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Simon Russell Beale (born January 12 , 1961 , in Penang , Malaya) is an accomplished British Actor . He has made his strongest mark on the stage, although he has done fine work in television as well. He was born into a medical family. At the age of eight he became a chorister at St Paul's Cathedral . At the age of fourteen he gave his first theatre performance in '' Othello '' at Clifton College . He went to Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge University and obtained a first in English. He graduated from Guildhall School of Music and Drama in 1983. As an actor, Beale resembles Peter Ustinov rather more than Gregory Peck , as he is somewhat portly and has a soft, supple speaking style. He brings great subtlety, wit, and intelligence to his dialogue. In 1995 Beale first received great acclaim in for his dazzling performance as Mosca in Ben Jonson 's '' Volpone '' opposite Michael Gambon at the National Theatre production directed by Matthew Warchus . Other acclaimed performances include his appearances in '' Jumpers '' by Tom Stoppard , '' Uncle Vanya '' by Anton Chekhov , '' Humble Boy '' by Charlotte Jones , and '' Othello '', '' Twelfth Night '', and '' Hamlet '' by William Shakespeare . His portrayal of Hamlet attracted more than the usual amount of attention because, in the eyes of some, Beale was too middle-aged and fussy to embody the quintessentially youthful and contemplative hero once played by virile actors like Laurence Olivier , Richard Burton , Mel Gibson , Ethan Hawke , and so on. Beale's performance, while admittedly short on vigor, was pitched to a softer and more conversational key; it was a resounding success, becoming one of the most noteworthy Hamlets of recent decades with yards to spare. In 1997 he portrayed the pivotal role of Kenneth Widmerpool in a television adaptation of Anthony Powell 's '' A Dance To The Music Of Time '', for which he won the Best Actor category at the British Academy Television Awards in 1998. He also played the King of Hearts in a 1999 television adaptation of Lewis Carroll 's '' Alice In Wonderland ''. He has won the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award three times. In 2003 he was appointed CBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours List. His most recent role is that of the lead role in the Broadway musical Monty Python's Spamalot as King Arthur. |
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