Beloved actor Sir Nigel Hawthorne died on Wednesday after suffering a heart attack at his Hertfordshire home. The BAFTA Award-winning actor, perhaps best known for the 1994 film The Madness Of King George, was 72 years old.
Nigel was born in Coventry in 1929, but was raised in South Africa. He fell in love with the stage, despite his father declaring acting “a sissy profession”, and with £12 in his pocket he returned to England to launch his career, aged 22.
And while his later life was marked with much success, Nigel’s early days treading the boards were a struggle. Acting roles were hard to come by and he returned to South Africa after less than two years in the UK. But in 1963 he set out for London again, determined to make a name for himself.
He quickly established himself as a solid character actor over the next decade and in 1977 took the part of Sir Humphrey Appleby in TV’s wildly popular Yes, Minister. He won a series of BAFTA awards for the long-running comedy, which aired in some 50 countries, and its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister. But the pressure weighed on him, and the notoriously insecure actor turned to medication to cope.
His troubles did not impede his career, however, which thrived on both sides of the Atlantic. Celebrated stage roles including a Tony Award-winning performance on Broadway in Shadowlands in 1991 followed, and in 1996 he received an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of King George III in Nicholas Hytner’s The Madness of King George.
His career flourished until the end of his days, with a 1999 tour de force performance as King Lear at the Royal Shakespeare Company – his Stratford debut. In 2000 he was diagnosed with cancer, but continued to act, most recently starring opposite Whoopi Goldberg in the Christmas flick Call Me Claus.
Funeral arrangements have yet to be confirmed.
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
Photo: © Alphapress.com
