Bill Nighy
Bill Nighy

Date of Birth
12 December 1949, Caterham, Surrey, England, UK

Birth Name
William Francis Nighy

Height
6' 2"
Bill Nighy was born on December 12th 1949 in Caterham, Surrey. His father managed a garage in Croydon and his mother
worked as a psychiatric nurse. At school he gained 'O'-levels in English Language and English Literature and enjoyed reading,
particularly Ernest Hemingway. On leaving school he wanted to become a journalist but didn't have the required qualifications. He
eventually went on to work as a messenger boy for the Field magazine. He stayed in Paris for a while because he wanted to write
"the great novel", but he only managed to write the title. When he ran out of money, the British consul shipped him home. A
girlfriend suggested that he should become an actor, so he trained at Guildford School of Dance and Drama. Since then he has
found continuous work as an actor, on stage, screen and radio. His stage work includes National Theatre roles in Tom Stoppard's
Arcadia in 1993, David Hare's Skylight and Blue Orange. Bill's partner was actress Diana Quick (he asked her to marry him but
she said: "don't ask me again", he called her his wife because anything else would have been too difficult). They have a
daughter, Mary Nighy, who is studying at university and contemplating an acting career. She has already began to appear on TV
dramas and radio programs.

An English actor and comedian, he worked in theatre and television before his first cinema role in 1981, and made his name in
television with The Men's Room in 1991, in which he played the womanizer, Prof Mark Carleton, whose extra-marital affairs kept
him "vital." He became known around the world in 2003 as Bill Mack, the aging pop star in Love Actually - For which je won the
Delta's Choice Award for Best Comedic Performance - "Hiya kids. Here is an important message from your Uncle Bill. Don't buy
drugs..... Become a pop star, and they give you them for free!"— and in the same year played James Mortmain, the eccentric
husband struggling to keep his family afloat in a decaying English castle, in I Capture the Castle.

He is also known for his roles in  Underworld (2003), Shaun of the Dead (2004), Notes on a Scandal (2006), Stormbreaker
(2006), Pirates of the Caribbean (2007), Hot Fuzz (2007), and Valkyrie (2008), and for lending his voice to animated films The
Magic Roundabout (2005) and Flushed Away (2006). He plays Rufus Scrimgeour, the Minister for Magic, in the upcoming Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
1976 "Softly Softly" .... Albert Blake (TV, 1 episode)
1978-1982 "Play for Today" .... Bill / ... (TV, 3 episodes)
1979 "Premiere" .... Deasey (TV, 1 episode)
1980 "BBC2 Playhouse" - Standing in for Henry (TV, 1 episode)
1980 Little Lord Fauntleroy  .... Officer
1980 "Agony" .... Vincent Fish (TV, 7 episodes)
1980 "Fox" .... Colin Street (TV, 2 episodes)
1981 Eye of the Needle  .... Squadron Leader Blenkinsop
1982 "Play for Tomorrow" .... Connor Mullan (TV, 1 episode)
1982 "Minder" .... Oates (TV, 1 episode)
1983 "Reilly: Ace of Spies" .... Goschen (TV, 1 episode)
1983 Curse of the Pink Panther  .... ENT Doctor
1983 "Jemima Shore Investigates" (TV, 1 episode)
1984 The Little Drummer Girl  .... Al
1984 "Crown Court" .... Lee Sinclair (TV, 1 episode)
1985 Thirteen at Dinner  .... Ronald Marsh
1985 Hitler's S.S.: Portrait in Evil  .... Helmut Hoffmann
1985 "The Last Place on Earth" .... Cecil Meares (TV, 4 episodes)
1987 "Muzzy" .... TV series (voice) .... Judge Gilbert
1989 Mack the Knife  .... Tiger Brown
1989 The Phantom of the Opera  .... Martin Barton
1989 "Storyboard" .... Sam (TV, 1 episode)
1990 "Making News" .... TV series .... Sam Courtney
1991 "Bergerac" .... Barry (TV, 1 episode)
1991 "Boon" .... Steve Reeves (TV, 1 episode)
1991 "The Men's Room" .... Prof. Mark Carleton (TV, 5 episodes)
1991 Antonia and Jane  .... Howard Nash
1991 Absolute Hell  .... Hugh Marriner
1992 "Chillers" .... Tom Dickenson (TV, 1 episode)
1992 A Masculine Ending  .... John Tracey
1993 "Performance" .... Roger Maitland (TV, 1 episode)
1993 Don't Leave Me This Way  .... John Tracey
1993 "Peak Practice" .... Alan Sinclair (TV, 1 episode)
1993 Unnatural Causes  .... Oliver Latham
1993 Being Human  .... Julian
1993 "Eye of the Storm" .... TV mini-series .... Tom Frewen
1994 "Wycliffe" .... David Cleeve (TV, 1 episode)
1996 "Testament: The Bible in Animation" .... Belshazzar (TV, 1 episode)
1996 Indian Summer  .... Tristan
1996 True Blue  .... Jeremy Saville   
1997 FairyTale: A True Story  .... Edward Gardner
1997 "Kavanagh QC" .... Giles Culpepper QC (TV, 1 episode)
1998 Still Crazy  .... Ray Simms
1998-2000 "The Canterbury Tales" .... The Merchant (TV, 2 episodes)
1999 Guest House Paradiso  .... Mr Johnson
1999 "People Like Us" .... Will Rushmore (TV, 1 episode)
1999-2000 "Kiss Me Kate" .... Iain Cameron / ... (TV, 3 episodes)
2000 Longitude  .... Lord Sandwich
2000 The Magic of Vincent  .... Peter Saunders
2001 Lucky Break  .... Roger 'Rog' Chamberlain / King George III in Show
2001 Lawless Heart  .... Dan
2001 Blow Dry  .... Ray (Raymond) Robertson
2002 "Auf Wiedersehen, Pet" .... Jeffrey Grainger (TV, 6 episodes)
2002 "The Inspector Lynley Mysteries" .... Lockwood (TV, 1 episode)
2002 AKA  .... Uncle Louis Gryffoyn
2002 "Animated Tales of the World" .... Tiger (TV, 1 episode)
2003 Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher  .... Narrator
2003 The Young Visiters  .... Earl of Clincham
2003 "Canterbury Tales" .... James (TV, 1 episode)
2003 Underworld  .... Viktor
2003 Love Actually  .... Billy Mack
2003 "State of Play" .... Cameron Foster (TV, 6 episodes)
2003 The Lost Prince  .... Stamfordham
2003 I Capture the Castle  .... James Mortmain
2003 Ready When You Are Mr. McGill  .... Phil Parish
2004 Enduring Love  .... Robin
2004 "He Knew He Was Right" .... TV mini-series .... Colonel Osborne
2004 Shaun of the Dead  .... Philip
2005 Gideon's Daughter  .... Gideon Warner
2005 The Constant Gardener  .... Sir Bernard Pellegrin
2005 The Girl in the Café  .... Lawrence
2005 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy  .... Slartibartfast
2005 The Magic Roundabout (voice: English version) .... Dylan
2006 Flushed Away  .... Whitey
2006 Notes on a Scandal  .... Richard Hart
2006 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest  .... Davy Jones
2006 Stormbreaker  .... Alan Blunt
2006 Underworld: Evolution  .... Viktor
2007 Hot Fuzz  .... Met Chief Inspector
2007 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End  .... Davy Jones
2008 Kis Vuk  .... Ringmaster
2008 Slapper  .... Arnold Percy
2008 Valkyrie  .... General Friedrich Olbricht
2009 Astro Boy  .... Dr. Elefun  
2009 Glorious 39  .... Alexander
2009 G-Force  .... Leonard Saber
2009 The Boat That Rocked  .... Quentin
2009 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans  .... Viktor
2009 Wild Target  .... Victor Maynard
2009 Statuesque  (post-production)
Filmography
Awards
BAFTA Awards
2004 - BAFTA Film Award  - Best Performance by an Actor in a  
                                             Supporting Role     for: Love Actually  
2004 - BAFTA TV Award Best Actor     for: "State of Play"

Broadcasting Press Guild Awards
2004 - Broadcasting Press Guild Award - Best Actor     for: State of Play

Deltas Choice Awards
2004 - Delta   - Best Comedic Performance    for: Love Actually

Evening Standard British Film Awards
2004 - Peter Sellers Award for Comedy     for: Love Actually
1999 - Peter Sellers Award for Comedy     for: Still Crazy

Golden Globes, USA
2007 - Golden Globe - Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series
                                     or a Motion Picture Made for Television
                                     for: Gideon's Daughter

London Critics Circle Film Awards
2004 - ALFS Award - British Supporting Actor of the Year  
                                 for: Love Actually

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards
2004 - LAFCA Award - Best Supporting Actor
         for: AKA    Also for: I Capture the Castle , Lawless Heart, and
                 Love Actually.

Satellite Awards
2006 - Satellite Award - Best Actor in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture
                                      Made for Television      for: Gideon's Daughter
2005 - Golden Satellite Award - Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a
                   Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
                                       for: The Lost Prince

Teen Choice Awards
2007 - Teen Choice Award - Choice Movie: Villain
                                            for: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
2006 - Teen Choice Award Movies - Choice Sleazebag
                                      for: Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest