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Tom Courtenay

Tom Courtenay

Highest Rated: 100% The Dresser (1983)

Lowest Rated: 0% The Queen's Corgi (2019)

Birthday: Feb 25, 1937

Birthplace: Hull, Humberside, England, UK

One of British theater's most distinguished and hardest-working actors, Tom Courtenay rose from humble beginnings to garner awards and accolades in nearly every facet of his profession. After studying at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in the late 1950s, Courtenay rose to fame amidst the British New Wave, deftly portraying classic angry young men in "The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner" (1962) and "Billy Liar" (1963). Courtenay was poised for international stardom following his Oscar-nominated turn in the epic "Doctor Zhivago" (1965), but instead he made a casual withdrawal from film acting to concentrate on theater. The bold move proved fruitful, especially when he earned a Tony Award nomination for his first Broadway production, "Otherwise Engaged" (1977). But he made a triumphant return to film with perhaps the best performance of his career, playing the assistant to a tyrannical theater group manager in the acclaimed drama, "The Dresser" (1983), an Oscar-nominated performance he reprised from his 1981 Broadway turn. Courtenay spent the ensuing decades ably transitioning from stage to screen and back again, only to emerge with his first Emmy Award nomination for his performance in "Little Dorrit" (PBS, 2009), which only cemented his status as one of Britain's most decorated performers.

Highest rated movies

100% 86% The Dresser
100% 84% King Rat
97% 67% 45 Years
95% 83% Billy Liar
89% 80% King and Country
84% 85% Let Him Have It
82% 88% Doctor Zhivago
81% 81% The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Filmography

Movies

Credit
57% 92% Railway Children Uncle Walter (Character) $457.4K 2022
78% 73% Summerland Mr. Sullivan (Character) $58.3K 2020
0% 39% The Queen's Corgi The Duke Of Edinburgh (Character) - 2019
72% 95% The Aeronauts Arthur Glaisher (Character) $30.0K 2019
33% 30% King of Thieves John Kenny Collins (Character) - 2018
81% 81% The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Eben Ramsey (Character) - 2018
31% 36% Dad's Army Lance Corporal Jones (Character) - 2016
92% 71% The First Film Self - 2015
62% 52% The Legend of Barney Thomson Chief Superintendent McManaman (Character) - 2015
97% 67% 45 Years Geoff Mercer (Character) $4.3M 2015
43% 61% Night Train to Lisbon João Eça (Character) - 2013
17% 23% Gambit The Major (Character) - 2012
80% 66% Quartet Reggie Paget (Character) $18.4M 2012
No Score Yet 92% Little Dorrit Unknown (Character) - 2008
No Score Yet 24% Flood Leonard Morrison (Character) - 2007
42% 51% The Golden Compass Farder Coram (Character) $70.1M 2007
No Score Yet No Score Yet Ready When You Are Mr. McGill Joe McGill (Character) - 2003
78% 75% Nicholas Nickleby Newman Noggs (Character) $1.3M 2002
79% 73% Last Orders Vic (Character) $2.3M 2001
40% 78% Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? Harold Smith (Character) - 1999
No Score Yet 64% A Rather English Marriage Roy Southgate (Character) - 1998
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Boy From Mercury Uncle Tony Cronin (Character) - 1996
No Score Yet 67% Young Indiana Jones and the Treasure of the Peacock's Eye Bronislaw Malinowski (Character) - 1995
No Score Yet 42% The Old Curiosity Shop Daniel Quilp (Character) - 1995
84% 85% Let Him Have It William Bentley (Character) $83.3K 1991
No Score Yet 62% The Last Butterfly Antoine Moreau (Character) - 1991
No Score Yet No Score Yet Redemption Stan Peachey (Character) - 1991
No Score Yet 12% Happy New Year Edward Saunders (Character) $30.6K 1987
7% 20% Leonard Part 6 Frayn (Character) $4.2M 1987
100% 86% The Dresser Norman (Character) - 1983
No Score Yet 50% I Heard the Owl Call My Name Father Mark Brian (Character) - 1973
17% 92% One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Ivan Denisovich (Character) - 1971
No Score Yet No Score Yet One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich Ivan Denisovich (Character) - 1970
No Score Yet 17% Otley Gerald Arthur Otley (Character) - 1969
No Score Yet 50% A Dandy in Aspic Gatiss (Character) - 1968
43% 71% The Night of the Generals Cpl. Hartmann (Character) - 1967
No Score Yet 41% The Day the Fish Came Out The Navigator (Character) - 1967
75% 54% Operation Crossbow Robert Henshaw (Character) - 1965
100% 84% King Rat Lt. Robin Grey (Character) - 1965
82% 88% Doctor Zhivago Pasha Antipova/Strelnikov (Character) $87.1K 1965
89% 80% King and Country Pvt. Arthur Hamp (Character) - 1964
95% 83% Billy Liar Billy Fisher (Character) $35.6K 1963
No Score Yet No Score Yet Private Potter Pvt. Potter (Character) - 1963
74% 85% The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner Colin Smith (Character) - 1962

TV

Credit
91% 82% Unforgotten Eric Slater (Character) 2015 2017-2018
No Score Yet No Score Yet Would I Lie to You? Contestant 2016
100% 100% Little Dorrit on Masterpiece William Dorrit (Character) 2009 2014
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Royle Family David Best Sr (Character) 2008
No Score Yet No Score Yet What's My Line? Guest 1969