Alan Williams (born 1954[1]) is a British actor and playwright, who has performed in film, television and theatre in both the United Kingdom and Canada.[2]
Alan Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1954 (age 70–71) Manchester, England |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1986–present |
Life and career
editOriginally from Manchester[2] and educated at The Manchester Grammar School, he took some classes in theatre school but received the bulk of his training as an apprentice with the Hull Truck Theatre.[3] He performed his Cockroach trilogy of one-man plays (The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati, The Return of the Cockroach and The Cockroach Has Landed) at the influential London fringe venue The Bush Theatre and subsequently at the International Theatre Festival in Toronto, Ontario in 1981,[4] and then decided to remain in the city, becoming playwright in residence at the Tarragon Theatre.[5]
He later moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, becoming a theatre professor at the University of Winnipeg.[2] His subsequent plays in Canada included The Warlord of Willowdale,[5] The White Dogs of Texas,[6] King of America,[7] Dixieland's Night of Shame,[8] Welcome to the NHL[3] and The Duke of Nothing.[9] He also took some acting roles in other playwrights' work, most notably appearing opposite Linda Griffiths in her two-person play The Darling Family[10] and its 1994 film adaptation by Alan Zweig.[11]
In 1996, his Cockroach trilogy was adapted into the film The Cockroach that Ate Cincinnati by filmmaker Michael McNamara.[12] The film garnered Williams a Genie Award nomination for Best Actor at the 18th Genie Awards.[13] Soon after completing the film of The Cockroach that Ate Cincinnati, Williams moved back to England,[14] where he has had roles in films such as The Scold's Bridle, Touching Evil, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers and Vera Drake, and television series including Always and Everyone, Coronation Street, Wire in the Blood, Life Begins, The Virgin Queen, Rome, Luther, Father Brown, Doc Martin and Starlings. He returned to Canada in 2015 to tour his new theatre trilogy The Girl with Two Voices.[2][14]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Mistress Madeleine | Kirk | |
| 1994 | The Darling Family | He | |
| 1996 | The Cockroach that Ate Cincinnati | Captain | |
| 1998 | Among Giants | Frank | |
| 1999 | Elephant Juice | Geezer-Man on Tube | |
| 2002 | All or Nothing | Drunk | |
| Heartlands | Deno | ||
| 2003 | Bright Young Things | Bookie | |
| 2004 | The Life and Death of Peter Sellers | Casino Royale director | |
| Vera Drake | Sick Husband | ||
| 2007 | Grow Your Own | Kenny | |
| 2010 | London Boulevard | Joe | |
| 2012 | Run for Your Wife | ||
| 2017 | Trespass Against Us | Noah | |
| 2018 | Peterloo | Magistrate Marriott | |
| Sometimes Always Never | Desk Officer | ||
| 2019 | I Was at Home, But | Herr Meisner | |
| 2024 | Till the Stars Come Down | Tony |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Wycliffe | Mr. Rand | Episode: "Strangers Homes" |
| 1997, 1999, 2002, 2004 |
The Bill | Various characters | 4 episodes |
| 1998 | Getting Hurt | Paranoid | Television film |
| The Scold's Bridle | Bob Spede | Miniseries; 2 episodes | |
| Touching Evil | Raymond Mackie | 2 episodes | |
| 1999 | Badger | Dominic McGuire | Episode: "Low Fidelity" |
| 1999–2000 | Always and Everyone | Martin | 7 episodes |
| 1999, 2001 | Coronation Street | Caretaker / Brian Haverstock | 3 episodes |
| 2000 | North Square | Davey Burns | Episode #1.1 |
| 2001 | Love in a Cold Climate | Religious Speaker | Episode #1.2 |
| 2002 | Peak Practice | Kevin Coles | Episode: "Betrayal" |
| Paradise Heights | Norman Lear | Episode #1.4 | |
| Wire in the Blood | Graham Dowling | 2 episodes | |
| Sirens | DCI Struther | Television film | |
| 2003 | Serious & Organised | Ritchie Mullan | Episode: "Nice Little Earner" |
| The Mayor of Casterbridge | Stubberd | Television film | |
| Charles II: The Power and the Passion | Preacher | Miniseries; 1 episode | |
| 2004–2005 | Life Begins | George | 7 episodes |
| 2005 | The Virgin Queen | Doctor John Dee | Episode #1.1 |
| Derailed | Ken Hodson | Television film | |
| A Waste of Shame | George Wilkins | Television film | |
| 2006 | Heartbeat | Ed Sawyer | Episode: "Kith and Kin" |
| The Innocence Project | Morris Toal | Episode #1.2 | |
| 2007 | Rome | Acerbo | 4 episodes |
| New Tricks | Johnny Jones | Episode: "Father's Pride" | |
| 2007, 2010 | Holby City | Robert Mallory / Ralph Lawrence | 2 episodes |
| 2008 | Mutual Friends | Tractor Driver | Episode #1.6 |
| Silent Witness | Eddie Stokes | 2 episodes | |
| Spooks | Charles Grady | Episode: "Darkest Hour" | |
| EastEnders | Scally | 1 episode | |
| 2009 | Personal Affairs | David Johnston | Episode: "A Decent Proposal" |
| 2010 | Pulse | Charlie Maddox | Television film |
| 2011 | Shameless | Lulu | Episode: "Sickness and Health" |
| The Crimson Petal and the White | Colonel Leek | 2 episodes | |
| Vera | Michael Long | Episode: "Telling Tales" | |
| Luther | Frank Hodge | 3 episodes | |
| Midsomer Murders | Ezra Canning | Episode: "The Sleeper Under the Hill" | |
| Doc Martin | Alastair Tonken | 2 episodes | |
| 2011, 2016 | Doctors | Geoff Stride / Ben Sinclair | 2 episodes |
| 2012–2013 | Starlings | Granddad | 12 episodes |
| 2012, 2015, 2016, 2019, 2021 |
Casualty | Various characters | 5 episodes |
| 2013 | Utopia | The Tramp | 2 episodes |
| Endeavour | Cyril Morse | Episode: "Home" | |
| The Guilty | Frank Lawson | 3 episodes | |
| 2015 | SunTrap | Donald Hammer | 3 episodes |
| The Coroner | Keegan Brubaker | Episode: "Capsized" | |
| 2015–2016 | Drunk History | Various characters | 4 episodes |
| 2016 | The Crown | Professor Hogg | Episode: "Scientia Potentia Est" |
| 2017–2020 | Father Brown | Blind 'Arry | 5 episodes |
| 2019 | The Capture | Eddie Emery | 3 episodes |
| Chernobyl | KGB Deputy Chairman Viktor Charkov | 3 episodes | |
| 2020 | Cold Feet | Chris | Episode #9.5 |
| 2021 | Grantchester | Bernard Allison | Episode #6.6 |
| The Long Call | Maurice Craddle | 4 episodes | |
| 2022 | Inside Man | Gordon | Episode #1.4 |
| Without Sin | Eric | Episode #1.2 | |
| 2023 | Beyond Paradise | Derek | Episode #1.6 |
References
edit- ^ Alan Williams brings Girl to Winnipeg. In: mbplays.ca, January 6, 2015.
- ^ a b c d "Success, Failure All Part of the Plan for Playwright". Winnipeg Free Press, 6 January 2015.
- ^ a b "Tall tales from outsiders; Performer-playwright brings acclaimed trilogy to Ottawa". Ottawa Citizen, 4 May 1988.
- ^ "Cockroach displays humor". The Globe and Mail, 20 May 1981.
- ^ a b "From Cockroach Trilogy to suburbia Williams battles theatre cliches". The Globe and Mail, 11 January 1984.
- ^ "Spontaneity sings in Williams's White Dogs". Ottawa Citizen, 5 May 1988.
- ^ "King of America gives audience unique lesson in hilarious history". Ottawa Citizen, 12 May 1998.
- ^ "Tall tales and home truths: The creator of the Cockroach Trilogy tries his hand at drama". The Globe and Mail, 22 August 1987.
- ^ "Playwright takes on Canadian theatre values". Toronto Star, 15 March 1991.
- ^ "'The act of theatre is an act of hope'". The Globe and Mail, 24 January 1991.
- ^ "Movie strikes balance in the abortion debate". Edmonton Journal, 7 December 1994.
- ^ "Film is '60s surreal: Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati funny and disconcerting". Montreal Gazette, 24 May 1997.
- ^ "Sweet Hereafter leads the Genie award pack". The Province, 5 November 1997.
- ^ a b "U.K. artist finds truth stranger than fantasy". Calgary Herald, 10 January 2015.