welsh College of Music & Drama.

Early life

Hilton was born in

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

in 1970. He trained at the Welsh College of Music & Drama.

Career

Hilton's work ranges from radio drama, television series and features, as well as film and theatre. Hilton starred as William Palmer in the ''

Pilgrim The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

'' radio dramas on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's '' Afternoon Play'' series and appeared in TV programmes including '' Garrow's Law'' (as freethinker Joseph Hamer), ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'', '' Silent Witness'', '' Wire in the Blood'', ''

Midsomer Murders ''Midsomer Murders'' is a British Mystery fiction, mystery television series, adapted by Anthony Horowitz and Douglas Watkinson from the novels in the ''Chief Inspector Barnaby'' book series created by Caroline Graham (writer), Caroline Graham. ...

'' (in the episode "The Oblong Murders"), ''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary noble outlaw, heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature, theatre, and cinema. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions o ...

'', and has had regular character roles in '' True Dare Kiss'' (as Dennis Tyler) and '' Casualty 1909'' (as Henry Percy Dean). Hilton also appeared in the film '' Klimt'' and as Mr. Earnshaw Snr. in Andrea Arnold's 2011 adaptation of ''

Wuthering Heights ''Wuthering Heights'' is the only novel by the English author Emily Brontë, initially published in 1847 under her pen name "Ellis Bell". It concerns two families of the landed gentry living on the West Yorkshire moors, the Earnshaws and the ...

''. In 2010, he appeared as Sandy in

Mark Haddon Mark Haddon (born 26 September 1962) is an English novelist, best known for ''The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time'' (2003). He won the Whitbread Award, the Dolly Gray Children's Literature Award, the Guardian Prize, and a Commonweal ...

's play ''

Polar Bears The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a large bear native to the Arctic and nearby areas. It is closely related to the brown bear, and the two species can interbreed. The polar bear is the largest extant species of bear and land carnivo ...

'' at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...

, and in 2011 played the title role in Marlowe's '' Doctor Faustus'' at Shakespeare's Globe. In July 2015, he was part of the premiere cast of

Damon Albarn Damon Albarn (, ; born 23 March 1968) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the frontman, main vocalist, and lyricist of the rock band Blur (band), Blur and the co-creator and primary musical con ...

's new musical '' Wonder.land'' at the

Manchester International Festival The Manchester International Festival is a biennial international arts festival, with a specific focus on original new work, held in the English city of Manchester and run by Factory International. The festival is a biennial event, first takin ...

. For director Rufus Norris he was The Boson in Lucy Kirkwood's ''Mosquitoes'' (2017) at London's National Theatre. He played the character of The Fool in the ''Deep Time Walk Mobile Guide'', produced in 2016/7 by Jeremy Mortimer. He appeared as Alexander, the husband of the protagonist Katherine (played by Florence Pugh) in the 2016 film '' Lady Macbeth'', which transposed the action of the

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

Nikolai Leskov Nikolai Semyonovich Leskov (; – ) was a Russian novelist, short-story writer, playwright, and journalist, who also wrote under the pseudonym M. Stebnitsky. Praised for his unique writing style and innovative experiments in form, and held ...

to the Northeast of England. In 2017, he starred in the title role in a National Theatre Live production of ''Peter Pan''. He played the part of David Holmes in the television drama series '' A Very English Scandal'', based upon John Preston's non-fiction book about the Thorpe affair. In 2018, Hilton played E.M. Forster in the world premiere of Matthew Lopez's play '' The Inheritance'' at London's Young Vic, reprising his role in the West End and Broadway transfers. In 2020, he received a

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...

nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play, a Drama League Award nomination for Distinguished Performance, and won the

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Awards are among the most esteemed honors in New York theater, recognizing outstanding achievements across Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Off-Off-Broadway productions within the same categories. The awards are considered a signific ...

for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for his performance. In 2023 and 2024, he played Father Manders in

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

's play ''

Ghosts In folklore, a ghost is the soul or Spirit (supernatural entity), spirit of a dead Human, person or non-human animal that is believed by some people to be able to appear to the living. In ghostlore, descriptions of ghosts vary widely, from a ...

'' in the

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is an indoor theatre forming part of the Shakespeare's Globe complex, along with the recreated Globe Theatre on Bankside in Southwark, London. Built by making use of 17th-century plans for an indoor English theatre, ...

. From September until November 2024, he starred as 'Joxer' Daly in '' Juno and the Paycock'' at the

Gielgud Theatre The Gielgud Theatre is a West End theatre, located on Shaftesbury Avenue, at the corner of Rupert Street, in the City of Westminster, London. The house currently has 994 seats on three levels. The theatre was designed by W. G. R. Sprague and ...

Personal life

Hilton is married to English actress and ceramicist Anastasia Hille from

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, which today also gives its name to the (much larger) London Borough of Lambeth. Lambeth itself was an ancient parish in the county of Surrey. It is situated 1 mile (1.6 km) south of Charin ...

, London. They have one child and live in

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hilton, Paul 1970 births Living people Male actors from Oldham English male stage actors English male television actors English male radio actors Alumni of the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors