Nickolas Grace

Nickolas Grace (born 21 November 1947) is a British actor known for his roles on television, including Anthony Blanche in the acclaimed ITV adaptation of Brideshead Revisited, and the Sheriff of Nottingham in the 1980s series Robin of Sherwood. Grace also played Dorien Green's husband Marcus in the 1990's British comedy series Birds of a Feather.

Early life and career

Grace was educated at The King's School, Chester^[1] and Forest School, Walthamstow. He trained as an actor at the Central School of Speech and Drama, where he still teaches.

Grace made his theatrical debut in weekly rep in Frinton-on-Sea in 1969, and appeared in Trevor Peacock's Erb later that year, which transferred to the Strand Theatre in Spring 1970, his first appearance in the West End. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1972, and in 1973 played Aumerle there in the Ian Richardson/Richard Pasco Richard II, which transferred to Broadway.

He then played Hamlet for the opening of Derby Playhouse in 1975. Back at the RSC from 1976-78 he appeared as Dromio of Ephesus in Trevor Nunn's first ever musical, The Comedy of Errors (with Judi Dench, Michael Williams and Roger Rees), Hitler in Schweik and Witwoud in The Way of the World, directed by John Barton.

Brideshead Revisited

Grace secured the part of the flamboyant aesthete Anthony Blanche in Brideshead Revisited, which filmed off and on from 1979 to 1981. Following the success of Brideshead Revisited on television, he played Richard II at the Young Vic in 1981, and Mozart in Amadeus with Frank Finlay at Her Majesty's Theatre in 1982. He then began working in operetta, playing Koko in The Mikado and Joseph Porter in HMS Pinafore for Sadler's Wells Opera in repertoire from 1982-1986.

Grace was Harry Hamilton-Paul in the film Heat and Dust (1983). It was around this time that took the role of Robert de Rainault, the Sheriff of Nottingham, in ITV's Robin of Sherwood (1983-1986).

Grace's theatre work in the late 1980s and early 1990s included Jenkins' Ear by Dusty Hughes at the Royal Court in 1986, Bernstein's Candide (Old Vic/Scottish Opera/BBC) in 1988-89 and The Mystery of Irma Vep at the Leicester Haymarket (1990), which transferred to the Ambassadors Theatre. He played Cole Porter in A Swell Party at the Vaudeville in 1991-92 and appeared in Ken Russell's production of Princess Ida for ENO at the Coliseum in 1992.

1993–present

Following a recurring role in 1993 as the un-named 'Consultant' on Victor Lewis-Smith's loosely hospital based sketch show Inside Victor Lewis-Smith, Grace played Marcus Green, the long-suffering husband of Dorien in Birds of a Feather, in a couple of episodes between 1989 and 1997. He has also appeared three times in the BBC Sitcom My Family.

Grace played Underling the Butler in The Drowsy Chaperone with Elaine Paige at the Novello Theatre, which ended its run on 4 August 2007. On 29 July 2009 he appeared on the UK version of Dragons Den as the proposed director of a new touring musical based around the life of Dusty Springfield.

He has a recurring role in some Doctor Who audio plays, produced by Big Finish as a Time Lord ally of the Eighth Doctor and Lucie Miller, (Paul McGann and Sheridan Smith) in the plays Human Resources, Sisters of the Flame and Vengeance of Morbius.

He portrayed Albert Einstein in the Doctor Who short "Death is the Only Answer".

In 2012, Grace is currently starring in Chariots of Fire, the stage adaptation of the film of the same title. In it he plays the Master of Trinity College at Cambridge University, the role originated on screen by John Gielgud.

Personal life

In the "official biography" of the actor Alan Bates, Otherwise Engaged, by Donald Spoto (published on 7 June 2007), Spoto quotes Grace describing his "intense affair" with Bates, who was "terrified of exposure": "I told him labels didn't matter, but that we must be who we are. But he just could not accept that. Alan was at ease as long as he pretended - and he insisted on pretending - that our relationship was not what it was, and was not disclosed to or evident to others."

Filmography

• Z-Cars (TV series)
  • segment "Sweet Girl" (1972) - Boy
  • segment "A Couple of Comic Turns: Part 2" (1970) - Private Jefferson
• The Brotherhood (1975 TV film) - William Rossetti
• Survivors (TV series)
  • "Gone to the Angels" (1975) - Matthew
• The Pink Medicine Show (1978 TV series)
• BBC Television Shakespeare (TV series)
  • "The Comedy of Errors" (1978) - Dromio of Ephesus
  • "All's Well That Ends Well" (1983) - Soldier
• The Professionals (TV series)
  • "Mixed Doubles" (1980) - Joe
• Brideshead Revisited (1981 TV mini-series) - Anthony Blanche
• Heat and Dust (1983) - Harry Hamilton-Paul
• Robin of Sherwood (1983-1986) (TV series) - Robert de Rainault, Sheriff of Nottingham
• Bergerac (TV series)
  • "Prime Target" (1983) - Inspector Chazottes
• Lace (1984 TV movie) - Sir Christopher Swann
• The Master of Ballantrae as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame (1984) - Dass
• The Last Place on Earth (1985 TV mini-series) - Lord Howard De Walden
• Max Headroom (1985 TV film) - Grossman
• Napoleon and Josephine: A Love Story (1987 TV mini-series) - Lord Nelson
• Lorca, muerte de un poeta (1987 TV mini-series) - Federico García Lorca
• Dream Demon (1988) - Jenny's Father
• Salome's Last Dance (1988) - Oscar Wilde
• Just Ask for Diamond (1988) - Himmell
• Twist of Fate (1989 TV film) - Wolf
• The Man in the Brown Suit (1989 TV film) - Guy Underhill
• The Green Man (1990 TV film) - Rev. Tommy Sonnenscheim
• Cluedo (TV series)
  • "Going, Going, Goner" (1990) - Peregrine Talbot- Wheeler
• Hands of a Murderer (1990 TV film) - Oberstein
• The Casebook of Sherlock Holmes (TV series)
  • "The Master Blackmailer" (1992) - Bertrand
• Alas Smith and Jones (TV series)
  • "Episode #7.4" (1992)
• Absolutely Fabulous (TV series)
  • "Fashion" (1992) - Jonny
• Lovejoy (TV series)
  • "Angel Trousers" (1992) - Jeremy Prince
• Inside Victor Lewis-Smith (1993 TV series) - The consultant
• The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (TV series)
  • "Prague, August 1917" (1993) - The Prague Spy/Clouseau
• The Alleyn Mysteries (TV series)
  • "A Man Lay Dead" (1993) - Dr. Hans Hoffner
• Tom & Viv (1994) - Bertrand Russel
• Space Precinct (TV series)
• Double Duty (1994) - Oturi Nissim
• Sharpe's Honour (1994 TV film) - Father Hacha
• Two Deaths (1995, by Nicolas Roeg) - Marius Vernescu
• Bugs (TV series)
  • "Hot Metal" (1995) - Raymond Charlesworth
• Solomon & Sheba (1995 TV film) - Jeroboam
• The Final Cut (1995) - Geoffrey Booza Pitt
• Evita (1996) - Tailor (cameo)
• Tales from the Crypt (TV series)
  • "Escape" (1996)
• The Hunchback (1997 TV film) - Gauchére
• Birds of a Feather (TV series)
  • Cheat! (1989) - Marcus Green
  • Suspicious Minds (1993) - Marcus Green
  • "Rising Damp" (1997) - Marcus Green
• Shooting Fish (1997) - Mr. Stratton-Luce
• Caught in the Act (1997) - Melvin (Ventriloquist)
• Merlin (1998 TV film) - Sir Egbert
• Absolutely Fabulous
  • "Absolutely Not!" (1998) - Jonny
• Britain's Richest People (1998 TV series) - Narrator
• An Ideal Husband (1999) - Vicomte de Nanjac
• Pocahontas (1999 video) - (voice) (as Nicholas Grace)
• The Golden Bowl (2000) - Lecturer
• Midsomer Murders (TV series)
  • "Judgement Day" (2000) - Frank Mannion
• In Cold Blood (2000 video game) - John Cord (voice) (as Nikolas Grace)
• Cinderella (2000 TV film) - First Minister
• My Family (TV series)
  • "Driving Miss Crazy" (2001) - Mr. Casey
  • "Neighbour Wars" (2008) - Mr. Casey
• Daniel Deronda (2002 TV film) - Vandernoodt
• Puckoon (2002) - Foggerty
• Marple: Sleeping Murder (2005 TV film) - Lionel Luff
• Casanova (2005 TV film) - French Chancellor
• Splinter (2005) - Glasses
• The Shell Seekers (2006 TV film) - Mundy
• The Commander: Blacklight (2006 TV film) - Reginald Aitken
• These Foolish Things (2006) - Nathaniel Meadowsweet

References

External links

• Nickolas Grace at the Internet Movie Database