Introduction
Kenneth Cranham (born 12 December 1944) is a Scottish film, television, radio and stage actor. He is popularly known for his work in Hellbound: Hellraiser II and Valkyrie.
Acting career
Cranham trained at the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, and at RADA. He starred in the title role in the popular 1980s comedy drama Shine on Harvey Moon, prior to which he had appeared as Charlie Collins in A Family at War (1971). He also appeared in Layer Cake, Gangster No. 1, Rome, Oliver! and many other films. Cranham was cast as the deranged Philip Channard and his Cenobitic alter-ego in the Horror film Hellbound: Hellraiser II. Among many stage credits are West End productions of Entertaining Mr Sloane, Loot, An Inspector Calls (both transferring to Broadway), The Ruffian on the Stair, The Birthday Party and Gaslight (at the Old Vic). For his role as Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award.
In 2016, Cranham won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as Andre in Florian Zeller's The Father. The play originated at the Theatre Royal Bath's Ustinov Studio in the autumn of 2014, before touring the country and transferring to the West End in the summer of 2015, returning to the Duke of York's Theatre in spring 2016. The play received an unprecedented five star review from every leading national press publication. Cranham's performance was described as "the performance of his life".
For BBC Radio 4's Afternoon Play, Cranham played DS Max Matthews in the three-play series The Interrogation by Roy Williams and starred as Thomas Gradgrind in BBC Radio's 2007 adaptation of Dickens' Hard Times.
Personal life
Cranham was born in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, the son of Lochgelly-born Margaret McKay Cranham (née Ferguson) and Ronald Cranham, a London-born civil servant. His first wife was actress Diana Quick. He has two daughters: Nancy Cranham with actress Charlotte Cornwell, and Kathleen Cranham with his second wife, actress Fiona Victory.
Television credits
- City '68 (1967) as Len
- Ways with Words (1967)
- Boy Meets Girl (1969) as Tom Last
- Z-Cars (1970) as Togo Millington
- Softly, Softly: Taskforce (1970-1972) as Ken Buckley / Ashley
- A Family at War (1971) as Charlie Collins
- Hadleigh (1971) as Andrew Matlock
- From a Bird's Eye View (1971) as Tim O'Donovan
- New Scotland Yard (1972) as David Collins
- Budgie (1972) as Inky Ballantine
- Achilles Heel (1973) as Gordon
- Crown Court (1973-1981) as John Tucker / Clive Jessup QC
- Village Hall (1975) as Lop
- Against the Crowd (1975) as Geoff Smailes
- Holding On (1977) as Ted Wheelwright
- The Velvet Glove (1977) as Townie
- Danger UXB (1979) as Sapper Salt / L / Corporal Salt
- Donkeys' Years (1980) as Bill Taylor
- Thérèse Raquin (1980) as Camille Raquin
- Enemy at the Door (1980) as Jack Foster
- Cribb (1980) as Francis Mostyn-Smith
- 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1980) as Giovanni
- The Merchant of Venice (1980) as Gratiano
- Strangers (1980–1982) as Det. Chief Insp. Jim Lennard / Willie Bruce
- Brideshead Revisited (1981) as Sergeant Block
- The Bell (1982) as Nick Fawley
- Shine on Harvey Moon (1982–1985) as Harvey Moon
- Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983) as Lenin
- Heart of the High Country (1985) as Calvin Laird
- Dead Man's Folly (1986) as Detective Inspector Bland
- A Sort of Innocence (1987) as Eric Palmer
- Inspector Morse (1987) as Cedric Downes
- Just Another Secret (1989) as Brosch
- Boon (1989) as Aiden Curtis
- Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (1990) as Pastor Finch
- TECX (1990) as Colonel Braum
- Casualty (1990) as James Lawrence
- Dunrulin (1990) as Mr. Kneecap
- El C.I.D. (1990–1992) as Gus Mercer
- Chimera (1991) as Hennessey
- Bergerac (1990) as Gascoigne
- Van der Valk (1991) as Dirk Boutsen
- Murder Most Horrid (1991) as Inspector Salford
- The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles (1992) as Colonel Schmidt
- Between the Lines (1992) as D.C.I. Stubbs
- Minder (1993) as Walter
- Screen One (1993) as Douglas
- Lovejoy (1993) as Litvak
- Requiem Apache (1994) as Tony
- On Dangerous Ground (1996) as Brig. Charles Ferguson
- Heartbeat (1996) as Charlie Wallace
- The Tenant of Wildfell Hall (1996) as Reverend Millward
- Midnight Man (1997) as Brig. Charles Ferguson
- Get Well Soon (1997) as Inspector Trussler
- Our Mutual Friend (1998) as Silas Wegg
- Kavanagh QC (1998) as Roy Lawrence
- The Murder of Stephen Lawrence (1999) as Michael Mansfield QC
- Justice in Wonderland (2000) as George Carman
- Lady Audley's Secret (2000) as Sir Michael Audley
- The Ancients (2000) as William Blake
- The Sins (2000) as Gilbert
- Without Motive (2000) as DCS Derek Henderson
- NCS: Manhunt (2001) as Ricky Valesi
- Dalziel and Pascoe (2001) as Tommy Collingwood
- Night Flight (2002) as Ted Atwell
- Dickens (2002) as John Forster
- Believe Nothing (2002) as DI Aldiss
- Pollyanna (2003) as Mr. Pendleton
- Killing Hitler (2003) as Brigadier Sir Stewart Menzies
- Sparkling Cyanide (2003) as George Barton
- Bible Mysteries (2003)
- M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team (2005) as Ray Morgan
- Genghis Khan (2005) as Genghis Khan (voice)
- Rome (2005) asPompey Magnus
- The Lavender List (2006) as Harold Wilson
- The Chatterley Affair (2006) as Older Keith
- Hustle (2006) as Francis Owen
- Hannibal (2006) as Narrator (voice)
- New Tricks (2006) as Lord McCready
- The Line of Beauty (2006) as Sir Maurice Tipper
- Afterlife (2006) as Stan Mundy
- Victoria Cross Heroes (2006) as Narrator
- Doc Martin (2006) as Terry
- Lilies (2007) as Mr. Pritchard
- Sinking of the Lusitania: Terror at Sea (2007) as Captain Turner
- The Last Detective (2007) as Gary Solway
- The Curry Club (2007) as Bob
- Heroes and Villains (2007) as General Carteaux
- Tess of the D'Urbervilles (2008) as Mr Clare
- Merlin (2008) as Aulfric
- Agatha Christie's Marple (2008) as Rex Fortescue
- Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen (2009) as MJ O'Loughlin
- Midsomer Murders (2010) as Jude Langham
- The Night Watch (2011) as Horace Mundy
- Upstairs Downstairs (2012) as Sergeant Ashworth
- Falcón (2012) as Alberto Montes
- Panto! (2012) as Jerry
- Death in Paradise (2013) as Father John
- In the Flesh (2013–2014) as Vicar Oddie
- 37 Days (2014) as John Burns
- Moving On (2014) as Mike
- A.D. The Bible Continues (2015) as Tiberius
- Neil Gaiman's Likely Stories (2016) as Dean Smith
- War & Peace (2016) as Uncle Mikhail
- The White Princess (2017) as John Morton
Awards
- 2015 Critics' Circle Theatre Awards Best Actor
- 2016 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor