Stuart Conan Wilson (born 25 December 1946) is an English

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

of film, television, and stage who is best known for his villainous and supporting roles in popular films like '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, Lethal Weapon 3, The Age of Innocence, No Escape, Death and the Maiden, The Mask of Zorro, The Rock, Enemy of the State, Vertical Limit'', and ''

Hot Fuzz ''Hot Fuzz'' is a 2007 buddy cop action comedy film directed by Edgar Wright, who co-wrote the film with Simon Pegg. Pegg stars as Nicholas Angel, an elite London police officer, whose proficiency makes the rest of his team look bad, causing hi ...

''.

Early life

Wilson was born in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, to an RAF family, and consequently had a varied educational history, spending much of his early childhood in

Rhodesia Rhodesia ( , ; ), officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state, unrecognised state in Southern Africa that existed from 1965 to 1979. Rhodesia served as the ''de facto'' Succession of states, successor state to the ...

where his father worked as a mining engineer. Having moved to London, he trained at the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

. After leaving RADA he played in theatres during the 1960s and 1970s. He has played major roles with the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and opens around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, Stratf ...

, the Royal Court Theatre, London's West End, regional, touring and many Fringe productions, most particularly at London's Bush Theatre.

Career

Wilson's first break was when he was chosen for the leading role of

Johann Strauss II Johann Baptist Strauss II (; ; 25 October 1825 – 3 June 1899), also known as Johann Strauss Jr., the Younger or the Son (), was an List of Austrian composers, Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas as well ...

in the 1972 ITV costume drama '' The Strauss Family''. He subsequently made many appearances on British television, his credits including '' Space: 1999'', '' I, Claudius'', '' Special Branch'', '' The Sweeney'', '' Return of the Saint'', '' The Pallisers'', '' Anna Karenina'', '' The Professionals'', '' Tales of the Unexpected'', '' The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes'', '' The Old Men at the Zoo'', '' The Jewel in the Crown'' and '' Prime Suspect''.

Film credits

As a more mature actor, Wilson made the transition to Hollywood, often playing villains. His film credits include '' Dulcima'', '' Wetherby'', '' Lethal Weapon 3'', '' No Escape'', '' Enemy of the State'', '' The Rock'' (uncredited), '' The Age of Innocence'', '' Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III'', '' Death and the Maiden'', '' The Prisoner of Zenda'', '' Slow Burn'', '' The Mask of Zorro'' and ''

''. He also appeared in

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...

s, such as '' Secret Weapon'', ''

Coins in the Fountain ''Coins in the Fountain'' is a 1990 American made-for-television romantic comedy film based on the 1952 novel '' Coins in the Fountain'' by John H. Secondari, which was previously filmed in 1954 as '' Three Coins in the Fountain''. It was direc ...

'', '' Her Wicked Ways'' and '' Princess of Thieves''.

Later television work

Wilson made fewer television appearances after his transition to film, but has continued to appear in series such as '' Midsomer Murders'' (2008), '' Spooks'' (2008), and '' Crossbones''."NBC's 'Crossbones' Casts 'Enemy of the State' Alum", ''Hollywood Reporter'', 14 November 2013
Accessed 19 May 2014

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Stuart 1946 births 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors Royal Shakespeare Company members Living people Male actors from Guildford Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art