Sean Pertwee

Sean Pertwee
Pertwee in 2017
Born
Sean Carl Roland Pertwee

(1964-06-04) 4 June 1964 (age 60)
Hammersmith, London, England
Alma materBristol Old Vic Theatre School
Occupations
  • Actor
  • narrator
  • producer
Years active1975–present
Known for
Spouse
Jacqueline Hamilton-Smith
​
​
(m. 1999)​
Children2 (1 deceased)[a]
FatherJon Pertwee
Relatives

Sean Carl Roland Pertwee (born 4 June 1964) is an English actor, narrator and producer. His credits include Chancer (1990), Leon the Pig Farmer (1992), Cadfael (1994), Bodyguards (1997), Event Horizon (1997), Stiff Upper Lips (1998), Soldier (1998), Cleopatra (1999), Love, Honour and Obey (2000), Dog Soldiers (2002), Julius Caesar (2003), Ancient Rome–The Rise And Fall of an Empire: Caesar (2006), Doomsday (2008), Honest (2008), Devil's Playground (2010), Four (2011), Wild Bill (2011), Elementary (2013–2014), Howl (2015), Gotham (2014-2019), Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse (2020), You (2023), Silent Witness (2024), and The Night Caller (2024).

Early life

Pertwee was born on 4 June 1964 in Hammersmith, London[1] to actor Jon Pertwee, (who played the Third Doctor in Doctor Who)[1] and his German second wife, Ingeborg Rhoesa. Playwright and screenwriter Roland Pertwee was his grandfather;[1] his sister is actress Dariel Pertwee.[1]

Pertwee was educated at Teddington Boys' School,[1] in Richmond upon Thames, and then Sunbury College, Surrey.[1] He later studied acting at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, graduating in 1986.[1][2]

Career

Theatre

Pertwee joined the Royal Shakespeare Company toured with them for three years.[3] During this time, he appeared in Titus Andronicus at the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon (1987),[3] and The New Inn at the People's Theatre, Newcastle upon Tyne (1988).[3]

TV and Film

He appeared in Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot – The King of Clubs alongside David Suchet (12 March 1989). In 1992, he starred as Keith Chadwick in Leon the Pig Farmer.[4][5]

In 1994, he appeared as Hugh Beringar alongside Derek Jacobi in the first series of the television series Cadfael. In 1997, he starred alongside Laurence Fishburne, Sam Neill, Joely Richardson, and Jason Isaacs in the space based science fiction horror film Event Horizon (1997).[6] In 1998, he starred alongside Kurt Russell in the science fiction action film Soldier (1998).[7]

In 1999 he portrayed Brutus in the Hallmark Channel film Cleopatra. He co-owned the Natural Nylon film production company along with Sadie Frost, Jude Law, Jonny Lee Miller, and Ewan McGregor.[8] and starred alongside them in Love, Honour and Obey (2000).[9] Pertwee became known for his portrayal of grimacing death, particularly in the Neil Marshall Werewolf film Dog Soldiers (2002),[7] a skill which led to him being awarded 'Best Death Face' at Bristol Old Vic.[10]

He appeared in the film Devil's Playground (2010),[7] a horror film directed by Mark McQueen, starring alongside Danny Dyer, Jaime Murray, and Craig Fairbrass. Pertwee appeared in the Nazi zombie film The 4th Reich[11] which he filmed in 2010, directed by Shaun Smith.[12]

In 2014, he was cast in Fox's TV series Gotham, a series presenting an origin for the characters of the Batman franchise. Pertwee portrays Alfred Pennyworth, an ex-special forces soldier from London who works as the Wayne family's loyal butler. After Thomas and Martha Wayne are murdered, he becomes guardian and mentor to the future Batman.[13]

In 2024, he played Detective Inspector John Flynn in Silent Witness in the episodes "Death by a Thousand Hits" Part 1 and 2.[14] He played a late night disc jockey in Channel 5's four part mini-series The Night Caller, broadcast in 2024.[1]

Voice

He appeared in the 2008 film Doomsday as Doctor Talbot. His voice is frequently heard in a variety of television commercials, documentaries and video games, including the medieval empire-building computer game Medieval: Total War and futuristic war games Killzone (as Colonel Gregor Hakha),[15] Killzone 2 (as Colonel Mael Radec),[15] and Fire Warrior (as Governor Severus). He is also the voice behind the Northeast's tourism advertisement which started broadcasting at the start of 2009. He replaced India Fisher from the fourth series onwards, as the narrator of Masterchef: The Professionals.[16] He starred alongside John Hurt as Brother Proteus in the animated film Ultramarines: The Movie (2010) a Warhammer 40,000 Movie.[17]

Pertwee has been in several dramatic works for BBC Radio 4, including playing the actor Oliver Reed in the play Burning Both Ends by Matthew Broughton in 2011.[18]

Personal life

Pertwee married Jacqueline Jane "Jacqui" Hamilton-Smith, a make-up artist, daughter of Anthony Hamilton-Smith, on 12 June 1999 at the House of Lords. His wife gave birth to twins, in 2001. They were born prematurely; one dying four days later.[19]

Politics

Pertwee presented a television party political broadcast on behalf of the Labour Party in the 2010 UK general election.[20][21]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes/Refs.
1991 Coping with Cupid Peter Short[22][23]
1992 Leon the Pig Farmer Keith Chadwick [4]
1993 Dirty Weekend The Quiet One
Swing Kids Uncredited
1994 Shopping Tommy [24]
1995 Blue Juice J.C.
ID Martin [25]
1997 Event Horizon Pilot Smith [6][26][27]
1998 Soldier Mace [7]
Tale of the Mummy Bradley Cortese
Stiff Upper Lips George [28][29]
1999 Cleopatra Brutus
2000 Five Seconds to Spare Piers [30]
Love, Honour and Obey Sean [9]
Seven Days to Live [de] Martin Shaw [31]
2001 The 51st State Detective Virgil Kane [32]
2002 Equilibrium Father [7]
Dog Soldiers Sergeant Harry G. Wells [7]
2005 Goal! Barry Rankin [7]
The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby Duncan Smithie [7]
The Prophecy: Uprising Dani Simionescu [7]
The Last Drop Sgt Bill McMillan [7]
2006 Renaissance Montoya [7]
Wilderness Jed [7]
2007 Dangerous Parking Ray Molina [7]
Goal! 2: Living the Dream... Barry Rankin [7]
Botched Mr. Groznyi [7]
2008 Doomsday Dr. Talbot [7]
Mutant Chronicles Nathan Rooker
2010 4.3.2.1. Mr. Richards
Just for the Record Sensei [7]
Ultramarines: The Movie Brother Proteus [17]
Devil's Playground Rob [7]
2011 Four Detective [7]
Wild Bill Jack
2012 The Seasoning House Goran [33]
Naked Harbour Robert
St George's Day Proctor [7]
2013 UFO Tramp [34]
The Magnificent Eleven Pete
Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa SFO Steve Stubbs [35]
2015 Howl Train Driver Tony
2020 The Reckoning Moorcroft
2022 The Invitation Mr. Fields
2024 Duchess Danny Oswald

Television

Year Title Role Notes/Refs.
1989 Poirot: The King of Clubs Ronnie Oglander
Casualty Nick Series 4 Episode 3 - "Chain Reaction"
Hard Cases Dominic Lutovski 7 episodes
1990 Chancer Jamie Douglas Recurring - 8 episodes
Cluedo Richard Forrest Episode: "Christmas Past, Christmas Present" (S 1:Ep 7)
1991 The Chief Det. Sgt. Kevin Powers "Episode 2" (S 2:Ep 2)
Clarissa John Belford 4 episodes
1992 Virtual Murder Matt Andries Episode : "Dreams Imagic" (S 1:Ep 6)
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles Captain Heinz Episode : "Trenches of Hell, Part 2)" (S 2:Ep 3)
Boon David Kennedy Episode : "Whispering Grass" (S 8:Ep 12)
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries Det Sgt Barry Vine 4 episodes
A Touch of Frost Dazza Scott S3 Episode 2 : "Quarry"
1993 Peak Practice Francis Barrat Episode : "Hope to Die"
1994 Cadfael Sheriff Hugh Beringar Series 1
1996 Deadly Voyage Ion Plesin TV film directed by John Mackenzie and written by Stuart Urban
1997 Bodyguards Ian Worell Main cast
1998 Macbeth Macbeth UK TV
2000 Operation Good Guys The Leader Episode : "The Leader" (S 3:Ep 4)
In the Beginning Isaac Two-part biblical TV Mini-series directed by Kevin Connor
2001 Cold Feet (2001) Mark Cubitt Guest star; Series 4 - 4 episodes
2003 Cold Feet (2003) Mark Cubitt Guest Star; Series 5 - 2 episodes
Waking The Dead Carl Mackenzie Episode :
  • "Multistorey, Part One" (S 3:Ep 1)
  • "Multistorey, Part Two" (S 3:Ep 2)
Julius Caesar (2003) Titus Labienus Two-part Miniseries directed by Uli Edel[36]
2004 Bo' Selecta! Himself "Episode Five" (S 3:Ep 5)
2004–2005 A Bear's Tail Richard Head Series 4 – 7 episodes
2006 Agatha Christie's Marple Dr. Owen Griffith Episode : "The Moving Finger"
Ancient Rome–The Rise And Fall of an Empire: Caesar Julius Caesar S1 E2 - "Caesar"
2007 Nuclear Secrets Narrator 5 episodes
The Tudors English ambassador in the Italian Duchy of Urbino Episode : "In Cold Blood" (S 1:EP 1)
When Evil Calls The Janitor Miniseries - 2 episodes [37]
2008 Honest DS. Ed Bain 6 episodes
The Wrong Door 4 episodes
Skins Soldier on the Train and Simon the Lecturer Episode : "Tony" (S 2:Ep 6)
A Journey To The Edge Of The Universe Narrator
2009 Law & Order: UK Josh Pritchard Episode : "Vice" (S 1:Ep 3)
2010 Luther Terry Lynch "Episode 2" (S 1:Ep 2)
2011 National Geographic: Islands Series Narrator Cyprus
Camelot Sir Ector recurring; Series 1 - 3 episodes
2013 Jo Charlie 8 episodes
The Five(ish) Doctors Reboot Himself TV film
Agatha Christie's Poirot Sir George Stubbs Episode : "Dead Man's Folly"
Death in Paradise Malcolm Powell Episode: "A Deadly Party" (S 2:EP 8) [38]
2013–2014 Elementary Inspector Lestrade 3 episodes
2014–2019 Gotham Alfred Pennyworth Main cast - 99 episodes [13]
2014 The Musketeers Sarazin Episode : "Musketeers Don't Die Easily" (S 1:EP 10)
2019 Prodigal Son Owen Shannon Episode : "Silent Night" (S 1:EP 10)
2020 Agatha Christie's The Pale Horse Inspector Lejeune 2 episodes
Two Weeks to Live Jimmy 2 episodes
2023 You Vic 3 episodes
2023– Naked, Alone and Racing to Get Home Narrator
2024 Silent Witness Detective Inspector John Flynn Episode : "Death by a Thousand Hits" Part 1 (S 27: Ep 7) & "Death by a Thousand Hits" Part 2 (S 27: Ep 8) [14]
The Night Caller Lawrence Brightway 4 episodes [1]

Theatre

Year Title Role Notes Refs.
1997 Tom Jones Captain Fitzpatrick A BBC adaptation for the stage by playwright Joan Macalpine. [39]

Radio

Year Title Role Refs.
2011 Burning Both Ends Oliver Reed [18]

Video games

Year Title Role/!Refs.
1996 The Gene Machine Piers Featherstonehaugh
2001 Shadowman: Second Coming Asmodeus & additional voices
2002 Medieval: Total War Narrator
2003 Primal Jared
Warhammer 40,000: Fire Warrior Governor Severus [17]
Gladiator: Sword of Vengeance Invictus Thrax
2004 Killzone Colonel Gregor Hakha [15]
2008 Fable II Additional Voices [15]
2009 Killzone 2 Colonel Mael Radec [15]
2010 Fable III Captain Saker [15]
2012 PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale Colonel Mael Radec [15]
2013 Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag Peter Chamberlaine

Notes

  1. ^ One child is deceased.

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Helen Fear (10 July 2024). "The Night Caller's Sean Pertwee: Devastating loss of son, long-term marriage to wife, and famous family". entertainmentdaily.com.
  2. ^ "Old Vic Alumni - Sean Pertwee". oldvic.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  3. ^ a b c "Sean Pertwee performances". theatricalia.com. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Leon the Pig Farmer". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 4 August 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  5. ^ "Leon the Pig Farmer". timeout.com. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  6. ^ a b "Event Horizon – Box Office Data". The Numbers. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t "Sean Pertwee". rottentomatoes.com. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  8. ^ Boehm, Erich (18 February 2002). "Natural Nylon to go public".Variety. Retrieved 1 July 2009.
  9. ^ a b "love, Honour and Obey". Variety. 10 April 2000.
  10. ^ "32 Things We Learned from Neil Marshall's Dog Soldiers Commentary". 22 June 2015.
  11. ^ "The 4th Reich Steps It Up with Some Concept Artwork". DreadCentral. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  12. ^ "SHORT CUTS #3: THE SOLDIER". Fangoria. Retrieved 30 December 2012. [dead link‍]
  13. ^ a b Marechal, AJ (11 February 2014). "Fox's 'Gotham' Casts Classic 'Batman' Characters the Penguin, Alfred Pennyworth". Variety. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
  14. ^ a b "Silent Witness season 27 cast: Meet the characters". radiotimes.com. 5 February 2024. Retrieved 7 February 2024.
  15. ^ a b c d e f g "Sean Pertwee". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  16. ^ "Sean Pertwee Audio Samples". sueterryvoices.com. Retrieved 10 October 2024.
  17. ^ a b c "Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie". Allmovie. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  18. ^ a b "Burning Both Ends: When Oliver Reed Met Keith Moon". BBC. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  19. ^ McGarrigle, Clyde (12 February 2016). "Sean Pertwee: my family values". The Guardian.
  20. ^ "General Election 2010: David Tennant and Sean Pertwee star in Labour advert". The Daily Telegraph. 12 April 2010. Retrieved 12 April 2010.
  21. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "The Road Ahead". YouTube. April 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
  22. ^ "Coping with Cupid – BFI – British Film Institute". BFI. Archived from the original on 12 July 2012. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  23. ^ "Coping with Cupid (1991) Digital – LOVEFiLM". LoveFilm.com. Archived from the original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  24. ^ "Shopping". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  25. ^ "I.D. (1995) Full Cast & Crew". IMDb.com. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  26. ^ "Event Horizon (1997)". Box Office Mojo. 19 September 1997. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  27. ^ "Event Horizon". Boxoffice.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  28. ^ "Stiff Upper Lips Review. Movie Reviews". Time Out. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  29. ^ Holden, Stephen (27 August 1999). "Stiff Upper Lips – FILM REVIEW". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  30. ^ "Five Seconds to Spare". IMDb.com. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  31. ^ "Seven Days to Live". IMDb.com. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  32. ^ "The 51st State". London: British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 25 May 2009. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  33. ^ "The Seasoning House". IMDb.com. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  34. ^ "Jean-Claude Van Damme to Shoot UFO Film in Derby". BBC News. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  35. ^ Chitwood, Adam (20 August 2013). "Steve Coogan Comedy ALAN PARTRIDGE Set for Early 2014 U.S. Release". Collider.com. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  36. ^ "Julius Caesar (2002)". IMDb.com. 29 June 2003. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  37. ^ "When Evil Calls". IMDb.com. Retrieved 30 December 2014.
  38. ^ "BBC Media Centre Programme Information". BBC. 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
  39. ^ "Tom Jones (Macalpine)". Samuelfrench-london.co.uk. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2014.