
Nicholas Woodeson
Acting
Biography
Nicholas Woodeson (born November 30, 1949) is an English film, television and theatre actor, and Drama Desk and Olivier award nominee. Woodeson was born in Sudan and lived in the Middle East as a boy. He started performing at prep school in Sussex, and Marlborough College. He read English at the University of Sussex, and became involved in student drama productions, where he met Michael Attenborough, Jim Carter, and Andy de la Tour. He took part in the 1970 National Student Drama Festival. Next was a season in rep at the Lyceum Theatre, Crewe, after deciding not to pursue an academic career. He won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (1972–74). His first work after drama school was a season at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool (1974–75), in a company that included Jonathan Pryce (artistic director), Julie Walters, Pete Postlethwaite and Bill Nighy. He has worked in regional theatre in the UK and US, at the Hampstead Theatre Club, the Young Vic and the Almeida Theatre in London and at the Manhattan Theatre Club (Off-Broadway). He joined the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in 1982 and worked with them for seven years. On Broadway his work includes Straker in Man and Superman (1978), Piaf (1981), Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls (1995), and Burleigh in Mary Stuart (2009). In 2011, he played Mr Prince in the National Theatre revival of Odets' Rocket to the Moon. He has appeared in the West End in Funny Peculiar (1976), in Good (1982) (also Broadway), as Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls (2009), as Bonesy in Jumpers (2003) (also Broadway), as Mussabini in Chariots of Fire (2012), and as Harold Wilson in The Audience (2015). He has been in two productions of Pinter's 'The Birthday Party', playing McCann at the National Theatre in 1994, and Goldberg in the Lyric Hammersmith's 50th centenary production in 2008, and two productions of Pinter's The Homecoming, playing Lenny in the 25th Anniversary West End revival in 1991, and Max at the RSC in 2011. In 2017, following the death of Tim Pigott-Smith, he took over the role of Willy Loman in the Royal & Derngate theatre's tour of Death of a Salesman, for which he was nominated for a UK Theatre Award as Best Actor in a Leading Role. Woodeson's first film work was a role in Heaven's Gate, released in 1980. By chance, he spent more time on location in Montana than any other actor in the film. He has also appeared in, among others, The Russia House (1990), The Pelican Brief (1993), Shooting Fish (1997), The Man Who Knew Too Little (1997) Titanic Town (1998), The Avengers (1998), Mad Cows (1999), Topsy-Turvy (1999), Dreaming of Joseph Lees (1999), Amazing Grace (2006), Hannah Arendt (2012), the James Bond film Skyfall (2012), Mr. Turner (2014), The Danish Girl (2015), Race (2016), Disobedience (2017), The Death of Stalin (2017) and The Hustle (2019).
Known For

From England to Egypt, accompanied by his elegant and trustworthy sidekicks, the intelligent yet eccentrically-refined Belgian detective Hercule Poirot pits his wits against a collection of first class deceptions.
Agatha Christie's Poirot

Drama series about the staff and patients at Holby City Hospital's emergency department, charting the ups and downs in their personal and professional lives.
Casualty

The story of the Miami Police Department's vice squad and its efforts to end drug trafficking and prostitution, centered on the unlikely partnership of Sonny Crockett and Ricardo Tubbs - who first meet when Tubbs is undercover in a drug cartel.
Miami Vice

A team of exceptional forensic pathologists and scientists investigate heinous crimes and use their skills to catch the people responsible.
Silent Witness

Beginning in a time of relative peace, we follow an ensemble cast of characters as they confront the re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

A detective team apply new techniques to old crimes as they solve cold cases.
Waking the Dead

The story of a young group of siblings pretty much abandoned by their parents, surviving by their wits - and humor - on a rough Manchester council estate. Whilst they won't admit it, they need help and find it in Steve, a young middle class lad who falls for Fiona, the oldest sibling, and increasingly finds himself drawn to this unconventional and unique family. Anarchic family life seen through the eyes of an exceptionally bright fifteen year old, who struggles to come of age in the context of his belligerent father, closeted brother, psychotic sister and internet porn star neighbors.
Shameless

Jack Frost is a gritty, dogged and unconventional detective with sympathy for the underdog and an instinct for moral justice who attracts trouble like a magnet. Despite some animosity with his superintendent, Norman “Horn-rimmed Harry” Mullett, Frost and his ever-changing roster of assistants manage to solve cases via his clever mind, good heart, and cool touch.
A Touch of Frost

New Tricks is a British comedy-drama that follows the work of the fictional Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad of the Metropolitan Police Service. Originally led by Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, it is made up of retired police officers who have been recruited to reinvestigate unsolved crimes.
New Tricks

The story of James Garfield, who rose from obscurity to become America's 20th President — and Charles Guiteau, the man who assassinated him.
Death by Lightning

A down-to-earth account of the lives of both illustrious and ordinary Romans set in the last days of the Roman Republic.
Rome

As WW2 rages around the world, DCS Foyle fights his own war on the home-front as he investigates crimes on the south coast of England. Foyle's War opens in southern England in the year 1940. Later series sees the retired detective working as an MI5 agent operating in the aftermath of the war.
Foyle's War

A drama set in the East End of London in 1889, during the aftermath of the "Ripper" murders. The action centres around the notorious H Division – the police precinct from hell – which is charged with keeping order in the chaotic streets of Whitechapel. Ripper Street explores the lives of characters trying to recover from the Ripper's legacy, from crimes that have not only irretrievably altered their lives, but the very fabric of their city. At the drama's heart our detectives try to bring a little light into the dark world they inhabit.
Ripper Street

Pie in the Sky is a British offbeat police comedy drama programme starring Richard Griffiths and Maggie Steed, created by Andrew Payne and first broadcast in five series on BBC1 between 13 March 1994 and 17 August 1997 as well as being syndicated on other channels in other countries, including the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The series departs slightly from other police dramas in that the protagonist, Henry Crabbe, while still being an on-duty policeman, is also the head chef of the title restaurant set in the fictional town of Middleton and county of Westershire.
Pie in the Sky

Adventurer James Keziah Delaney returns to London from Africa in 1814 along with fourteen stolen diamonds to seek vengeance after the death of his father.
Taboo

Silk is a British television drama series produced by the BBC and first shown in 2011. Written by Peter Moffat, the series follows a set of barristers, and what they do to attain the rank of Queen's Counsel, known as 'taking silk'. Passionate defence barrister Martha Costello faces challenging cases and surprising clients, which test her faith in the criminal justice system. Gifted colleague Clive Reader is called to the bar with her. They work hard with pupils, Nick Slade and Niamh Cranitch, but ultimately only one can eventually be taken on as a member of chambers.
Silk

After leaving paradise and seeking a quieter life, Humphrey has taken a job as Detective Inspector in his fiancée Martha's hometown. But with the high crime rate, maybe things will be louder than expected.
Beyond Paradise

An anthology series of various plays and dramatic performances.
Performance

Screenplay was a drama anthology television series, broadcast on BBC between 1986 and 1993. Numerous episodes were produced including one named "Boswell and Johnson's Tour of the Western Islands" starring Robbie Coltrane as English writer Samuel Johnson who in the autumn of 1773, visits the Hebrides off the north-west coast of Scotland. That episode was directed by John Byrne and co-starred John Sessions and Celia Imrie.
ScreenPlay

The wise-cracking Fitz is a brilliant but flawed criminal psychologist with a remarkable insight into the criminal mind.