Richard Harrington (born 12 March 1975) is a Welsh stage and TV actor. He has had starring roles in the shows ''
Hinterland
Hinterland is a German word meaning the 'land behind' a city, a port, or similar. Its use in English was first documented by the geographer George Chisholm in his ''Handbook of Commercial Geography'' (1888). Originally the term was associated wi ...
'', ''
Bleak House
''Bleak House'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode Serial (literature), serial between 12 March 1852 and 12 September 1853. The novel has many characters and several subplots, and is told partly by th ...
'', ''
Gunpowder, Treason & Plot
''Gunpowder, Treason & Plot'' is a 2004 BBC miniseries based upon the lives of Mary, Queen of Scots and her son James VI of Scotland. Written by Jimmy McGovern, the series tells the story behind the Gunpowder Plot in two parts, each centred on o ...
BAFTA Cymru
BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.Gurnos, Wales and brought up in Heolgerrig,
Merthyr Tydfil
Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...
. Harrington studied at a Welsh Medium school in Merthyr and as a result, speaks
Welsh
Welsh may refer to:
Related to Wales
* Welsh, of or about Wales
* Welsh language, spoken in Wales
* Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales
Places
* Welsh, Arkansas, U.S.
* Welsh, Louisiana, U.S.
* Welsh, Ohio, U.S.
* Welsh Basin, during t ...
as a second language. He has said that filming ''Y Gwyll'' improved his fluency significantly.
Career
Harrington has had starring roles in the Welsh show ''Hinterland'' (known as ''
Y Gwyll
''Hinterland'' in the original Welsh language version is a Welsh Language noir police procedural series broadcast on S4C in Welsh from 29 October 2013. The main character, DCI Tom Mathias, is played by Richard Harrington. On 27 November 2 ...
'' in Welsh), ''
Bleak House
''Bleak House'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode Serial (literature), serial between 12 March 1852 and 12 September 1853. The novel has many characters and several subplots, and is told partly by th ...
'',
Jimmy McGovern
James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He als ...
's ''
Gunpowder, Treason & Plot
''Gunpowder, Treason & Plot'' is a 2004 BBC miniseries based upon the lives of Mary, Queen of Scots and her son James VI of Scotland. Written by Jimmy McGovern, the series tells the story behind the Gunpowder Plot in two parts, each centred on o ...
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 ...
Casualty
Casualty may refer to:
*Casualty (person), a person who is killed or rendered unfit for service in a war or natural disaster
**Civilian casualty, a non-combatant killed or injured in warfare
* The emergency department of a hospital, also known as ...
'', ''
Holby City
''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a Spin-off (media), spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' ...
Dalziel and Pascoe
Detective Superintendent Andrew "Andy" Dalziel and Detective Sergeant, later Detective Inspector, Peter Pascoe are two fictional Yorkshire detectives featuring in a series of novels by Reginald Hill.
Characterisation and style
Dalziel is d ...
'', ''
Silent Witness
''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC that focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. The series was created by Nigel McCrery, a former murder squa ...
'', ''
Lark Rise to Candleford
''Lark Rise to Candleford'' is a trilogy of autobiographical novel, semi-autobiographical novels by Flora Thompson about the countryside of north-east Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England, at the end of the 19th century. The stories were ...
, and
Poldark
''Poldark'' is a series of historical novels by Winston Graham, initially published from 1945 to 1953 and continuing from 1973 to 2002. The first novel, '' Ross Poldark'', was named for the protagonist of the series. The novel series was ada ...
.'' He won a
BAFTA Cymru
BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.Wales Playhouse'' programme.
On stage, Harrington has toured with Fiction Factory/Y Cwmni's productions of Ed Thomas's plays ''House of America'', ''Gas Station Angel'' and ''Stone City Blue''. He also appeared in the 1997 film version of ''
House of America
''House of America'' is a 1997 Welsh film directed by Marc Evans. The film, set in a depressed Welsh mining town, centres on a dysfunctional family unit of brothers Boyo and Sid, their sister Gwenny and their controlling mother. The film tackles ...
''.
In 2015, Harrington won another BAFTA Cymru Award for his role as DCI Tom Matthias in ''Y Gwyll'' / ''Hinterland''.
In April 2017, Harrington presented the
BBC Two Wales
BBC Two Wales is a Welsh free-to-air television channel owned and operated by BBC Cymru Wales as a variation of the BBC Two network. It is broadcast from BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House, Central Square in Cardiff with live continuity prov ...
programme ''Richard Harrington: My Grandfather's War'', in which he followed the journey his grandfather had made through Spain in 1937 in order to fight against fascism in the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...
.
In 2018 he appeared at the National Theatre in London in ''Home I'm Darling'', a co-production with
Theatr Clwyd
Theatr Clwyd () is a regional arts centre and producing theatre from Mold, Flintshire, in North East Wales. It opened as Theatr Clwyd in 1976, but was known between 1998 and 2015 as Clwyd Theatr Cymru, before reverting to its original name.
His ...
.
In February 2021, speaking of the first year of the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
, Harrington revealed that he had worked as a
Deliveroo
Deliveroo is a British multinational online food delivery company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It operates in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar. It formerly ...
driver to supplement his income during lockdown, due to the lack of work.
Personal life
Harrington has two children with a former girlfriend and two with his partner
Hannah Daniel
Hannah Daniel (born 20 January 1986) is a British actress from Cardiff, Wales, best known for her roles on TV series ''Hinterland'', ''Keeping Faith'' and ''Holby City''.
Early life
Hannah Daniel was born in Cardiff. She attended Ysgol Gyfun Gy ...
, with whom he lives in
Crystal Palace, London
Crystal Palace is an area in South London, named after the Crystal Palace Exhibition building which stood in the area from 1854, until it was destroyed by a fire in 1936. About southeast of Charing Cross, it includes one of the highest poin ...
.
In 2012 and 2013, he took part in the
Snowdonia Marathon
The Snowdonia Marathon, known as Marathon Eryri from 2023, is a marathon in Snowdonia (Eryri), North Wales. It was established in 1982 as an alternative to city and town races. The route makes a circumnavigation of the Snowdon massif, starting a ...
alongside his friend and fellow actor
Mark Lewis Jones
Mark Lewis Jones (born 31 August 1964) is a Welsh actor, whose roles include that of a First Order Captain Moden Canady in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', a police inspector in BBC drama series '' 55 Degrees North'', a whaler in the film '' Mas ...
. They both ran
Marathon des Sables
''Marathon des Sables'', or MdS, (French language, French for Marathon of the Sands)
"Facing Africa NOMA : The Marathon des Sables",
FacingAfrica.org, 2010, webpage:
-->pages/mds/default.asp FA8.
is a seven-day, about ultramarathon, whi ...
in 2014.
Filmography
Film
Television
Theatre
* ''
House of America
''House of America'' is a 1997 Welsh film directed by Marc Evans. The film, set in a depressed Welsh mining town, centres on a dysfunctional family unit of brothers Boyo and Sid, their sister Gwenny and their controlling mother. The film tackles ...
'' – Fiction Factory
* ''Gas Station Angel'' – Royal Court
* ''Stone City Blue'' – Theatre Clwyd
* ''Art and Guff'' – Soho Theatre
* ''Other Hands'' – Soho Theatre
* ''
Look Back in Anger
''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet i ...
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...