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Full Name:Bill Nighy
Birth Name:William Francis Nighy
Famous As: Actor
Date of Birth: December 12, 1949
Place of Birth: Caterham, Surrey, England, UK
Height: 6' 1?
Nationality: British
Relationships: Diana Quick (partner, actress)
Daughter(s): Mary Nighy (actress, b. Dec 31, 1984)
Education: Attended Guildford School of Dance and Drama
Claim to Fame: As Billy Mack in movie Love Actually (2003)

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Bill Nighy Biography

Bill Nighy
extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Bill Nighy

Bill Nighy, May 2007
Born William Francis Nighy
December 12, 1949 (1949-12-12) (age 58)
Caterham, Surrey, England
Occupation Actor
Years active 1975 - Present
Official website

William Francis "Bill" Nighy (pronounced /ˈnaɪ/; born December 12, 1949) is a Golden Globe- and BAFTA-award winning English actor. He started working in theatre and television, before his first cinema role in 1981, and is perhaps best known to international film audiences for his roles in Love Actually, Shaun of the Dead, Notes on a Scandal, Underworld and Pirates of the Caribbean.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Nighy was born in Caterham, Surrey, the son of Catherine Josephine (née Whittaker), a psychiatric nurse, and Alfred Martin Nighy, who managed a car garage and worked as a mechanic.123 He has two older siblings, Martin and Anna. Nighy attended the John Fisher School in Purley. He trained at the Guildford School of Acting, formerly known 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 March 4, 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), and more recently 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 leading male role in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia (1993), he played an unscrupulous university don in witty exchanges with Felicity Kendal; 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.

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. In February 2004, he was awarded the BAFTA Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Love Actually, 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 British tabloid press reported Nighy's partner as saying that he had been offered the coveted role of the Doctor in the 2005 revival of the BBC television series Doctor Who.4 He is alleged to have told reporters that he had considered but ultimately rejected the offer.who? The editor of Doctor Who Magazine, Clayton Hickman, had earlier mentioned to the press that Nighy was the first choice of executive producer and writer Russell T Davies. The role was accepted by Christopher Eccleston some weeks later and Davies subsequently claimed that Eccleston had always been the first choice for the role.

Bill Nighy outside the Music Box Theatre on Broadway after a production of The Vertical Hour.

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 alongside Julianne Moore in The Vertical Hour, which was directed by Sam Mendes at the Music Box Theatre.

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.

With the announcement of Underworld: Rise of the Lycans, Nighy will reprise the role of Viktor. Filming began in January 2008. David Yates has said that Nighy would be his first choice for the role of Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour in the upcoming Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Nighy is also set to star in a film Wild Target5 alongside Helena Bonham Carter. It will be filmed on Isle of Man and London.

Personal life

Nighy shared a 27-year-relationship with actress Diana Quick,6 with whom he has a daughter, Mary (born 1984).

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.7 Nighy lives near the director Richard Curtis in Suffolk.

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

Theatre

Filmography

Upcoming

Video Games

References

External links

Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Christopher Walken
for Catch Me If You Can
BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
2004
for Love Actually
Succeeded by
Clive Owen
for Closer
Preceded by
Jonathan Rhys Meyers
for Elvis
Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
2007
for Gideon's Daughter
Succeeded by
Jim Broadbent
for Longford
 

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Bill Nighy Videos

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video An hour with Golden Globe winning actor Bill Nighy. Hes currently on Broadway in David Hares

Title: Charlie Rose An hour with Bill Nighy
Description: An hour with Golden Globe winning actor Bill Nighy. Hes currently on Broadway in David Hares "The Vertical Hour". His latest film is "Notes on ...

video Bill Nighy, who portrays Davey Jones in the movie Pirates Of The Caribbean   Dead Mans Chest, talked about the pros and cons of filming in the ... Picture

Title: PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN BILL NIGHY CARIBBEAN NIGHTS
Description: Bill Nighy, who portrays Davey Jones in the movie Pirates Of The Caribbean Dead Mans Chest, talked about the pros and cons of filming in the ...

video Bill Nighy doing what Bill Nighy does best,Giving his all as Ray Simms in the film Still Crazy. Picture

Title: Bill Nighy Sings
Description: Bill Nighy doing what Bill Nighy does best,Giving his all as Ray Simms in the film Still Crazy.

video Actor Bill Nighy discusses how he left home at the age of 15 to become a writer. Picture

Title: Bill Nighy Talks With Charlie Rose
Description: Actor Bill Nighy discusses how he left home at the age of 15 to become a writer.

video the is a song from Still Crazy CD, that featured Bill Nighy. Song is called All Over The World. Picture

Title: Still Crazy Bill Nighy
Description: the is a song from Still Crazy CD, that featured Bill Nighy. Song is called All Over The World.

video An hour with Golden Globe winning actor Bill Nighy. Hes currently on Broadway in David Hares

Title: Charlie Rose An hour with Bill Nighy
Description: An hour with Golden Globe winning actor Bill Nighy. Hes currently on Broadway in David Hares "The Vertical Hour". His latest film is "Notes on ...

video This Black and White slideshow of Bill Nighy is dedicated to the girls from the Billboard...  Lau  wants to share the experience. Enjoy... Picture

Title: Bill Nighy Slideshow
Description: This Black and White slideshow of Bill Nighy is dedicated to the girls from the Billboard... Lau wants to share the experience. Enjoy...

video British stars like to celebrate their home traditions for Christmas as evidenced by Rufus Sewell, Bill Nighy, and Cate Blanchett Keywords:The ... Picture

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Description: British stars like to celebrate their home traditions for Christmas as evidenced by Rufus Sewell, Bill Nighy, and Cate Blanchett Keywords:The ...