John Shrapnel
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- April 27, 1942
- Place of birth
- Birmingham, England, UK
- Died
- February 14, 2020
Biography
Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy (née Edwards) and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel.[1] As a stage actor, he was a member of Laurence Olivier's Royal National Theatre company and the Royal Shakespeare Company and most recently appeared as Sir Oliver Surface in The School for Scandal (directed by Deborah Warner) at the Barbican Centre in 2011. He has also appeared extensively in film and on television in roles in Elizabeth R, Z-Cars, Edward and Mrs. Simpson, 101 Dalmatians, Space: 1999, Inspector Morse, Coogan's Run, Notting Hill and Foyle's War. He presented an episode of the 1983 BBC television travel series Great Little Railways. He gave performances in three entries in the BBC Television Shakespeare plays and as Creon in the BBC's 1984 productions of the Three Theban plays of Sophocles. In America, he has starred in supporting roles as Senator Gaius in Gladiator, Nestor in Troy and Pompey in the second episode of Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. He also played the Jail Warden in the 10th Kingdom, an epic fantasy miniseries. He has the rare achievement of appearing in two episodes of Midsomer Murders as two different characters, in Death in Chorus and Written in Blood. Shrapnel appeared in an episode of Jonathan Creek as Professor Lance Graumann in the episode The Omega Man. He appears in Chemical Wedding alongside Simon Callow, telling the tale of the resurrection of occultist Aleister Crowley. Shrapnel also has experience in the field of BBC radio drama through such characters as Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse and William Gibson's Neuromancer. He is the son-in-law of Deborah Kerr through his 1975 marriage to her younger daughter Francesca Ann Bartley. They have three sons, the actors Lex Shrapnel (b.1979), Tom Shrapnel (b.1981) and the writer Joe Shrapnel (b.1976). They live in Highbury, north London.
Movies with John Shrapnel
- Gladiator 2000 · ★ 8.2
- Troy 2004 · ★ 7.2
- Notting Hill 1999 · ★ 7.3
- 101 Dalmatians 1996 · ★ 6.0
- Mirrors 2008 · ★ 6.3
- The Duchess 2008 · ★ 7.0
- The Awakening 2011 · ★ 6.4
- Elizabeth: The Golden Age 2007 · ★ 6.7
- K-19: The Widowmaker 2002 · ★ 6.6
- The Body 2001 · ★ 5.5
- Fatherland 1994 · ★ 6.3
- Alien Autopsy 2006 · ★ 5.7
- How to Get Ahead in Advertising 1989 · ★ 6.3
- Nicholas and Alexandra 1971 · ★ 7.0
- Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters 1999 · ★ 7.2
- Personal Services 1987 · ★ 6.0
- Chemical Wedding 2008 · ★ 4.2
- Shadow of the Sword 2005 · ★ 5.8
- King Charles III 2017 · ★ 6.4
- Whistle 2002 · ★ 6.2
- Mary, Mother of Jesus 1999 · ★ 4.1
- Hennessy 1975 · ★ 5.2
- Alone 2002 · ★ 5.1
- Two Deaths 1996 · ★ 5.6
- National Theatre Live: Macbeth 2013 · ★ 6.9
- Pope Joan 1972 · ★ 6.1
- Claim 2002 · ★ 5.1
- Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale 2015 · ★ 7.7
- Hamlet 2015 · ★ 8.2
- Horizon: Supermassive Black Holes 2000 · ★ 8.0
- King Lear 1982 · ★ 6.5
- Testimony 1988 · ★ 5.6
- National Theatre Live: Phèdre 2009 · ★ 7.8
- Partition 1987 · ★ 5.5
- Hindenburg: Titanic of the Skies 2007 · ★ 6.0
- Selling Hitler 1993 · ★ 8.0
- The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story 1990 · ★ 7.0
- Professional Foul 1977 · ★ 7.5
- Seven Wonders of Ancient Egypt 2004 · ★ 10.0
- Timon of Athens 1981 · ★ 8.5