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Michael Kitchen

 
Actor: Michael Kitchen
  • Born: Oct 31, 1948 in Leicester, England
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '80s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Drama
  • Career Highlights: Out of Africa, Mrs. Dalloway, Enchanted April
  • First Major Screen Credit: The Brontes of Haworth (1973)

Biography

Since performing in a play at the City of Leicester Boys School, Michael Kitchen has done practically all there is for an actor to do: motion pictures, TV films, TV miniseries, stage plays, radio plays, and audio cassettes. International film audiences probably know him best as Chief of Staff Bill Tanner in the Pierce Brosnan James Bond productions, although he has played major roles in other high-profile movies, such as Out of Africa (1985) and Mrs. Dalloway (1997). He is also well known to worldwide TV audiences for major roles in popular miniseries, including The Brontes of Haworth (1973), A Fall of Eagles (1974), Freud (1984), and Oliver Twist (1999). 2000 was a remarkable year for Kitchen -- incredibly, he completed the following productions during that year: Proof of Life, a major film in which he shared the screen with Russell Crowe and Meg Ryan; Lorna Doone, a three-hour TV miniseries; Always and Everyone, an eight-hour TV series resembling America's ER; The Secret World of Michael Fry, a TV miniseries; The Railway Children, a TV film shown in the U.K. and in the U.S. on Masterpiece Theatre; New Year's Day, a major motion picture; and Second Sight: Parasomnia, another TV film. For an encore in 2001, he played the title role in Foyle's War, an eight-hour TV series about a World War II-era detective, then played Foyle again in another eight-hour series in 2002. He also signed on for another James Bond film, his third. Between 1971 -- when he appeared in the film Unman, Wittering and Zigo -- and the present, Kitchen has never wanted for work. The reason, quite simply, is that he is one of Britain's finest and most versatile actors. He has walked across the stages of the most prestigious playhouses in England, performing the works of Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, and other important playwrights. In motion pictures, he has also acted parts in productions based on the works of Franz Kafka (The Trial, 1993), Robert Louis Stevenson (Kidnapped, 1995), John Le Carre (The Russia House, 1990), and Nevil Shute (Crossing to Freedom, 1990). ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Michael Kitchen
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Michael Kitchen
Born Michael R. Kitchen
31 October 1948 (1948-10-31) (age 61)
Leicester, Leicestershire, England
Occupation Actor, Television producer
Years active 1971–present

Michael Kitchen (born 31 October 1948 in Leicester) is an English actor and television producer, best known for his starring role as DCS Foyle in the British TV series Foyle's War.

Contents

Early life

Kitchen worked with the National Youth Theatre and the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry before attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. In 1969, whilst still at RADA, he won the "Emile Littler Award" for 'outstanding talent and aptitude for the professional theatre'.

Career

Television and film

Since the early 1970s, Kitchen has been a fixture of UK television. His early appearances include roles in Play for Today (Hell's Angels by David Agnew, 1971), Thriller and Beasts. He then played the role of Martin in the original production of Dennis Potter's Brimstone and Treacle; Peter in Stephen Poliakoff's Caught on a Train; Edmund in the BBC Television Shakespeare production of King Lear; the Antipholi in the same series' production of The Comedy of Errors; Rochus Misch in The Bunker; Berkeley Cole in Out of Africa; the King of England in To Play the King (1996) (a character based in part on Prince Charles); and a recurring role as Bill Tanner in the Pierce Brosnan Bond movies GoldenEye and The World Is Not Enough. Other films include Enchanted April (1992), The Hanging Gale (1995), The Railway Children (1999) and Proof of Life (2000) as Ian Havery.

Since 2002, Kitchen has appeared in the ITV mystery-drama Foyle's War as the lead character, DCS Christopher Foyle. Kitchen is also a producer for the show. Other noted appearances include Dandelion Dead (1994), A Royal Scandal (1996), Paul Abbott's Alibi in 2003, Andrew Davies' dramatisation of Falling in 2005, and ITV's three-part drama series Mobile (2007). He has guest-starred in roles in other popular British television shows such as The Professionals, Inspector Morse, A Touch of Frost, Between The Lines and Dalziel and Pascoe.

Theatre

Kitchen is also a noted actor in English theatre. His roles have ranged from Ptolemy in Caesar and Cleopatra at the Belgrade in 1966 to Will in Howard Brenton's Magnificence at the Royal Court in 1973, to William Hogarth in Nick Dear's The Art of Success in 1986/87. He is also well known for his part in Enchanted April.

References

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Copyrights:

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Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Michael Kitchen" Read more