0.0
Hamlet Within
2022
John Shrapnel
Acting
Born April 27, 1942Died February 14, 2020Birmingham, England, UK
Biography
Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy (née Edwards) and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel.[1] As a stage actor, he was a member of Laurence Olivier's Royal National Theatre company and the Royal Shakespeare Company and most recently appeared as Sir Oliver Surface in The School for Scandal (directed by Deborah Warner) at the Barbican Centre in 2011. He has also appeared extensively in film and on television in roles in Elizabeth R, Z-Cars, Edward and Mrs. Simpson, 101 Dalmatians, Space: 1999, Inspector Morse, Coogan's Run, Notting Hill and Foyle's War. He presented an episode of the 1983 BBC television travel series Great Little Railways. He gave performances in three entries in the BBC Television Shakespeare plays and as Creon in the BBC's 1984 productions of the Three Theban plays of Sophocles. In America, he has starred in supporting roles as Senator Gaius in Gladiator, Nestor in Troy and Pompey in the second episode of Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. He also played the Jail Warden in the 10th Kingdom, an epic fantasy miniseries. He has the rare achievement of appearing in two episodes of Midsomer Murders as two different characters, in Death in Chorus and Written in Blood. Shrapnel appeared in an episode of Jonathan Creek as Professor Lance Graumann in the episode The Omega Man. He appears in Chemical Wedding alongside Simon Callow, telling the tale of the resurrection of occultist Aleister Crowley. Shrapnel also has experience in the field of BBC radio drama through such characters as Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse and William Gibson's Neuromancer. He is the son-in-law of Deborah Kerr through his 1975 marriage to her younger daughter Francesca Ann Bartley. They have three sons, the actors Lex Shrapnel (b.1979), Tom Shrapnel (b.1981) and the writer Joe Shrapnel (b.1976). They live in Highbury, north London.
Movies
See All
6.4
King Charles III
2017
7.0
Britain's Nuclear Bomb - The Inside Story
2017
The Return of the Flying Scotsman
0.0
The Return of the Flying Scotsman
2016
7.7
Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale
2015
8.2
Hamlet
2015
OXI, an Act of Resistance
0.0
OXI, an Act of Resistance
2014
0.0
Building Burma's Death Railway: Moving Half the Mountain
2014
6.9
National Theatre Live: Macbeth
2013
0.0
Run.
2013
6.4
The Awakening
2011
7.8
National Theatre Live: Phèdre
2009
0.0
An Organization of Dreams
2009
7.0
The Duchess
2008
6.3
Mirrors
2008
4.2
Chemical Wedding
2008
6.0
Hindenburg: Titanic of the Skies
2007
6.7
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
2007
0.0
Once Upon a Time on the Westway
2007
5.7
Alien Autopsy
2006
5.8
Shadow of the Sword
2005
0.0
Seven Wonders of Ancient Greece
2004
7.2
Troy
2004
10.0
Seven Wonders of Ancient Egypt
2004
0.0
Seven Wonders of Ancient Rome
2004
10.0
The Race for Everest
2003
Wild Women of Viramba
0.0
Wild Women of Viramba
2003
6.2
Whistle
2002
6.6
K-19: The Widowmaker
2002
5.1
Claim
2002
5.1
Alone
2002
0.0
The Gentleman Thief
2001
0.0
Animals of the Ocean Desert
2001
7.5
Mountain Men: The Ghosts of K2
2001
5.5
The Body
2001
0.0
The Misfit and the Matterhorn
2001
8.0
Horizon: Supermassive Black Holes
2000
8.2
Gladiator
2000
0.0
Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory and Irvine
2000
4.1
Mary, Mother of Jesus
1999
7.3
Notting Hill
1999
7.2
Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters
1999
10.0
The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka
1999
Solo Shuttle
0.0
Solo Shuttle
1998
9.0
Lion Queen
1998
6.0
101 Dalmatians
1996
5.6
Two Deaths
1996
8.5
King Arthur: His Life and Legends
1995
6.5
England, My England
1995
6.3
Fatherland
1994
8.0
Selling Hitler
1993
0.0
Hamlet
1992
SS-3: The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich
4.0
SS-3: The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich
1992
7.0
The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story
1990
6.3
How to Get Ahead in Advertising
1989
5.6
Testimony
1988
5.5
Partition
1987
6.0
Personal Services
1987
9.0
Theban Plays: Antigone
1986
8.0
Theban Plays: Oedipus at Colonus
1986
4.5
Theban Plays: Oedipus the King
1986
8.0
The Burston Rebellion
1985
Poppyland
7.0
Poppyland
1985
6.5
King Lear
1982
8.0
Troilus & Cressida
1981
8.5
Timon of Athens
1981
The Tom Machine
0.0
The Tom Machine
1980
The Victim
7.0
The Victim
1980
7.0
Gossip from the Forest
1979
10.0
Edward & Mrs. Simpson
1978
0.0
Flayed
1978
The Three Hostages
0.0
The Three Hostages
1977
7.5
Professional Foul
1977
Hitting Town
0.0
Hitting Town
1976
5.2
Hennessy
1975
10.0
King Lear
1975
6.1
Pope Joan
1972
7.0
Nicholas and Alexandra
1971
It's Called the Sugar Plum
0.0
It's Called the Sugar Plum
1969
The Ha-Ha
0.0
The Ha-Ha
1969
TV Shows
See All
9.0
The Lions Rule
7.2
Apparitions
7.8
Merlin
7.6
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire
8.6
I Am Not an Animal
7.3
New Tricks
7.9
Foyle's War
7.4
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
7.2
Waking the Dead
7.6
The 10th Kingdom
6.3
Invasion: Earth
0.0
Predators Killing for a Living
7.6
Jonathan Creek
8.0
Bodyguards
7.5
Midsomer Murders
7.5
Midsomer Murders
True Tilda
8.0
True Tilda
0.0
Alien Empire
6.6
Coogan's Run
7.3
Kavanagh Q.C.
6.8
Wycliffe
6.5
Shakespeare: The Animated Tales
5.5
Between the Lines
5.5
Between the Lines
7.0
Selling Hitler
6.3
G.B.H.
9.0
For the Greater Good
Centrepoint
6.7
Centrepoint
7.0
The Chief
5.9
Blackeyes
About Face
7.0
About Face
8.0
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
0.0
Vanity Fair
7.1
Screen Two
7.1
Screen Two
6.0
Sorrell and Son
5.7
Mr. Palfrey of Westminster
7.4
Natural World
8.2
The Woman in White
5.3
Private Schulz
6.3
Screenplay
6.8
Edward and Mrs Simpson
4.7
Armchair Thriller
7.0
BBC2 Play of the Week
7.0
BBC2 Play of the Week
6.0
Plays for Britain
7.1
Space: 1999
Good Girl
0.0
Good Girl
7.3
Justice
7.5
Elizabeth R
7.2
Omnibus
7.0
ITV Playhouse
5.2
BBC Play of the Month
5.2