• Bill Nighy Won't Watch His Films

  Post Chronicle - Found 15 hours ago Actor Bill Nighy refuses to watch himself in movies - because he finds the experience "distressing". Nighy Won't Watch His Films - MaleFirst Mens Magazine Explore All

  MaleFirst Mens Magazine

• Christopher Lee: a giant among actors

  Times Online - Found Nov. 19, 2009 Of the stellar cast, which includes Bill Nighy, Julie Christie, David Tennant and Jenny Agutter, Lee is the only one who was actually there.

• '2012' has worldwide box-office bang of $225 million (Yesterday)

  Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Found Nov. 17, 2009 The ensemble cast of 'Pirate Radio' features Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy and Kenneth Branagh in a story about 1960s disc jockeys... 2012 movie explodes at box office - BBC New Hit Film "2012" Beats Estimate by $5 Million - ABC News Sony having record year overseas - Variety New hit film "2012" beats estimate by $5 million - Reuters Explore All

  BoxOfficeMojo

• "2012" a Big Hit First Weekend Out

  CBS News - Found Nov. 16, 2009 The ensemble cast of "Pirate Radio" features Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy and Kenneth Branagh in a story about 1960s disc jockeys... '2012' Move Tops Box Office, Pulls in $225M Worldwide - Fox News Doom spells dollars at box office for ?2012? - MSNBC BY THE NUMBERS: '2012' is no disaster at the box office - USA Today '2012' runs away with box office - CNN Explore All

  KRXI-TV Reno

• '2012' has worldwide box-office bang of $225M

  Sacramento Bee - Found Nov. 15, 2009 The ensemble cast of 'Pirate Radio' features Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy and Kenneth Branagh in a story about 1960s disc jockeys... Box Office Weekend: 2012 Masters Disaster - Time '2012' storms foreign boxoffice - Hollywood Reporter Happy Doomsday! 2012 Blows Up with $65 Mil - EOnline.com Moviegoers Make Date With Disaster Film '2012' - ABC News Explore All

  MSN Movies

• Bill Nighy on Glorious 39

  ITV.com - Found Nov. 14, 2009 Love Actually star Bill Nighy chats to us behind the scenes about his latest film.

• Dan Persons: Mighty Movie Podcast: Pirate Radio Part 2: Philip ...

  Huffington Post - Found Nov. 13, 2009 That conversation wraps up this installment, along with my exclusive one-on-one with Bill Nighy -- who plays the paternal, impeccably dressed... Pirate Radio - New York Times Pirate Radio - Pittsburgh Post-Gazette This film should walk the plank - Sarnia Observer 'Pirate Radio' hits all the right notes - Santa Monica Daily Press Explore All

  Champlain Channel

• ?Pirate Radio? just rolls when it should rock

  MSNBC - Found Nov. 13, 2009 ... the troupe: Philip Seymour Hoffman (the epitome of the hardworking rock journalist in "Almost Famous"), Bill Nighy and Rhys Ifans (supreme... Review: 'Pirate Radio' loses beat - CNN Video: Shalit reviews ?Pirate Radio? - MSNBC Review: 'Pirate' music trumps story - CNN Movie Review | 'Pirate Radio': Rock Boys? Adventure, With BBC as ... - New York Times Explore All

  Contactmusic

• Review: Music over story in 'Radio'

  CNN - Found Nov. 13, 2009 This movie is like that -- each player is given a cute trait (Bill Nighy is the posh, swinging shipowner, Rhys Ifans is the Count's preening... ?Pirate Radio? just rolls when it should rock - MSNBC ?Pirate Radio? just rolls when it should rock - MSNBC Explore All

  CNN

• A Minute With: Film Director and Writer Richard Curtis

  ABC News - Found Nov. 12, 2009 The U.S. version, released on November 13, is 17 minutes shorter. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy and Kenneth Branagh. When the pirates took over radio - CNN 'Pirate Radio' Tunes Into Rock-Revolution Nostalgia - NPR Making radio waves off Britain's coast - Philadelphia Inquirer Pirate Radio sounds good to director Richard Curtis - Canada.com Explore All

  Bay Area Reporter

Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy in 2009
Born	William Francis Nighy 12 December 1949 (1949-12-12) (age 59) Caterham, Surrey, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	since 1975

William Francis "Bill" Nighy (pronounced /ˈnaɪ/, rhymes with "sigh," born 12 December 1949) is an English actor and comedian. He worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and is known for his roles in Love Actually and I Capture the Castle, both in 2003, Shaun of the Dead, Notes on a Scandal, Underworld, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, Valkyrie, Pirates of the Caribbean, Hot Fuzz, Stormbreaker, and The Men's Room (1991), and for lending his voice to animated films Flushed Away and The Magic Roundabout. He will play the role of Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister for Magic in the upcoming film, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Early life

Nighy was born in Caterham, Surrey. His mother, Catherine Josephine (née Whittaker), was a psychiatric nurse who was raised in Glasgow, and his father, Alfred Martin Nighy, managed a car garage and worked as a mechanic.¹ He has two older siblings, Martin and Anna. Nighy attended The John Fisher School, Purley. He trained at the Guildford School of Acting, known at the time as The Guildford School of Dance and Drama.

Career

After two seasons at the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, Nighy made his London stage debut at the National Theatre in an epic staging of Ken Campbell and Chris Langham's Illuminatus!, which opened the new Cottesloe Theatre on 4 March 1977, and went on to appear in two David Hare premieres, also at the National.

He has starred in many radio and television dramas, notably the BBC serial The Men's Room (1991). He claimed that the serial, an Ann Oakley novel adapted by Laura Lamson, was the job which launched his career.² More recently he has featured in the thriller State of Play (2003) and costume drama He Knew He Was Right (2004). He played Samwise Gamgee in the 1981 BBC Radio dramatization of The Lord of the Rings (where he was credited as William Nighy), and appeared in the 1980s BBC Radio versions of Yes Minister episodes. He starred alongside Stephen Moore and Lesley Sharp in the acclaimed short radio drama Kerton's Story first aired in 1996. He had a starring role in the 2002 return of Auf Wiedersehen, Pet, portraying crooked politician Jeffrey Grainger. He has also made a guest appearance in the BBC Radio 4 series Baldi.

Two of Nighy's most acclaimed stage performances were in National Theatre productions. Taking the role of Bernard Nightingale, an unscrupulous university don, in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia (1993), he engaged in witty exchanges with Felicity Kendal, playing the role of Hannah Jarvis, an author; and he played a consultant psychiatrist in Joe Penhall's Blue/Orange (2000), for which he won an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor, and which transferred to the West End at the Duchess Theatre the following year.

Bill Nighy outside the Music Box Theatre on Broadway following a performance of The Vertical Hour.

Nighy received some recognition by American audiences for his acclaimed portrayal of overaged rock star Ray Simms in the 1998 film Still Crazy. In 2003, Nighy played the role of the Vampire Elder Viktor in the American production Underworld and returned in the same role for the sequel Underworld: Evolution in 2006 and again the same role in the prequel Underworld: Rise of the Lycans. In February 2004, he was awarded the BAFTA Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as shameless, washed-up rocker Billy Mack in Love Actually (a role foreshadowed by his Still Crazy character) and followed this up at the BAFTA Television Awards in April with the Best Actor award for State of Play. He also appeared in the comedy Shaun of the Dead.

In early 2004, The Sunday Times reported that Nighy's was on the short-list for role of the Doctor in the 2005 revival of the BBC television series Doctor Who.³(Christopher Eccleston ultimately filled the role.)

In 2005, he appeared as Slartibartfast in the film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and also in the one-off BBC One comedy-drama The Girl in the Café. In February 2006, he appeared in scriptwriter Stephen Poliakoff's one-off drama, Gideon's Daughter. Nighy played the lead character, Gideon, a successful events organiser who begins to lose touch with the world around him. This performance won him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Mini-series or TV Movie in January 2007. Also in 2006, Nighy made his Broadway debut at the Music Box Theatre alongside Julianne Moore in The Vertical Hour, directed by Sam Mendes.

Nighy appeared in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, where he played the principal villain, Davy Jones. He reprised the role in the 2007 sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. He also provides the narration for the 2007 BBC series Meerkat Manor. Recently, he played the role of Richard Hart in Notes on a Scandal, for which he was nominated for a London Film Critics Circle award. He has twice played burned-out rock stars: Ray Simms in Still Crazy and Billy Mack in Love Actually. Nighy also appeared as General Friedrich Olbricht, one of the principal conspirators, in the 2008 film Valkyrie. He had played an SS officer in the 1985 Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil, which examined, inter alia, the struggle between the SA and the Nazi Party leadership (supported by the SS). In Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Nighy reprised the role of Viktor. Nighy is also set to star in a film Wild Target⁴ alongside Emily Blunt. It will be filmed on Isle of Man and London.

In July 2009, he announced he will play Rufus Scrimgeour in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.⁵ Nighy had already worked with director David Yates three times, and with the majority of Harry Potter cast in previous movies. He said of his role as Rufus Scrimgeour that it meant he was no longer the only English actor not to be in Harry Potter.⁶

It has also been announced that Nighy will star in the biographical films about the life of Elliot Spoerer, The Rise and Fall of the Real RocknRolla, playing Spoerer's grandfather, Jimmy Makin. The film is currently in pre-production and no date has been set for release.^{citation needed}

Personal life

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009)

Nighy shared a 27-year-relationship with British actress Diana Quick,⁷ with whom he has a daughter, actress and writer Mary Nighy. Bill Nighy currently lives in London and still spends a great deal of time with Diana.

He is a supporter of Crystal Palace Football Club and is the Patron of the CPFRIS (Crystal Palace F.C. Fast Results & Information Service) Disabled Children's Club.⁸ He is also a patron of the Ann Craft Trust.⁹

He has Dupuytren's contracture, a condition which causes the ring and perhaps other fingers of each hand to be permanently bent inwards towards the palm.

Work

Theatre

• The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Any More by Tennessee Williams - Watermill Theatre, Newbury
• Landscape and Silence, by Harold Pinter - Gateway Theatre, Chester
• Entertaining Mr Sloane by Joe Orton - Gateway Theatre, Chester
• Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead, by Tom Stoppard - Arts Theatre, Cambridge
• The Immoralist, from the novel by André Gide - Hampstead Theatre
• Speak Now, by Olwen Wymark - Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh (1971)
• Freedom of the City, by Brian Friel - Everyman Theatre, Liverpool
• Under New Management, by Chris Bond - Everyman Theatre, Liverpool
• Illuminatus!, Ken Campbell/Chris Langham - Liverpool Science Fiction Theatre (1975)
• Occupy! - Liverpool Everyman Theatre (1976)
• Illuminatus!, Ken Campbell/Chris Langham - NT Cottesloe (1977)
• Comings and Goings, by Mike Stott - Hampstead Theatre Club (1978)
• The Warp, by Neil Oram/ Ken Campbell - ICA (1979)
• Illuminations, by Peter Jenkins - Lyric Hammersmith (1980)
• A Map of the World, by David Hare - NT Lyttelton (1983)
• Pravda, by David Hare/ Howard Brenton - NT Olivier (1985)
• King Lear, by William Shakespeare - NT Olivier (1986)
• Mean Tears, by Peter Gill - NT Cottesloe (1987)
• Betrayal, by Harold Pinter - Almeida Theatre, London (1991)
• Arcadia, by Tom Stoppard - NT Lyttelton (1993)
• The Seagull, by Anton Chekhov/ad. Pam Gems - NT Olivier (1994)
• Skylight, by David Hare - NT production at Vaudeville Theatre, London (1995)/ UK tour (1997)
• A Kind of Alaska, by Harold Pinter - Donmar Warehouse (1998)
• Blue/Orange, by Joe Penhall - NT Cottesloe (2000), Duchess Theatre (2001)
• The Vertical Hour, by David Hare, Broadway production at the Music Box Theatre, NY (2006)

Radio

• The Lord of the Rings dramatized by Brian Sibley and Michael Bakewell from the novels by J.R.R. Tolkien (1981), credited as William Nighy
• I Wish to Apologise for My Part in the Apocalypse, by Duncan Macmillan of The Apathists, BBC Radio 4 (2008) ¹⁰
• A Charles Paris Mystery: Dead Side of the Mic, dramatised by Jeremy Front from the novel by Simon Brett (2009)¹¹
• Educating Rita by Willy Russell, adapted for radio by Willy Russell. 90 minute play for BBC Radio 4, broadcast Boxing day 2009.

Filmography

• Agony (1981)
• Eye of the Needle (1981)
• Curse of the Pink Panther (1983)
• The Little Drummer Girl (1984)
• Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil (1985)
• Thirteen at Dinner (1985)
• The Last Place on Earth (1985) (TV)
• The Phantom of the Opera: The Motion Picture (1989)
• Being Human (1993)
• FairyTale: A True Story (1997)
• Still Crazy (1998)
• Kiss Me Kate (1998) (TV)
• Guest House Paradiso (1999)
• Longitude (2000)
• Blow Dry (2001)
• Lawless Heart (2001)
• Lucky Break (2001)
• Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (2002)
• The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: Well Schooled in Murder (2002) (TV)
• The Lost Prince (2003) (TV)
• State of Play (2003) (TV)
• Ready When You Are, Mr McGill (2003)
• Love Actually (2003)
• I Capture the Castle (2003)
• Underworld (2003)
• Shaun of the Dead (2004)
• He Knew He Was Right (2004) (TV)
• Enduring Love (2004)
• The Girl in the Café (2005) (TV)
• The Magic Roundabout (2005) (voice)
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
• The Constant Gardener (2005)
• Underworld: Evolution (2006)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
• Flushed Away (2006) (voice)
• Notes on a Scandal (2006)
• Stormbreaker (2006)
• Hot Fuzz (2007)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007)
• Valkyrie (2008)
• Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (2009)
• The Boat That Rocked (2009)
• G-Force (2009)
• Astro Boy (2009) (voice)

Upcoming

• Glorious 39 (2009)
• Wild Target (2009)
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I (2010)
• Rango (2011) (voice)
• The Rise and Fall of the Real RocknRolla (TBA)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bill Nighy

• Bill Nighy at the Internet Movie Database
• Bill Nighy Bill Nighy Experience
• Bill Nighy at the British Film Institute's Screenonline
• Bill Nighy Org - news, info, photos, media
• Silk Sound Books
• Bill Nighy - Still Crazy website
• Bill Nighy Talks Pirates 2