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John Pirkis

John Pirkis

Acting

Biography

John Pirkis was born John Simon Alexander Lyne-Pirkis in Guildford, Surrey, England and grew up in the neighboring market town of Godalming. His father was Dr. Richard Hugh Godfrey Lyne-Pirkis (Born of English Aristocracy; Earls of Liverpool), and his mother (born of Irish Aristocracy; Earls of Carysfort), Ellinor Bessie Maureen (Austin). Their blood runs thick with a healthy blend of Russian, French, German and Scandinavian. John was privately educated; first at Penthorpe preparatory school in Rudgewick, Sussex, and then Sutton Valence School in Kent, where he won several prizes for his writing and public narrative. He trained as an actor at The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Shortly after graduating, he took the unconventional step of joining a circus company, touring Mediaeval Jousting Tournaments around Great Britain and Europe as both the Earl Marshall ( Ring Master ), and various Combative Knights. For thirty years since, John appeared internationally on stage, and on screen. Featuring in many established British TV Dramas, including playing, Freddie Chalk Marshall opposite Hugh Laurie in two seasons of the award winning, Jeeves and Wooster. During those thirty years John resided in London. He has featured in the Feature Films, National Treasure II and Young Victoria opposite Emily Blunt as her uncle, Duke of Cumberland/Earl of Derby, Swing Kids opposite Robert Sean Leonard, and has completed filming on Stephen Gaghan's Gold with Matthew McConaughy, Bryce Dallas Howard and Corey Stoll. His theatre credits include Shakespeare, Chekhov, Oscar Wilde, Bertolt Brecht, Jean-Paul Sartre, Jean-Marie Besset and Nick Ward among others, on London's West End, and throughout Great Britain and Europe. John has also studied with the Meisner Centre in Los Angeles, and studied the Alba Emoting and Feldenkrais techniques at the Université De Montréal. In 2002 John co-founded the multi-award winning, Theatre 503 in London, the home of cutting edge new writing, and afforded the title, 'Britain's most important little theatre' by Lynn Gardner of The Guardian (UK). For this, John received recognition as one of the top 100 people to have contributed the most to British theatre in the Twenty-first Century by The Stage. In 2010 Theatre 503 hit the headlines when their production of Katori Hall's The Mountaintop starring David Harewood, Lorraine Burroughs and directed by James Dacre won the Olivier for Best Play making Katori the first Black female writer to win this prestigious award. Following its successful transfer to the West End, it opened on Broadway in 2011 starring Samuel L. Jackson (his Broadway debut), Angela Bassett, and directed by Kenny Leon. In 2011 John moved to Los Angeles, where he met and married the French actress and director, Cecile Delepiere. In 2014 they moved to New York with their two rescue cats, Harley Gingerson and Luther. They continue reside in Los Angeles where John continues his work as both actor and an ambassador for Theatre 503.

Known For

Trainer
6.0

Trainer was a British television series transmitted by the BBC between 1991 and 1992. Filmed in and around the village of Compton near Newbury, the series was set in the world of horse racing. It starred Mark Greenstreet as Mike Hardy, an aspiring horse trainer keen to set up his own stables. Other major characters included local gambler John Grey and widow Rachel Ware. Trainer lasted for two series and was the last TV project for producer Gerard Glaister. The theme song, "More to Life", was performed by Cliff Richard. The song was written by Simon May and Mike Read. The first series of 13 episodes was given the prime time Sunday night slot on BBC1 which had previously been occupied by another Glaister creation Howards' Way and a horse-racing storyline from that earlier programme provided much of the inspiration for Trainer. However, with ratings of around 6 million, the second series was reduced to ten episodes and shown on Wednesday evenings.

Trainer

1991Series
The Brittas Empire
6.6

The Brittas Empire is a British sitcom created and originally written by Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen. Chris Barrie plays Gordon Brittas, the well-meaning but incompetent manager of Whitbury New Town Leisure Centre. The show ran for seven series and 53 episodes — including two Christmas specials — from 1991 to 1997 on BBC1. Norriss and Fegen wrote the first five series, after which they left the show. The Brittas Empire enjoyed a long and successful run throughout the 1990s, and gained itself large mainstream audiences. In 2004 the show came 47th on the BBC's Britain's Best Sitcom poll, and all series have been released on DVD. The creators Andrew Norriss and Richard Fegen often combine farce with either surreal or dramatic elements in episodes. For example in the first series, the leisure centre prepares for a royal visit, only for the doors to seal, the boiler room to flood and a visitor to become electrocuted. Unlike the traditional sitcom, deaths were quite common in The Brittas Empire.

The Brittas Empire

1991Series