ABSTRACT
Nigel Hawthorne was born in Coventry in 1929 and raised in South Africa. He played the title role in Macbeth and Falstaff at Sheffield. At the Hampstead Theatre, Hawthorne played leading characters in Peter Handke’s The Ride Across Lake Constance (which transferred to the West End), Michael Frayn’s Clouds and the title role in Uncle Vanya. At the Royal Court, he performed in John Osborne’s West of Suez and A Sense of Detachment, as well as in The Double Dealer and Bird Child. For the Young Vic, the actor played in The Alchemist and Julius Caesar. Hawthorne’s performance in Privates on Parade at the Aldwych won the Clarence Derwent Award and the Society of West End Theatres Award for Best Supporting Actor. He played in Tom Stoppard’s Hapgood at the Aldwych as well. For the National Theatre, Hawthorne played leading roles in The Magistrate and Jacobowsky and The Colonel. At the RSC, Hawthorne performed in Peer Gynt and Tartuffe. He played C.S. Lewis in the West End produc tion of Shadowlands, and won both the Tony Award and Outer Circle Critics’ Award for Best Actor when the play transferred to Broadway. For his leading role in The Madness o f George III at the National, Hawthorne won the Olivier, Evening Standard, Timeout Readers’ Award, and Plays and Players Magazine Award for Best Actor. The play later toured the U.S. Other theatre work includes As You Like It for the National, The Doctor's Dilemma, Otherwise Engaged, The Heiress, The Millionairess, and Oh What a Lovely War (for Joan Littlewood). He also appeared in Edward Bond’s Early Morning, the last play to be banned by the Lord Chamberlain.
