Tim Pigott-Smith



Timothy Peter "Tim" Pigott-Smith (13 May 1946 – 7 April 2017 ) was an English film and television actor and author. He was best known for his leading role as Ronald Merrick in the television drama series The Jewel in the Crown, for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor in 1985.

Early life
Pigott-Smith was born in Rugby, Warwickshire, the son of Margaret Muriel (née Goodman) and Harry Thomas Pigott-Smith, who was a journalist. He was educated at Wyggeston Boys' School, Leicester, King Edward VI School, Stratford-upon-Avon and Bristol University. He trained as an actor at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.

Film and television
After a long career in smaller roles, Pigott-Smith gained his big break with the leading role of Ronald Merrick in the 1984 television serial The Jewel in the Crown. Other appearances include the title role in the crime drama series The Chief (1990–1993), a recurring role in ITV drama The Vice as Ken Stott's nemesis, Vickers, and Bloody Sunday. He appeared in two adaptations of Elizabeth Gaskell's North and South; in the 1975 version he played Frederick Hale and in 2004 he played Frederick's father Richard.

He appeared twice in Doctor Who: in the stories The Claws of Axos (1971) and The Masque of Mandragora (1976).

He was a regular narrator of documentary television series. He narrated the Battlefield series, which examines pivotal battles of the Second World War from an operations point of view. Later, he narrated a series on the British Royal Family, entitled Monarchy: The Royal Family at Work. The series followed Queen Elizabeth II for more than a year, including the 2007 state visit to the United States.

He appeared in Lewis in 2015 as a taxidermist in the episode "One For Sorrow". He also appeared on the ITV series, Downton Abbey in the third series' (third season) fifth episode as OB/GYN Sir Philip Tapsell, who was present at the death of Lady Sybil Crawley Branson (Jessica Brown Findlay) from Eclampsia after giving birth to her daughter.

His film career included the 2004 film Alexander, The Four Feathers, Clash of the Titans, Gangs of New York, Johnny English, The Remains of the Day and V for Vendetta. He also made an appearance in the 2008 James Bond film Quantum of Solace. In February 2010 Piggott-Smith played Alan Keen in the television film On Expenses. He also had a cameo appearance as Sniggs in the BBC production of Evelyn Waugh's Decline and Fall in 2017.

Stage and radio
Pigott-Smith worked in the theatre in Shakespearean and Greek roles; for instance, he played Posthumus in John Barton's 1974 production of Cymbeline for the Royal Shakespeare Company. In early stage roles he is credited as "Tim Smith".

In 2011 he took the title role in King Lear at the West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds.

Contemporary works included Enron, playing Ken Lay, for the Chichester Festival Theatre, and then London, in 2009 and Tobias in A Delicate Balance at the Almeida Theatre, London in 2011. He returned to the Almeida in 2014 as a post-accession Charles, Prince of Wales in King Charles III, for which he received a nomination for the Olivier Award for Best Actor, and his first Tony Award nomination for its production on Broadway in 2015.

He was also a radio actor, appearing in many productions on BBC Radio 4.

Books
During the making of The Jewel in the Crown, Pigott-Smith wrote a diary on his impressions of India. This was published together with an anthology of poetry and prose under the title Out of India.

He wrote two children's books in the series The Baker Street Mysteries, featuring the exploits of Sherlock Holmes' Baker Street Irregulars – The Dragon Tattoo (2008) and Shadow of Evil (2009). He played Holmes in a BBC Radio adaptation of The Valley of Fear.

Honours
Pigott-Smith won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in 1985, for his role in The Jewel in the Crown. In 2014-15, he was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award and the Tony Award for his lead role in the play King Charles III. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to drama.

Death
Pigott-Smith died suddenly on 7 April 2017, aged 70. He had been scheduled to appear in a touring production of Death of a Salesman, with opening night in Northampton only three days later. His wife Pamela Miles was also to appear in the play but she had withdrawn after breaking a bone and needing surgery.

Filmography

 * Doctor Who: The Claws of Axos (1971) (TV) as Captain Harker
 * Antony and Cleopatra (1974) (TV) as Proculeius
 * North and South (1975) as Frederick Hale
 * Aces High (1976) as Stoppard
 * The Glittering Prizes (1976) (TV) as Tim Dent
 * Doctor Who: The Masque of Mandragora (1976) (TV) as Marco
 * Joseph Andrews (1977) as Cornet
 * The Lost Boys (1978) (TV) as Arthur Llewelyn Davies
 * Henry IV, Part I (1979) (TV) as Henry Percy, Hotspur
 * School Play (1979) as Timothy Perkins
 * Measure for Measure (1979) (TV) as Angelo
 * Danger UXB (1979) (TV) as Harry Winthrop
 * The Day Christ Died (1980) (TV) as Tullius
 * Sweet William (1980) as Gerald
 * Tis Pity She's a Whore (1980) (TV) as Vasques
 * Hannah (1980) (TV) as Mr. Samuel Blenkinsop
 * Richard's Things (1980) as Peter
 * In Hiding (1980) (TV)
 * Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981) (TV) as Brendan Bracken
 * Clash of the Titans (1981) as Thallo
 * Escape to Victory (1981) as Major Rose - The English
 * The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1982) (TV) as Philippe
 * Fame Is the Spur (1982) (TV) as Hamer Shawcross
 * I Remember Nelson (1982) (TV) as Capt. Thomas Hardy
 * Struggle (1983) (TV) as Steve Marsh
 * The Jewel in the Crown (1984) (TV) as Ronald Merrick
 * Dead Man's Folly (1986) (TV) as Sir George Stubbs
 * A State of Emergency (1986) as Father Joe Ryan
 * The Challenge (1986) as Peter De Savary
 * Life Story (BBC) (US Title: The Race for the Double Helix) (1987) (TV) as Francis Crick
 * The Chief (1990–93) as Chief Constable John Stafford
 * True Adventures of Christopher Columbus (1992) (TV) as King Ferdinand
 * The Remains of the Day (1993) as Thomas Benn
 * The Bullion Boys (1993) (TV) as Hubert
 * The Major Years (1999) as Thomas Benn
 * The Vice (2000-2003) (TV) as D.C.I. Frank Vickers
 * Laissez-passer (2002) as Fleming
 * Bloody Sunday (2002) as Major General Ford
 * The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: For the Sake of Elena (2002) (TV) as Philip Weaver
 * Innocents (2002) (TV) as James Wisheart
 * Spooks: "The Rose Bed Memoirs" (2002) as Hampton Wilder (uncredited)
 * The Four Feathers (2002) as General Feversham
 * Gangs of New York (2002) as Calvinist Minister
 * Johnny English (2003) as Pegasus, Head of MI7
 * The Day Britain Stopped (2003) as Narrator (voice)
 * Eroica (2003) (TV) as Count Dietrichstein
 * Pompeii: The Last Day (2003) as Pliny the Elder
 * The Private Life of Samuel Pepys (2003) (TV) as Lord Shaftesbury
 * Alexander (2004) as Omen Reader
 * North & South (2004) as Richard Hale
 * London (2004)
 * V for Vendetta (2005) as Creedy
 * L'entente cordiale (2006) as Superintendant Masterson
 * Flyboys (2006) as Mr. Lowry
 * HolbyBlue (2007) (TV) as DCI Harry Hutchinson
 * Midsomer Murders — "Days of Misrule" (2008) (TV) as Matt Parkes
 * Quantum of Solace (2008) as Foreign Secretary
 * Alice in Wonderland (2010) as Lord Ascot
 * Foyle's War, Series Six, "The Russian House" (2010) (TV) as Brigadier Timothy Wilson
 * The Little House (2010) (TV) as Frederick
 * My Piece of the Pie (2011) as Mr. Brown
 * The Suspicions of Mr Whicher (2011) (TV) as Commissioner Mayne
 * The Hour (2011) (TV) as Lord Elms
 * Strike Back - Vengeance (2012) (TV) (first episode) as Patrick Burton
 * Downton Abbey (Series 3) (2012) (ITV) as Sir Philip Tapsell
 * Miranda (2013) (BBC) as Valerie Jackford
 * Silent Witness (2013) (BBC) as John Briggs
 * Red 2 (2013) as Director Philips
 * The Great Train Robbery (2013) (BBC) as DS Maurice Ray
 * The Bletchley Circle (2014) (ITV) as Colonel
 * 37 Days (2014) (BBC) as Herbert Henry Asquith
 * Houdini (2014) as William Melville
 * Jupiter Ascending (2015) as Malidictes
 * Toast of London (2015) (TV)
 * Whisky Galore! (2016) as Woolsey
 * Victoria and Abdul (2017)
 * Decline and Fall (2017) (BBC) as Sniggs