Acting · Dunfermline - Scotland - UK · Born December 12, 1944
Scottish born actor Kenneth Cranham is one of the most recognisable character actors in Britain. Having trained at the National Youth Theatre and RADA, Cranham first came to prominence as Noah Claypole in the 1968 Carol Reed musical Oliver! In the late '70s, Cranham memorably played Sapper Salt in Euston Films' Danger UXB, before taking the title role in the popular postwar set period comedy drama Shine on Harvey Moon. His most famous film role from around this time was Dr. Philip Channard in Hellraiser II. In more recent years he has starred in the HBO series Rome, as well as the films Hot Fuzz, Layer Cake, Valkyrie, Made in Dagenham, Maleficent and Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool. 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, and 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, and Cranham's performance was described as "the performance of his life" 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, whom he met on the set of Shine on Harvey Moon.
TVFinding Alice
2021
as Gerry
TVTrying
2020
as Barry
MovieMr. Jones
2019
as Lloyd George
MovieOfficial Secrets
2019
as Judge Hyam
TVHatton Garden
2019
as Brian Reader
TVThe Spanish Princess
2019
as John Morton
MovieBorn a King
2019
as Lord Curzon
MovieEgon Schiele: Dangerous Desires
2018
as Leopold Czihaczek
TVBancroft
2017
as Charlie Haverstock
MovieJoe Orton Laid Bare
2017
as Himself
MovieFilm Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
2017
as Joe Turner
TVStrike
2017
as Dennis Creed
MovieDark Ditties Presents: The Offer
2017
as The Host
TVThe White Princess
2017
as John Morton
TVNeil Gaiman's Likely Stories
2016
as Dean Smith
TVWar and Peace
2016
as Uncle Mikhail
MovieLeviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II
2015
as Self
MovieMaleficent
2014
as King Henry
TV37 Days
2014
as John Burns
TVInside No. 9
2014
as Rupert
MovieThe Legend of Hercules
2014
as Lucius
MovieClosed Circuit
2013
as Cameron Fischer
MovieFlying Blind
2013
as Victor
TVIn the Flesh
2013
as Vicar Oddie
MoviePanto!
2012
as Jerry
MovieSuspension of Disbelief
2012
as Bullock
TVDeath in Paradise
2011
as Father John
MovieGraffiti Wars
2011
as Narrator (Voice)
MovieNational Theatre Live: The Cherry Orchard
2011
as Firs
Movie5 Days of War
2011
as Michael Stilton
MovieThe Night Watch
2011
as Horace Mundy
TVUpstairs Downstairs
2010
as Sgt Ashworth
MovieMade in Dagenham
2010
as Monty Taylor
MovieHarold Pinter: A Celebration
2010
as Self
MovieSpanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen
2009
as MJ O'Loughlin
TVMoving On
2009
as Mike
The Addictions of Sin: WH Auden in His Own Words
2009
as W H Auden
MovieValkyrie
2008
as Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel
TVMerlin
2008
as Aulfric
TVTess of the D'Urbervilles
2008
as Mr Clare
MovieHeroes & Villains: Napoleon
2007
as General Carteaux
TVHeroes and Villains
2007
MovieThe Man from Montevideo
2007
as Gary Solway
MovieSinking of the Lusitania: Terror at Sea
2007
as Captain Turner
MovieHot Fuzz
2007
as James Reaper
TVLilies
2007
MovieA Good Year
2006
as Sir Nigel
TVThe Line of Beauty
2006
as Sir Maurice Tipper
MovieHannibal: Rome's Worst Nightmare
2006
as Narrator
MovieThe Chatterley Affair
2006
as Older Keith
The Lavender List
2006
as Harold Wilson
TVRome
2005
as Gnaeus Pompey Magnus
MovieMangal Pandey - The Rising
2005
as Mr. Kent
TVAgatha Christie's Marple
2004
as Rex Fortescue
MovieLayer Cake
2004
as Jimmy Price
MovieTrauma
2004
as DC Jackson
MovieHannibal: The Man Who Hated Rome
2004
as Narrator
TVThe Genius of Mozart
2004
as Leopold Mozart
TVHustle
2004
as Francis Owen
Man Dancin'
2004
as D.I. Walter 'Pancho' Villers
TVNew Tricks
2004
MovieSparkling Cyanide
2003
as George Barton
MovieBlackball
2003
as Chairman Collins
TVMurder Investigation Team
2003
as Ray Morgan
MovieKilling Hitler
2003
as Brigadier Sir Stewart Menzies
MoviePollyanna
2003
as Mr. Pendleton
MovieTwo Men Went To War
2002
as Sgt. Peter King
TVBelieve Nothing
2002
as DI Aldiss
TVDickens
2002
as John Forster
Night Flight
2002
as Ted Atwell
MovieThe Voynich Mystery
2002
as Narrator
MovieWomen Talking Dirty
2001
as George
TVWithout Motive
2000
as DCS Derek Henderson
MovieShiner
2000
as Gibson
MovieBorn Romantic
2000
as Barney
MovieThe Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Espionage Escapades
2000
as Colonel Schmidt
MovieGangster No. 1
2000
as Tommy
MovieThe Most Fertile Man in Ireland
2000
as Da
MovieLady Audley's Secret
2000
as Sir Michael Audley
MovieKevin & Perry Go Large
2000
as Vicar
MovieThe Murder of Stephen Lawrence
1999
as Michael Mansfield QC
The Last Yellow
1999
as Len
MovieVigo
1998
as The Producer
MovieRPM
1998
as Biggerman
TVOur Mutual Friend
1998
as Silas Wegg
MovieThe Boxer
1997
as Matt MaGuire
MovieMidnight Man
1997
as Brigadier Charles Ferguson
TVMidsomer Murders
1997
as Jude Langham
TVThe Tenant of Wildfell Hall
1996
as Reverend Michael Millward
MovieDeep in the Heart
1996
as Robert Flaherty
MovieOn Dangerous Ground
1996
as Brigadier Charles Ferguson
MovieBed of Roses
1996
as Simon
TVKavanagh Q.C.
1995
as Roy Lawrence
MovieRequiem Apache
1994
as Tony
MovieThe Vision Thing
1993
as Dick Naughton
MovieRoyal Celebration
1993
as Douglas
MovieTale of a Vampire
1993
as Edgar
MovieMonkey Boy
1992
as Hennessey
MovieA Little Bit of Lippy
1992
as Reggie Titherington
TVBetween the Lines
1992
as DCI Stubbs
TVHeartbeat
1992
as Charlie Wallace
TVThe Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
1992
as Colonel Schmidt
TVMurder Most Horrid
1991
as Insp Salford
MovieUnder Suspicion
1991
as Frank Vance
MovieProspero's Books
1991
as Sebastian
TVChimera
1991
as Hennessey
TVOranges Are Not the Only Fruit
1990
as Pastor Finch
TVRules of Engagement
1989
as Martin Goodman
MovieA Master of the Marionettes
1989
as Teddy
MovieJust Another Secret
1989
as Brosch
MovieHellbound: Hellraiser II
1988
as Dr. Philip Channard / Channard Cenobite
MovieThe Black and Blue Lamp
1988
as Supt. Cherry
MovieStealing Heaven
1988
as Vice Chancellor Suger
MovieChocolat
1988
as Jonathan Boothby
MovieThe Party
1988
as Joe Shawcross
MovieNormal Service
1988
as Peter
TVThe Play on One
1988
as Peter
MovieThe Birthday Party
1987
as Stanley Webber
TVInspector Morse
1987
as Cedric Downes
MovieMaking Waves
1987
as Joe Nash
A Sort of Innocence
1986
TVCasualty
1986
as James Lawrence
TVScreenPlay
1986
as Supt. Cherry
TVLovejoy
1986
as Litvak
MovieDead Man's Folly
1986
as Insp. Bland
MovieLady Windermere's Fan
1985
as Lord Darlington
TVTheatre Night
1985
as Stanley
MovieThe Dumb Waiter
1985
as Gus
TVNatural World
1983
TVReilly: Ace of Spies
1983
as Lenin
MovieA Genius Like Us: A Portrait of Joe Orton
1982
as Self
The Bell
1982
as Nick Fawley
TVShine on Harvey Moon
1982
as Harvey Moon
TVBrideshead Revisited
1981
as Sergeant Block
MovieThe Caretaker
1981
as Aston
MovieThe Sin Bin
1981
as Alan Grieves
MovieThe Merchant of Venice
1980
as Gratiano
Movie'Tis Pity She's a Whore
1980
as Giovanni
TVCribb
1980
as Francis Mostyn-Smith
TVTherese Raquin
1980
as Camille Raquin
Donkeys' Years
1980
as Bill Taylor
TVMinder
1979
as Walter
TVDanger UXB
1979
as Sapper Salt
MovieButterflies Don't Count
1978
as Tom
TVStrangers
1978
as Willie Bruce
TVEnemy at the Door
1978
as Jack Foster
MovieJoseph Andrews
1977
as The Wicked Squire
MovieRobin and Marian
1976
as Jack's Apprentice
Against the Crowd
1975
as Geoff Smailes
MovieVampira
1974
as Paddy
MovieThe Changeling
1974
as Antonio
MovieAchilles Heel
1973
as Gordon
TVCrown Court
1972
as John Tucker
TVVan der Valk
1972
as Dirk Boutsen
TVNew Scotland Yard
1972
as David Collins
MovieBrother Sun, Sister Moon
1972
as Paolo
TVBudgie
1971
as Inky Ballantine
MovieUp Pompeii
1971
as Christian
TVPlay for Today
1970
as Alan Grieves
TVFrom a Bird's Eye View
1970
as Tim O'Donovan
MovieFragment of Fear
1970
as Joe
MovieAll the Way Up
1970
as Tom Midway
MovieSling Your Hook
1969
as Roland
MovieOtley
1969
as Kid
TVITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969
as Terry
MovieOliver!
1968
as Noah Claypole
MovieDeath of a Private
1967
as Young intellectual
TVITV Playhouse
1967
as Private Seaton
TVBoy Meets Girl
1967
as Tom Last
TVBBC Play of the Month
1965
as Antonio
TVThirty-Minute Theatre
1965
as Charlie
TVCoronation Street
1960
as Roy
