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Derek Jacobi
Sir Derek George Jacobi is an English actor. Known for his roles on stage and screen as well as for his work at the Royal National Theatre, he has received numerous accolades including a Tony Award, a British Academy Television Award, two Laurence Olivier Awards, and two Primetime Emmy Awards. He was given a knighthood for his services to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.
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entertainment · English actor (born 1938) · television actor · film director · stage actor · film actor · actor · also Derek Jacobi, Jacobi
Born 22 October 1938 · Q256164
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2026· 7 entries
“have to provide their own emotional cushions, particularly in Shakespeare or anything classical, through their voice. And if you are doing a classical play . . . you”
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Radio Times: New Doctor Who adventure confirmed for Derek Jacobi as he returns to Master role
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BroadwayWorld: Derek Jacobi, Anjana Vasan, & More Join ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING Season 6
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Yahoo: Sir Derek Jacobi is 87, but retirement isn't in the plans
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Public attention spiked: 17,908 Wikipedia readers in one day, 8.4× the usual 2,120, with 0 article edits. Coverage that week: “Sir Derek Jacobi is 87, but retirement isn't in the plans” (Yahoo).
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The Guardian: ‘I want to hit 100’: Derek Jacobi on Aids, ageing and failing to boil an egg
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2024· 1 entry
Deadline.com: Derek Jacobi & Laura Whitmore Join Interactive Feature ‘Hello Stranger’
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2023· 1 entry
Jacobi appeared in The Martini Shot, a drama film written and directed by Stephen Wallis, which premiered at the Galway Film Fleadh in Ireland
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2022· 1 entry
Jacobi appeared in Allelujah, a film adaptation of Alan Bennett's play of the same name directed by Richard Eyre, which also starred Jennifer Saunders, Bally Gill, Russell Tovey, David Bradley, and Judi Dench
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2019· 1 entry
Reprised the role of the emperor Claudius in Horrible Histories: The Movie – Rotten Romans
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2018· 2 entries
Played the Bishop of Digne in the BBC miniseries Les Misérables
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Jacobi received the World United Creator – Platinum Demiurge Award for his tremendous contribution to uniting and promoting world literature based on his efforts to introduce William Shakespeare into modern cinema
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2015· 1 entry
Jacobi appeared as the King in Disney’s live-action version of “Cinderella"
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2013· 3 entries
HarperCollins published Jacobi's memoir, As Luck Would Have It
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Starred in the second series of Last Tango, and in 2014, the third series
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Jacobi starred alongside Ian McKellen in the ITV sitcom Vicious as Stuart Bixby, the partner to Freddie Thornhill, played by McKellen
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2012· 1 entry
Appeared in Titanic: Blood and Steel and in November 2012, he starred in the BBC series Last Tango in Halifax
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2011· 2 entries
Was part of a medieval epic, Ironclad, which also starred James Purefoy and Paul Giamatti, as the ineffectual Reginald de Cornhill, castellan of Rochester castle
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Jacobi accepted a role in the film Anonymous, about the Oxfordian theory, starring Rhys Ifans and Vanessa Redgrave
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2010· 1 entry
Returned to I, Claudius, as Augustus in a radio adaptation
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2009· 1 entry
Awarded Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for Twelfth Night (2009).
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2007· 1 entry
Jacobi and fellow Shakespearean actor and director Mark Rylance initiated a "Declaration of Reasonable Doubt" on the authorship of Shakespeare's work, to encourage new research into the question
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2006· 1 entry
Appeared in the children's movie Mist, the tale of a sheepdog puppy, he also narrated this movie
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2004· 2 entries
Starred as Lord Teddy Thursby in the first of the four-part BBC series The Long Firm, based on Jake Arnott's novel of the same name
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Jacobi starred in Friedrich Schiller's Don Carlos at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, in an acclaimed production, which transferred to the Gielgud Theatre in London in January 2005
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2003· 1 entry
Jacobi was involved with Scream of the Shalka, a webcast based on the science fiction series Doctor Who
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2002· 1 entry
Jacobi toured Australia in The Hollow Crown with Sir Donald Sinden, Ian Richardson and Dame Diana Rigg
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2001· 2 entries
Awarded Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for Frasier, season 8 (2001).
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Provided the voice of "Duke Theseus" in The Children's Midsummer Night's Dream film
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1996· 1 entry
(he played it again in 2000, bringing the Chekhov play to Broadway for a limited run)
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1994· 2 entries
Awarded Knight Bachelor (1994).
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Jacobi voiced Mr Jeremy Fisher in The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends
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1990· 1 entry
Starred as Daedalus in episode 4 of Jim Henson's The Storyteller: Greek Myths
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1989· 2 entries
Awarded Knight of the 1st Class of the Order of the Dannebrog (1989).
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Awarded Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for The Tenth Man (1989).
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1988· 1 entry
Jacobi alternated in West End the title roles of Shakespeare's Richard II and Richard III in repertoire
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1986· 1 entry
Made his West End debut in Breaking the Code by Hugh Whitemore, starring in the role of Alan Turing, which was written with Jacobi specifically in mind
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1985· 2 entries
Awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire (1985).
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Awarded Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for Much Ado About Nothing (1985).
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1983· 1 entry
Awarded Laurence Olivier Award for Actor of the Year in a Revival for Cyrano de Bergerac (1983).
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1982· 1 entry
Voiced Nicodemus in the animated film The Secret of NIMH
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1980· 1 entry
Jacobi took the leading role in the BBC's Hamlet, made his Broadway debut in The Suicide (a run shortened by Jacobi's return to England due to the death of his mother), and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)
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1979· 1 entry
Thanks to his international popularity, he took Hamlet on a theatrical world tour through England, Egypt, Greece, Sweden, Australia, Japan and China, playing Prince Hamlet
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1978· 1 entry
Appeared in the BBC Television Shakespeare production of Richard II, with Sir John Gielgud and Dame Wendy Hiller
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1976· 2 entries
Awarded British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for I, Claudius (1976).
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When he played the title role in the BBC's series I, Claudius in which his performance as the stammering, twitching Emperor Claudius, won much praise and cemented his reputation
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1972· 1 entry
Starred in the BBC series Man of Straw, an adaptation of Heinrich Mann's book Der Untertan, directed by Herbert Wise
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1938· 1 entry
Born 1938-10-22.
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