Timothy Spall

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Birthday:

27 February 1957, Battersea, London, England, UK

Birth Name:

Timothy Leonard Spall

Height:

173 cm

Timothy Leonard Spall was born in Battersea, London, to Sylvia R. (Leonard), a hairdresser, and Joseph L. Spall, a postal worker. He was raised in London. Spall auditioned and earned a spot with the National Youth Theatre and later showed great promise at RADA where he portrayed the title roles in "Macbeth" and "Othello." In 1979 he joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and stayed for approximately two years performing in "The Merry Wives of Windsor," "Cymbeline," "The Three Sisters" and "Nicholas Nickleby." In the early 80s he moved into TV roles with Leigh's "Home Sweet Home" and later had his own drama series "Frank Stubbs Promotes" in 1993. With Leigh, Timothy's appeared in a number of award-winning features, particularly Life Is Sweet (1990) and Secrets & Lies (1996), for which he earned a BAFTA Award nomination, and the Gilbert & Sullivan biopic Topsy-Turvy (1999). He also worked for noted directors Ken Russell in Gothic (1986), Clint Eastwood in White Hunter Black Heart (1990), Bernardo Bertolucci in The Sheltering Sky (1990), and Kenneth Branagh in Hamlet (1996) as Rosenkrantz. A chronic illness curtailed his momentum in the mid-90s, coming back resourcefully on stage and TV. On a roll recently with more of his odd characterizations he lent his voice to the popular animated feature Chicken Run (2000) and appeared in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) as Peter Pettigrew, and A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004) as Mr. Poe. Show less «

On his battle with leukemia: "I didn't know what made me ill but stress had something to do with it and the point is now to head off stress ...Show more »

On his battle with leukemia: "I didn't know what made me ill but stress had something to do with it and the point is now to head off stress at the pass. It made me aware of things and become more selective. I am less worried about employment. I really do my homework so I am not getting stressed on the set because I don't know what I'm doing." Show less «

[talking about the roles that have made him famous] "What some people take to be losers, I consider to be representative of normal life."

[on the possibility of an award at Cannes for 'Mr. Turner'] If it comes up, I'll have a go. Someone's got to win one. Actors always say, 'Oh...Show more »

[on the possibility of an award at Cannes for 'Mr. Turner'] If it comes up, I'll have a go. Someone's got to win one. Actors always say, 'Oh, competition shouldn't be part of art'. Bollocks. It's a part of everything. Show less «

[on inadvertently assuming the persona of J.M.W. Turner in a pub , while preparing for his role] I grunted in a Georgian way, 'Are you a pro...Show more »

[on inadvertently assuming the persona of J.M.W. Turner in a pub , while preparing for his role] I grunted in a Georgian way, 'Are you a provider of wine?' I had to go and lean against a wall and take a deep breath to go back and ask, 'Can I have a glass of Pinot Grigio?'This is the only time in my life when the character bled into me. Show less «

Obviously I can't paint like Turner. I can paint like he did at nine. If you look at his paintings from when he was nine, they're not bad.

I've always said, "There's the funny-looking character actor who plays the same role every time". But I'm the funny-looking character actor ...Show more »

I've always said, "There's the funny-looking character actor who plays the same role every time". But I'm the funny-looking character actor who plays many different kinds. Show less «