Jeremy Philip Northam (born 1 December 1961) is an English actor. His film credits include Emma (1996), An Ideal Husband (1999), Gosford Park, The Winslow Boy (1999) and Enigma (2001). In television, he also played Thomas More in the Showtime series The Tudors (2007–2008) and appeared as Anthony Eden in the Netflix series The Crown (2016–2017).

Early life and education

Northam was born on 1 December 1961, in Cambridge, Cambridgeshire. His father was John Northam, a professor of literature and theatre. Northam studied English at Bedford College, London (B.A. English, 1984) and acting at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. and is an alumnus of the Royal Holloway, University of London.

Career

Screen and stage

Northam made his screen debut on television in the series American Playhouse, as Mr. Benson in the episode "Suspicion". He followed with appearances in ITV's Wish Me Luck (1987) and Piece of Cake (1988). Northam performed at the Royal National Theatre – he replaced both Ian Charleson and Daniel Day-Lewis in the role of Hamlet (1989), when they had to withdraw, and won the 1990 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Play for his performance in The Voysey Inheritance. He has appeared frequently in British films such as Carrington (1995), Emma (1996), The Winslow Boy (1999), An Ideal Husband (1999), Enigma (2001), and as Welsh actor and singer Ivor Novello in Gosford Park (2001). He made his American film debut in The Net (1995). In 2002, he starred in the film Cypher. That same year, he portrayed singer Dean Martin in the CBS film Martin and Lewis and golfer Walter Hagen in Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius in 2004. In 2007 and 2008, he portrayed Thomas More on the Showtime series, The Tudors. He played John Brodie Innes in the 2009 film Creation, based on the life of Charles Darwin. In the 2015 film The Man Who Knew Infinity, he portrayed the philosopher Bertrand Russell. He played British Prime Minister Anthony Eden in the 2016 Netflix drama series The Crown.

Other work

His audiobook work includes The Silver Chair (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 6) by C. S. Lewis, The Real Thing and Other Short Stories and The Aspern Papers, both written by Henry James. In 2007 he recorded "The Great Poets" by Gerard Manley Hopkins, In 2009, he recorded Our Man in Havana by Graham Greene, in 2010, Dark Matter, a ghost story by Michelle Paver, In 2010, Down and Out in Paris and London and in 2012, The Road to Wigan Pier, both by George Orwell. In the Gosford Park soundtrack, Northam sings the Ivor Novello songs "And Her Mother Came Too", "What a Duke Should Be", "Why Isn't It You", "I Can Give You the Starlight", and "The Land of Might Have Been", accompanied by his brother Christopher on piano.

Personal life

Northam married Canadian film/television make-up artist Liz Moro in April 2005; they later divorced.

Filmography

Theatre

Awards and nominations