Tom Courtenay
Birthday: Born in 1937-02-25 in Kingston-Upon-Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, UK
Deathday: Alive
An English actor who came to prominence in the early 1960s with a succession of films including The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner (1962), Billy Liar (1963), and Dr. Zhivago (1965). Since the mid-1960s he has been known primarily for his work in the theatre. Courtenay received a knighthood in February 2001 for forty years' service to cinema and theatre. Courtenay is the President of Hull City A.F.C.'s Official Supporters Club. In 1999, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Hull University. Description above from the Wikipedia article Tom Courtenay, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
TV Credits
Little Dorrit
Character: Mr. Dorrit
Amy Dorrit spends her days earning money for the family and looking after her proud father who is a long term inmate of Marshalsea debtors' prison in London. Amy and her family's world is transformed when her employer's son, Arthur Clennam, returns from overseas to solve his family's mysterious legacy and discovers that their lives are interlinked....
BBC Play of the Month
Character: Jesus
Play of the Month is a BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and contemporary stage plays which were usually broadcast on BBC1. Each production featured a different work, often using prominent British stage actors in the leading roles. The series was transmitted from October 1965 to September 1983; the producer most associated with the Play of the Month was Cedric Messina. Some of the 121 episodes are missing from the archives, having been junked in the 1960s and 1970...
Would I Lie to You?
Character: Self
A comedic panel show featuring team captains Lee Mack and David Mitchell plus two guests per side, hosted by Rob Brydon (formerly Angus Deayton). Each person must reveal embarrassing facts and outrageous lies during a series of different rounds including "Home Truths", "This Is My..." and "Quickfire Lies". It is up to the opposing team to tell tall tales from fantastic facts....
Harry Hill's Alien Fun Capsule
Character: Self
Harry Hill's Alien Fun Capsule is a panel show that sees Harry Hill presiding over two teams tasked with saving planet earth from alien invasion! Each team must find clips, people, basically anything that is fun or funny enough for Harry to place in a capsule which, in the event that we're invaded by aliens, we can present to them to demonstrate earthlings are good fun and therefore worthy of saving. Over a series of rounds, the two teams of two present Harry with fun stuff which Harry must adju...
The North Water
Character: Baxter
Henry Drax is a harpooner and brutish killer whose amorality has been shaped to fit the harshness of his world, who will set sail on a whaling expedition to the Arctic with Patrick Sumner, a disgraced ex-army surgeon who signs up as the ship’s doctor. Hoping to escape the horrors of his past, Sumner finds himself on an ill-fated journey with a murderous psychopath. In search of redemption, his story becomes a harsh struggle for survival in the Arctic wasteland....
Unforgotten
Character: Eric Slater
London police detectives Cassie Stuart and Sunny Khan investigate historic cold cases involving missing persons, murder and long-hidden secrets....
Mandy
Character: Engineer Woodcock
Mandy is a woman with dreams. Big dreams. Most of all she dreams of breeding Doberman Pinchers. But there are hurdles to overcome before that dream can become a reality. In the series we'll see her go on a health kick, rent out her small back bedroom on Airbnb and attempt a series of short-lived jobs in the modern gig economy....
The Royle Family
Character: David Best Sr.
British comedy series focusing on the lives of a working-class family in Manchester who love the TV....
Hollywood U.K.: British Cinema in the Sixties
Character: Self
Five programmes that trace a remarkable decade in British film-making through interviews with its stars and directors....
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones
Character: Bronislaw Malinowski
The boyhood adventures of the greatest action hero of all time: Indiana Jones. Young Indy travels the world, meeting some of the greatest figures of the early 20th century, and participating in the events that helped shape history....
Parkinson
Character: Self
Michael Parkinson returns for a second run of his iconic talk show....
Movie Credits
The Golden Compass
Character: Farder Coram
After overhearing a shocking secret, precocious orphan Lyra Belacqua trades her carefree existence roaming the halls of Jordan College for an otherworldly adventure in the far North, unaware that it's part of her destiny....
Sir John Mills' Moving Memories
Character: Self (archive footage)
A film biography with a difference, Sir John Mills' Moving Memories charts the life of one of Britain's most distinguished actors. Compiled from interviews with the man himself and with his family and friends, it traces his career from humble beginnings to all-time great of British cinema. The many film clips reveal an electric screen presence and a willingness to undertake a range of difficult, challenging roles....
Otley
Character: Gerald Arthur Otley
A petty crook finds himself mistaken for a murderer and a secret agent....
Flood
Character: Leonard Morrison
Timely yet terrifying, The Flood predicts the unthinkable. When a raging storm coincides with high seas it unleashes a colossal tidal surge, which travels mercilessly down England's East Coast and into the Thames Estuary. Overwhelming the Barrier, torrents of water pour into the city. The lives of millions of Londoners are at stake....
Leonard Part 6
Character: Frayn
After separating from his wife, Leonard Parker (Cosby) quit the spy business and became a restaurateur. His wife refuses to speak with him, and his daughter, who changes her career more often than her clothes, has begun dating a man old enough to be Leonard's father! On top of it all, the government has asked him to come back and save the world again....
Billy Liar
Character: William Terrence 'Billy' Fisher
A young Englishman dreams of escaping from his working class family and dead-end job as an undertaker's assistant. A number of indiscretions cause him to lie in order to avoid the penalties. His life turns into a mess and he has an opportunity to run away and leave it all behind....
King Rat
Character: Grey
When Singapore surrendered to the Japanese in 1942, the Allied POWs, mostly British but including a few Americans, were incarcerated in Changi prison. Among the American prisoners is Cpl. King, a wheeler-dealer who has managed to establish a pretty good life for himself in the camp. King soon forms a friendship with an upper-class British officer who is fascinated with King's enthusiastic approach to life....
The Dresser
Character: Norman
In a touring Shakespearean theater group, a backstage hand - the dresser, is devoted to the brilliant but tyrannical head of the company. He struggles to support the deteriorating star as the company struggles to carry on during the London blitz. The pathos of his backstage efforts rival the pathos in the story of Lear and the Fool that is being presented on-stage, as the situation comes to a crisis....
Operation Crossbow
Character: Robert Henshaw
Allied agents infiltrate the Nazi rocket complex at Peenemunde in order to obtain their secrets and sabotage the plant. The film alternates between German developments of the V-1 missile and V-2 rocket (with a German cast speaking their own language) and discovery by British Intelligence of the weapon....
The Night of the Generals
Character: Corporal Hartmann
A German intelligence officer investigates a prostitute's killing in Warsaw during World War II. He lands on three major Nazi generals as suspects, two of whom are also involved in a plot to kill Adolf Hitler....
Last Orders
Character: Vic
Jack Dodd was a London butcher who enjoyed a pint with his mates for over 50 years. When he died, he died as he lived, with a smile on his face watching a horse race on which he had bet, with borrowed money. But before he died he had a final request, 'Last Orders', that his ashes be scattered in the sea at Margate. The movie follows his mates, Ray, Lenny and Vic and his foster son Vince as they journey to the sea with the ashes. Along the way, the threads of their lives, their loves and their di...
The Day the Fish Came Out
Character: The Navigator
A plane carrying a weapon more dangerous than a nuclear weapon goes down near Greece. To prevent panic, the officials go in dressed as tourists (who are dressed so casually that the pilots assume that they are all gay). The pilots are not to make themselves known and can't contact the rescue team. The secrecy causes a comedy of errors including the desolate Greek Isle deciding that since tourists have now arrived, they have to become touristy....
The Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner
Character: Colin Smith
A rebellious youth, sentenced to a boy’s reformatory for robbing a bakery, rises through the ranks of the institution by impressing its Governor through his prowess as a long distance runner. He is encouraged to compete in an upcoming race, but faces ridicule from his peers....
Let Him Have It
Character: William Bentley
In 1950s England, slow-witted Derek Bentley falls in with a group of petty criminals led by Chris Craig, a teenager with a fondness for American gangster films. Chris and Derek's friendship leads to their involvement in the true case which would forever shake England's belief in capital punishment....
The Old Curiosity Shop
Character: Daniel Quilp
1839. The young Nell Trent is leading a happy life with her grandfather in his curiosity shop. Wharf owner Daniel Quilp has given large amounts of money to Nell's grandfather as an investment, expecting a large profit. But when Quilp finds out the old man has lost all the money with playing cards, he is determined to get the man in a madhouse as revenge. Nell and her grandfather are forced to leave their house and to start traveling across the country. But Quilp isn't sitting still, his spies ar...
A Rather English Marriage
Character: Roy Southgate
A squadron leader and a retired milkman decide to bury their differences and move in together after they are both widowed on the very same night. They become a companionable if odd couple, until their unlikely friendship is threatened by the arrival of an alluring woman with a hidden agenda....
Moscow in Madrid
Character: Self
When David Lean made his film Doctor Zhivago (1965), he realized that it would be impossible to do location shooting in Moscow. Instead, he found a location on the plains outside Madrid, Spain and built a set to look like the Russian capital. This promotional film gives viewers a short look at the set under construction....
Whatever Happened to Harold Smith?
Character: Harold Smith
It's 1976, and Vinny is a confused teenager who can't decide whether he is a disco king or a proto punk rocker....
A Dandy in Aspic
Character: Gatiss
Double-agent Alexander Eberlin is assigned by the British to hunt out a Russian spy, known to them as Krasnevin. Only Eberlin knows that Krasnevin is none other than himself! Accompanying him on his mission is a ruthless partner, who gradually discovers his secret as Eberlin tries to maneuver himself out of a desperate situation....
Catch Me a Spy
Character: Baxter Clarke
While on vacation, a woman's husband is taken by the Russian government. After one attempt fails, she begins looking for a suitable spy to capture and trade in exchange for her husband, but she develops an attraction to the one she thinks is a good candidate....
King and Country
Character: Pvt. Arthur Hamp
During World War I, Army Private Arthur James Hamp is accused of desertion during battle. The officer assigned to defend him at his court-martial, Captain Hargreaves, finds out there is more to the case than meets the eye....
Gambit
Character: The Major
An art curator decides to seek revenge on his abusive boss by conning him into buying a fake Monet, but his plan requires the help of an eccentric and unpredictable Texas rodeo queen....
Quartet
Character: Reginald Paget
Cissy, Reggie, and Wilf are in a home for retired musicians. Every year, there is a concert to celebrate Composer Giuseppe Verdi's birthday and they take part. Jean, who used to be married to Reggie, arrives at the home and disrupts their equilibrium. She still acts like a diva, but she refuses to sing. Still, the show must go on, and it does....
Me and the Girls
Character: George
George Banks recalls his past life travelling in charge of a dancing troupe....
The Last Butterfly
Character: Antoine Moreau
Stage mime Antoine Moreau is compelled by the Gestapo to put on a performance for the children of Terezin, a "model" concentration camp, to convince the Red Cross observers that the camp is truly what it seems. Reluctant at first, Moreau slowly learns the true nature of the camp, including the meaning of the "transports" on which people leave. With a world-class orchestra (made up of people interned in the camp) and a cast of children, Moreau stages a show to end all shows....
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Character: Ivan Denisovich
Fly-on-the-wall treatment of an ordinary day in the life of a prisoner in Stalin's Gulag. Closely adapted from Solzhenitsyn's classic novel based on his own experiences. Shot entirely on location in northern Norway...
Happy New Year
Character: Edward Saunders
Small time crooksters Nick and Charlie have an elaborate plan to rob an exclusive jewelers store. Using a variety of disguises and posing as rich old men and women they begin the set-up, but then Nick falls for the owner of a neighboring antique store and things get a little complicated....
Night Train to Lisbon
Character: Older João Eca
Raimund Gregorius, having saved a beautiful Portuguese woman from leaping to her death, stumbles upon a mesmerizing book by a Portuguese author, which compels him to suddenly abandon the boring life he has led for years and to embark on an enthralling adventure. In search of the author, Gregorius acts as detective, pulling together pieces of a puzzle that involves political and emotional intrigue and the highest possible stakes. His voyage is one that transcends time and space, delving into the...
Famous Fred
Character: Kenneth (voice)
Based on the book by Posy Simmonds. Mischievous kitten Fred grows up to be feline singing superstar, but a case of cat flu threatens to cut short his musical career....
I Heard the Owl Call My Name
Character: Mark Brian
A young priest named mark is sent as a vicar to a native American village in B.C. Canada, there he learns of faith and humanity, as he watches their culture being torn to shreds....
The Boy from Mercury
Character: Uncle Tony Cronin
Set in 1960s Dublin, a fatherless eight-year-old boy who feels alienated by his family, escapes his reality by deciding he's been sent from Mercury to study life on Earth. His fantasies mirror the life of his hero, Flash Gordon, from the serial he watches each week at the local cinema. His escapades result in dilemmas that drive his mother to such distraction that she turns to the boy's strange uncle for help....
The Legend of Barney Thomson
Character: Chief Superintendent McManaman
Barney Thomson, awkward, diffident, Glasgow barber, lives a life of desperate mediocrity and his uninteresting life is about to go from 0 to 60 in five seconds, as he enters the grotesque and comically absurd world of the serial killer....
45 Years
Character: Geoff Mercer
There is just one week until Kate Mercer's 45th wedding anniversary and the planning for the party is going well. But then a letter arrives for her husband. The body of his first love has been discovered, frozen and preserved in the icy glaciers of the Swiss Alps. By the time the party is upon them, five days later, there may not be a marriage left to celebrate....
Zhivago: Behind the Camera with David Lean
Character: Self
In this promotional short for the feature film Doctor Zhivago (1965), director David Lean explains why he chose the performers for the leading roles in the movie....
Absent Friends
Character: Colin
Adaptation of the play by Alan Ayckbourn....
Dad's Army
Character: Lance Corporal Jones
A cinema remake of the classic sitcom Dad's Army (1968). The Walmington-on-Sea Home Guard platoon deal with a visiting female journalist and a German spy as World War II draws to its conclusion....
Ready When You Are, Mr McGill
Character: Joe McGill
Remake of the 1976 TV drama by Jack Rosenthal. An extra in a TV drama is finally given a line to say. He goes on to cause mounting chaos...
Doctor Zhivago
Character: Pasha Antipov / Strelnikov
The life of a Russian physician and poet who, although married to another, falls in love with a political activist's wife and experiences hardship during World War I and then the October Revolution....
Nicholas Nickleby
Character: Newman Noggs
Nicholas Nickleby, a young boy in search of a better life, struggles to save his family and friends from the abusive exploitation of his coldheartedly grasping uncle....
Redemption
Character: Stan Peachey
After 16 years away Stan Peachey returns to his village. His wife still loves him but his sister wants revenge. What was his crime?...
The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society
Character: Eben Ramsey
Free-spirited writer Juliet Ashton forms a life-changing bond with the delightful and eccentric Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, when she decides to write about the book club they formed during the occupation of Guernsey in WWII....
Grandpa's Great Escape
Character: Grandpa
Many years ago, Grandpa was a World War II flying ace, but sadly he is now suffering from Alzheimer's disease. When his family can no longer look after him, he is moved to Twilight Towers, an old people's home. It soon becomes clear that Miss Dandy is running Twilight Towers for her own ulterior motives, and it is up to Grandpa and grandson Jack to make a daring escape. Failure could have the direst of consequences, but success will give Grandpa a final chance to relive his past and take to the ...
King of Thieves
Character: Kenny Collins
London, England, April 2015. Brian Reader, a retired thief, gathers an unlikely gang of burglars to perpetrate the biggest and boldest heist in British history. The thieves assault the Hatton Garden Safe Deposit Company and escape with millions in goods and money. But soon the cracks between the gang members begin to appear when they discuss how to share the loot....
Summerland
Character: Mr. Sullivan
A woman during the Second World War opens her heart to an evacuee after initially resolving to be rid of him....
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Treasure of the Peacock's Eye
Character: Bronislaw Malinowski
The war in Europe ends but a new adventure begins for Indy when a mysterious man's dying words, "The eye of the peacock!" send him and Remy on a thrilling treasure hunt for one of Alexander the Great's most prized possessions. Pursued by a dangerous one-eyed man, Indy follows the trail of the diamond from London to Alexandria to the South Seas, where he has a run-in with a murderous band of Chinese pirates. The shipboard battle that ensues is a spectacular display of swords, guns and flying fist...
The Aeronauts
Character: Arthur Glaisher
In 1862, daredevil balloon pilot Amelia Wren teams up with pioneering meteorologist James Glaisher to advance human knowledge of the weather and fly higher than anyone in history. While breaking records and advancing scientific discovery, their voyage to the very edge of existence helps the unlikely pair find their place in the world they have left far below them. But they face physical and emotional challenges in the thin air, as the ascent becomes a fight for survival....
The Queen's Corgi
Character: The Duke of Edinburgh (voice)
Since his arrival at Buckingham palace, Rex lives a life of luxury. Top dog, he has superseded his three fellow Corgis in Her Majesty’s heart. His arrogance can be quite irritating. When he causes a diplomatic incident during an official dinner with the President of the United States, he falls into disgrace. Betrayed by one of his peers, Rex becomes a stray dog in the streets of London. How can he redeem himself? In love, he will find the resources to surpass himself in the face of great danger…...
The First Film
Character: Himself
Leeds born filmmaker David Nicholas Wilkinson's thirty three year quest to prove that the worlds film industry started in Leeds, Yorkshire, England in 1888....
Private Potter
Character: Pvt. Potter
A military mission is interrupted when a soldier claims that God had appeared to him in a transcendental vision....
The New Sofa
Character: Dave Best Sr.
Festive special edition of the hit family sitcom. Inspired by Nigella Lawson, Denise decides to cook Christmas dinner for the family. Jim provides the yuletide log and, much to his dismay, Dave's mum and dad are invited to join the festivities....
Cinderella: After Ever After
Character: The King
Cinderella weds her Prince Charming, only to find married life isn't all it's cracked up to be....
The End of an Era
Character: Dr Blatella (voice)
Human extinction is almost impossible to imagine, but the notion is never far away in environmental debates. This animation takes an insect eye view to explore these deeply troubling themes with wit and generosity....
The Railway Children Return
Character: Uncle Walter
Follow a group of children who are evacuated to a Yorkshire village during the Second World War, where they encounter a young soldier who, like them, is far away from home....
The Royle Family: Behind the Sofa
Character: Self
Caroline Aherne and Craig Cash discuss the creation of The Royle Family, with a look behind the scenes at the production of the show and interviews with the cast....