Biography
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Sir Nigel Barnard Hawthorne, CBE (5 April 1929 – 26 December 2001) was an English actor, perhaps best remembered for his role as Sir Humphrey Appleby, the Permanent Secretary in the 1980s sitcom Yes Minister and the Cabinet Secretary in its sequel, Yes, Prime Minister. For this role he would win four Bafta Awards during the 1980s in the 'Best Light Entertainment Performance' Category. In the 1990s He would win two more Bafta Awards, one as Best TV Actor fo...
Known For
Complete Filmography

Yes, Prime Minister: Re-elected
2013
as Self (Archive Material)
This special one-off documentary celebrates the past and present of hit sitcoms Yes Minister and Yes, Prime Minister. Exploring the shows in some dep...

Once Upon a Halloween
2005
as Fflewddur Fflam
On the night before Halloween, the Evil Queen from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs plans to conquer Halloween, and asks her cauldron to show you sever...
Animal Stories
2005
as Narrator (Orig. U.K.)
A classic series of 52 x 5-minute poems, affectionately narrated by the late Sir Nigel Hawthorne in the UK and re-voiced for Disney in the USA by Alan...

Call Me Claus
2001
as Nick
When Lucy Cullins, a successful but cranky producer at a home shopping network hires an actor named Nick to play Santa Claus on the network, she gets ...

Victoria & Albert
2001
as Lord William Lamb
The passionate love story that was Queen Victoria and Prince Albert's lengthy marriage. Beginning in 1837, the year of King William IV's death and 18-...

Higher Love
2001
as Uncle Cullen
Ross, who lives with his eccentric Uncle Cullen, is desperately trying to become a successful businessman. When he attempts to sell the family wine co...

Higher Love
2001
Executive Producer
Ross, who lives with his eccentric Uncle Cullen, is desperately trying to become a successful businessman. When he attempts to sell the family wine co...

The Clandestine Marriage
1999
as Lord Ogleby
A period film, set around an English country house whose owners want to arrange a marriage of convenience between their elder daughter and an aristocr...
A Reasonable Man
1999
as Judge Wendon
With issues of his own, an ex-army officer-turned-lawyer defends an impoverished young cowherd of killing a baby.

Tarzan
1999
as Professor Archimedes Q. Porter (voice)
Tarzan was a small orphan who was raised by an ape named Kala since he was a child. He believed that this was his family, but on an expedition Jane Po...

The Big Brass Ring
1999
as Kim Mennaker
Blake Pellarin is on the campaign trail to become president of the United States. While making a stop in St. Louis, a chance encounter brings his past...

The Winslow Boy
1999
as Arthur Winslow
Early 20th century England: while toasting his daughter Catherine's engagement, Arthur Winslow learns the royal naval academy expelled his 14-year-old...

Atatürk: Founder of Modern Turkey
1999
as Sir Percy Lorraine, British Ambassador
The rise of modern Turkey under the leadership of Mustafa Kemal, later known as Atatürk. He established peace on the borders of Turkey for the first t...

Madeline
1998
as Lord Covington
Horrified at the prospect of her beloved school being sold, a young French girl named Madeline uses her wit and craftiness to attempt to save it, maki...

The Object of My Affection
1998
as Rodney Fraser
A pregnant New York social worker begins to develop romantic feelings for her gay best friend, and decides she'd rather raise her child with him, much...

Amistad
1997
as Martin Van Buren
In 1839, the slave ship Amistad set sail from Cuba to America. During the long trip, Cinque leads the slaves in an unprecedented uprising. They are th...

Forbidden Territory: Stanley's Search for Livingstone
1997
as David Livingstone
British explorer Henry Stanley travels to Africa in 1871 seeking missionary David Livingstone.

Murder in Mind
1997
as Dr. Ellis
The L.A. police find two bodies in a fancy house and suspect the wife of one victim. Dr. Ellis, a hypnotherapist, takes her back in time; with the pol...

Murder in Mind
1997
Associate Producer
The L.A. police find two bodies in a fancy house and suspect the wife of one victim. Dr. Ellis, a hypnotherapist, takes her back in time; with the pol...

Twelfth Night
1996
as Malvolio
Shakespeare's comedy of gender confusion, in which a girl disguises herself as a man to be near the count she adores, only to be pursued by the woman ...

Inside
1996
as Colonel
A South African political prisoner is tortured to obtain information on apartheid conspirators. Ten years later, the head officer in charge of the que...

The Happy Prince
1996
as Narrator (voice)
A statue of 'The Happy Prince' (happy because he had devoted his life to pleasure behind his palace walls) looks out with horror at the destitution of...

Richard III
1995
as The Duke of Clarence
A murderous lust for the British throne sees Richard III descend into madness. Though the setting is transposed to the 1930s, England is torn by civil...

Russia's War - Blood Upon the Snow
1995
as Narrator
An account of the Eastern Front, epic in scale and savagery, as Soviets experienced it and Stalin commanded it.

The Madness of King George
1994
as George III
Aging King George III of England is exhibiting signs of madness, a problem little understood in 1788. As the monarch alternates between bouts of confu...

Late-Flowering Lust
1994
as Cousin John
This movie is a combination of mime and dance that accompanies the "voiced-over" lyrics of a selection of poems by John Betjeman. Altogether, this mov...
Portrait or Bust
1994
as Himself (uncredited)
Alan Bennett's personal overview of art, filmed in the atmospheric location of a Leeds art gallery.

Demolition Man
1993
as Dr. Raymond Cocteau
In 1996, brash L.A. detective John Spartan and maniac killer Simon Phoenix are both sentenced to decades in a cryogenic prison as punishment for a res...

Freddie as F.R.O.7.
1992
as Brigadier G (voice)
The story about a man-sized frog named Prince Frederic who is turned into a frog by his wicked aunt Messina and hired by British Intelligence to solve...
Flea Bites
1992
as Kryst
The friendship of a young boy and an old Polish emigre as they struggle to re-create 'the smallest show on earth' - a flea circus

The Trials of Oz
1991
as Brian Leary
Dramatization of the famous 1971 trial in which the editors of the British underground magazine "Oz" were charged with obscenity.

King of the Wind
1990
as Achmet
In 1727, an Arab colt is born with the signs of the wheat ear and the white spot on his heel: evil and good. And thus begins the life of Sham. He is a...

Relatively Speaking
1989
as Philip Carter
It's the sixties. Gregory loves Ginny, and Ginny loves Gregory. But unfortunately Ginny also loves Philip, or at least she used to, and Philip loves h...

A Handful of Time
1989
as Ted Walker
Gothic thriller about Old Martin who heeds the voice of Anna, who calls him back to the mountain cabin where he left her to die while she gave birth t...

The Spirit of Man
1989
as Rev. Jonathan Guerdon
In pursuit of faith, God and the Devil, spells are cast, buckets of water thrown and men with black beards dance and sing.

The Shawl
1989
as John
Miss A, troubled by problems, consults a clairvoyant. Can he solve them for her by summoning the spirits? Or is he just a fraud, out to steal her mone...

Turtle Diary
1985
as Publisher
Two separate people, a man and a woman, find something very stirring about the sea turtles in their tank at the London Zoo. They meet and form an odd,...

Jenny's War
1985
as Colonel
This fact-based story follows a woman who launches a rescue of her Royal Air Force pilot son, who was shot down over Germany in 1941. Getting no help ...

The Black Cauldron
1985
as Fflewddur Fflam (voice)
Taran is an assistant pigkeeper with boyish dreams of becoming a great warrior. However, he has to put the daydreaming aside when his charge, an oracu...

The House
1984
as General Fagg
Set in 1884, and based on the assumption that Britain is one of the Baltic states between Russia and Latvia, making it part of Europe instead of an of...

Pope John Paul II
1984
as Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski
Bio-drama tracing the life and career of Polish cardinal Karol Wojtyla from his days as a young activist in Poland to his rise and installation in 197...

The Chain
1984
as Mr Thorn
Comedy featuring interweaving stories of seven households caught up in a property chain on moving day, each one dependent on the other.

Tartuffe, or The Imposter
1983
as Orgon
Royal Shakespeare Company's televised adaptation of Moliere's play with Antony Sher in the title role of Tartuffe.

The Crimson Permanent Assurance
1983
as Passerby (uncredited)
A group of down-and-out accountants mutiny against their bosses and sail their office building onto the high seas in search of a pirate's life.

Dead on Time
1983
as Doctor
Bernard Fripp is told by his doctor that he has only 30 minutes left to live. This sets Bernard bumbling off on a mission to live his final minutes to...

Gandhi
1982
as Kinnoch
In the early years of the 20th century, Mohandas K. Gandhi, a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian ...

The Plague Dogs
1982
as Dr. Boycott (voice)
Two dogs, Rowf and Snitter, stuggle to survive in the countryside after escaping from an animal research laboratory. They are pursued by search partie...
The Critic
1982
as Mr. Sneer
Mr. Puff, a foppish, would-be playwright-critic, invites his literary-minded associates to see a production of his horrendous and nonsensical spectacu...

Firefox
1982
as Pyotr Baranovich
The Soviets have developed a revolutionary new jet fighter, called 'Firefox'. Worried that the jet will be used as a first-strike weapon—as there are ...
The World Cup: A Captain's Tale
1982
as John Westwood
The true story of the First world football competition, won by a team comprised of miners from Durham.

A Woman Called Golda
1982
as King Abdullah
The story of the Russian-born, Wisconsin-raised woman who rose to become Israel's prime minister in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame
1982
as Magistrate at Esmeralda's trial
Quasimodo, the hunchback bellringer of Notre Dame's cathedral, meets a beautiful gypsy dancer, Esmeralda, and falls in love with her. So does Quasimod...

Protest
1981
as Stanek / Vanek
A dissident Czechoslovakian playwright awaits trial for his activities against the current political regime.

Memoirs of a Survivor
1981
as Victorian Father
Based on the acclaimed novel by Doris Lessing, this dystopian science fiction tale concerns a woman struggling to make her way in a post-apocalyptic s...

History of the World: Part I
1981
as Citizen Official - The French Revolution
An uproarious version of history that proves nothing is sacred – not even the Roman Empire, the French Revolution and the Spanish Inquisition.

A Brush with Mr. Porter on the Road to El Dorado
1981
as Fulton
A black comedy about excessive consumption. A young couple are determined to make a break with a predictable future as servants of a large corporation...

Jessie
1980
as Mr Edmonds
A woman starts work as a nanny to a mute boy in a Victorian household. The boy's growing attachment to her however causes greater problems than his or...

A Tale of Two Cities
1980
as Mr. CJ Stryver
Set against the conditions leading up to the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror, French doctor Alexandre Manette serves an 18-year imprisonment...
A Rod of Iron
1980
as Trevor
Harry Watson has kept his feelings for his children to himself.

The Tempest
1980
as Stephano
Prospero, the true Duke of Milan is now living on an enchanted island with his daughter Miranda, the savage Caliban and Ariel, a spirit of the air. Ra...

The Enigma
1980
as Fenton
When John Fielding, MP, disappeared on the way home to his country estates he was, perhaps, cracking the first good joke of his life. Sergeant Jenning...

The Misanthrope
1980
as Philinte
One man's defiant stand against the hypocrisy of polite society is the theme of Molière's comic masterpiece. Ian Holm stars in this film set in Paris...

The Knowledge
1979
as Mr Burgess
Four men attempt "The Knowledge" examination to qualify as London taxi drivers.

The Sailor's Return
1978
as Mr Fosse
Based on the 1925 novel The Sailor's Return by David Garnett. A sailor returns to his hometown to open a pub bringing with him his new black wife. Ver...

Edward & Mrs. Simpson
1978
as Walter Monkton
While still the Prince of Wales, the future Edward VIII meets the married American socialite, Wallis Simpson. Their relationship causes furor in the p...

Watership Down
1978
as Captain Campion (voice)
When the warren belonging to a community of rabbits is threatened, a brave group led by Fiver, Bigwig, Blackberry and Hazel leave their homeland in a ...

Sweeney 2
1978
as Det. Chief Insp. Dilke
The plot is set on a group of bank robbers, who are both violent and successful, strangely getting away each time with an amount around the £60,000 ma...

Destiny
1978
as Major Lewis Rolfe
A small town shopkeeper is conned into standing for an extreme right-wing party at a by-election, and later discovers that it's financed by the corpor...

Buffet
1976
as Jack
A quick drink in the buffet before going home. Freddie's nerves are taking a hammering lately; the economy is in dire trouble and who can blame a busi...

Play Things
1976
as Tenby
A young man volunteers to work with a children's play group in a deprived London area. Adapted by Peter Prince from his own novel.

Spiderweb
1976
as Erik Lönnrot
A rabbi is murdered. Detective Llonrot is called in on the case and looks for a 'rabbinical explanation' for the murder. Other murders are committed a...

The Floater
1975
as Morris Shelman
A comedy about the law - seen from the inside. All formality and procedure on the surface but not quite so convincing when you see the works.

The Hiding Place
1975
as Pastor De Ruiter
Corrie and Betsie ten Boom are middle-aged sisters working in their father's watchmaker shop in pre-World War II Holland. Their uneventful lives are d...

Child of Hope
1975
as Police Captain
Thirty-seven men from the disputed territory of South West Africa are on trial for their lives in Pretoria, 1,000 miles from their home. They are to b...

S*P*Y*S
1974
as Croft
Two CIA bunglers botch a Soviet defection, then both sides mark them for termination.

Occupations
1974
as Libertini
In an attempt to win better conditions for the workers in 1920s Turin, Gramsci leads a takeover of the factories by the workers. He is offered assista...

The Emergency Channel
1973
as Graham
Dean has a rare talent. He can be made happy. He exudes happiness and confidence like a rare blossom. Both Sarah in the past, and Julia now, could do ...

Young Winston
1972
as Boer Sentry (uncredited)
This historical drama is an account of the early life of British politician Winston Churchill, including his childhood years, his time as a war corres...

Alma Mater
1971
as Major
Jimmy Nicholson returns from working in the Middle East to visit his son at boarding school. He went to the same public school himself and is disturbe...

Carve Her Name with Pride
1958
as Park Soldier (uncredited)
London, England, during World War II. After living a tragic life experience, young Violette Szabo joins the Special Operations Executive and crosses t...