Anton Lesser
English actor
Anton Lesser
Lesser in June 2011
Born (1952-02-14 ) 14 February 1952 (age 72) Alma mater Occupation Actor Years active 1979–present Spouse Madeleine Lesser Children 2
Anton Lesser (born 14 February 1952[1] ) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series Game of Thrones , Thomas More in Wolf Hall , Harold Macmillan in The Crown , Clement Attlee in A United Kingdom , Chief Superintendent Bright in Endeavour ,[2] and Major Partagaz in Star Wars: Andor . An associate of the Royal Shakespeare Company , he has performed numerous Shakespearean roles on stage and television.
Early life
Born in Birmingham ,[3] the son of David Lesser and his wife Amelia Cohen, Anton Lesser was educated Moseley Grammar School and the University of Liverpool , where he read architecture. He then went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art , and on graduation in 1977[4] was awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal as the most promising actor of his year.[3] He is of Jewish background.[5]
Career
As an associate artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), Lesser played many of Shakespeare's great roles. In the BBC Television Shakespeare productions he was Troilus (Troilus and Cressida ), Edgar (King Lear ), and Feste (Twelfth Night ). On stage, he has portrayed Romeo, Hamlet, Brutus, Petruchio, Richard III, and others.[6]
Lesser is a frequent radio contributor and played the title role in the BBC Radio adaptations of the first five Marcus Didius Falco mysteries by Lindsey Davis . He has also recorded many audiobooks , including much of the work of Charles Dickens . His recording of Great Expectations won him a Talkie Award. Other books range from John Milton 's Paradise Lost , Homer and Rumi [7] to contemporary novels by Robert Harris (Fatherland ) and Philip Pullman . For two months in 2013, Lesser was a regular cast member playing Robin Carrow in Ambridge Extra , a BBC Radio 4 Extra spin-off from the BBC Radio 4 drama The Archers .[8]
In 2013, during the third season of the HBO Max series Game of Thrones , Lesser began playing the recurring role of Qyburn, an enigmatic mad scientist who served as part of the retinue of Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey ). Qyburn, and Lesser's portrayal of him, were popular with fans, particularly as the series went on and the character appeared more frequently and had greater influence over the narrative.[9] [10] The Ringer described him as "the last curious man in Westeros " and noted that the character "refuses to seem like a MacGuffin , despite totally being one."[11] The character returned across the remainder of the series' run until the finale in 2019; Qyburn was one of the characters who perished in the final episode, which led to many fans producing memes about his abrupt death.[12]
In 2015, Lesser was announced as a public supporter of Chapel Lane Theatre Company based in Stratford-upon-Avon , UK.[13]
Lesser portrayed Thomas More in the BBC mini-series Wolf Hall , and received a nomination for the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.[14]
In 2022, Lesser played Major Partagaz, a supporting antagonist in the Star Wars spinoff Andor . His performance of Partagaz, a ranking member of the Empire's intelligence agency, the Imperial Security Bureau, was noted by critics. Digital Spy noted that Lesser delivered dialogue on Imperial bureaucracy with "powerful coolness."[15]
Personal life
With his wife Madeleine Adams, Lesser has two children, Harry and Lily. Lily Lesser is an actress and has acted alongside her father in Endeavour and Wolf Hall .[16]
Filmography
Film
Television
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1979
The Mill on the Floss
Philip Waken
Miniseries, 6 episodes
Oresteia
Orestes
Miniseries, 3 episodes
1981
The Cherry Orchard
Trofimov
Television film
Troilus & Cressida
Troilus
Television film
1982
Crown Court
John Peat
3 episodes
King Lear
Edgar
Television film
1983
Good and Bad at Games
Cox
Television film
1984
Sakharov
Valery Chalidze
Television film
Freud
Wilhelm Fliess
Miniseries, 5 episodes
1985
Anna of the Five Towns
Willie Price
Miniseries, 3 episodes
1987
Great Performances
Robber
Episode: "Monsignor Quixote "
London Embassy
Robert Bronhouse
Miniseries, 1 episode: "Tomb with a View"
1988
Twelfth Night, or What You Will
Feste
Television film
Screen Two
Stanley Spencer
Episode: "Stanley "
The Play on One
Vincenzo
Episode: "Airbase "
A Vote for Hitler
A.L. Rowse
Television film
1989
Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story
Karl
Television film
1990
ScreenPlay
Robert Cecil
Episode: "Traitors "
1991
The Strauss Dynasty
Gustav Levi
Miniseries, 8 episodes
1992
Downtown Lagos
Mungo Dawson
Miniseries, 3 episodes
1994
Guinevere
Envoy
Television film
Shakespeare: The Animated Tales
Leontes
Voice role, 1 episode: "The Winter's Tale"
1995
The Politician's Wife
Mark Hollister
Miniseries, 3 episodes
Bugs
Patrick Marcel
Episode: "Pulse "
Moses
Eliav
Miniseries, 2 episodes
1996
Sharman
Galilee
Episode: "Pretend We're Dead "
Testament: The Bible in Animation
Joseph
Voice role, 1 episode: "Joseph"
The Moonstone
Ezra Jennings
Television film
1997
Bodyguards
Dusan Mesic
Episode: "A Choice of Evils "
Into the Blue
Dr. John Ockleton
Television film
1998
Invasion: Earth
Lt. Charles Terrell
Miniseries, 4 episodes
Vanity Fair
Mr. Pitt Crawley
Miniseries, 5 episodes
The Echo
Billy Blake
Miniseries, 2 episodes
1999
Pure Wickedness
Dr. Andrew Ward
1 episode
Trial by Fire
Brian Redwood
Television film
2000
The Miracle Maker
King Herod
Voice role, television film
Safe as Houses
Mr. Dunn
Television film
The Scarlet Pimpernel
Antoine Picard
Episode: "Friends & Enemies "
Lorna Doone
Counsellor Doone
Television film
2001
Perfect Strangers
Stephen
Miniseries, 3 episodes
Murder Rooms: Mysteries of the Real Sherlock Holmes
Milburn
Miniseries, 1 episode: "The White Knight Stratagem "
Uprising
Nathan Lensky
Television film
Jack and the Beanstalk: The Real Story
Vidas Merlinis - Research Scientist
Miniseries, 2 episodes
Swallow
Paul Valley
3 episodes
2002
Animated Tales of the World
The Flower of Fern
Voice role, 1 episode: "Flower of Fern, a Tale from Poland"
Dickens
Charles Dickens
Miniseries, 3 episodes
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
Bertilak - Green Knight
Voice role, television film
Waking the Dead
Professor Ray Levin
Episode: "Special Relationship "
The Project
Stanley Hall
Miniseries, 2 episodes
Foyle's War
Austin Carmichael
Episode: "Eagle Day "
2003
Eroica
Sukowaty
Television film
Midsomer Murders
Eddie Darwin
Episode: "Birds of Prey "
Danielle Cable: Eyewitness
Henry Batten
Television film
2004
Silent Witness
Marcus Gwilym
Episode: "Death by Water "
Dirty Filthy Love
Charles
Television film
Spooks
Nicholas Ashworth
Episode: "A Prayer for My Daughter "
2005
Ahead of the Class
Graham Ranger
Television film
The Girl in the Café
George
Television film
Class of '76
Martin Gibson
Miniseries, 2 episodes
Nova
Voltaire
Episode: "E=mc²: Einstein's Big Idea "
2006
Dalziel and Pascoe
Paul Goodman
Episode: "Guardian Angel "
Vital Signs
Dr. Lindsay
4 episodes
New Tricks
Pete Mackintyre
Episode: "Bank Robbery "
The Outsiders
Maurice Heston
Television film
A Touch of Frost
Dennis Prior
Episode: "Endangered Species "
2008
Midsomer Murders
Reverend Wallace Stone
Episode: "Talking to the Dead "
The Palace
Archbishop of Canterbury
2 episodes
Agatha Christie's Poirot
Inspector Kelsey
Episode: "Cat Among the Pigeons "
Einstein and Eddington
Fritz Haber
Television film
Little Dorrit
Mr. Merdle
9 episodes
2009
Casualty 1909
Dr. Henry Head
4 episodes
2010
Holby City
Sol Caplin
Episode: "Faith No More "
Five Daughters
Dr. Nat Cary
Miniseries, 2 episodes
Garrow's Law
John Farmer
4 episodes
Primeval: Webisodes
Gideon
Miniseries, 3 episodes
2011
Primeval
Gideon
Recurring role, 6 episodes
The Hour
Clarence Fendley
Main role, 5 episodes
The Man Who Crossed Hitler
Rudolf Olden
Television film
2012
Secret State
Sir Michael Rix
Miniseries, 2 episodes
2012–2016
The Hollow Crown
Duke of Exeter
4 episodes
2013
Spies of Warsaw
Doctor Lapp
Miniseries, 4 episodes
Mad Dogs
Alex
1 episode
Ripper Street
Dr. Karl Crabbe
2 episodes
The Escape Artist
Richard Mayfield, QC
Miniseries, 3 episodes
Atlantis
Kyros
Episode: "Pandora's Box"
2013–2019
Game of Thrones
Qyburn
Recurring role, 22 episodes
2013–2023
Endeavour
Chief Superintendent / ACC Reginald Bright
Main role, 35 episodes
2014
Father Brown
Father Ignatius
Episode: "The Mysteries of the Rosary "
The Musketeers
Émile De Mauvoisin
Episode: "The Homecoming"
The Game
C
Miniseries, 1 episode
2015
Wolf Hall
Thomas More
Miniseries, 4 episodes
Life in Squares
Dr. Hyslop
Miniseries, 2 episodes
Le Donne
Salvatore
Miniseries, 5 episodes
2015–2016
Dickensian
Fagin
Main role, 15 episodes
2016
Hooten & the Lady
Hercules
Miniseries, 1 episode: "Moscow"
2017
Will
Walsingham
Episode: "The Play's the Thing"
The Crown
Harold Macmillan
Main role (season 2 ), 8 episodes
2019–2020
The Trial of Christine Keeler
Michael Eddowes
Miniseries, 6 episodes
2021
A Discovery of Witches
Rabbi Loew
1 episode
2022
Killing Eve
Robert
Episode: "Making Dead Things Look Nice"
Andor
Major Partagaz
7 episodes
1899
Henry Singleton
8 episodes
2023
Better
Vernon Marley
4 episodes
Podcasts
Year
Title
Role
Notes
2020
The Sandman
Dr. John Hathaway
Voice role, 20 episodes
Video games
Theatre performances
Romeo and Juliet Romeo, 1980, RSC
Hamlet Hamlet, 1982, Donmar Warehouse, London
Troilus and Cressida Troilus, 1981, RSC
The Plantagenets (Henry VI, part 1–3 and Richard III ) Richard III, 1988, RSC
Two Shakespearean Actors Edwin Forrest, 1990, RSC
Richard II Henry Bullingbrook,[17] 1990, RSC
The Taming of the Shrew Petruchio, 1992, RSC
The Merry Wives of Windsor Frank Ford, 1992, RSC
'Art' Serge, 1997, Wyndham's Theatre , London
Private Lives Elyot, 1999, Lyttelton Theatre, London
Cymbeline Iachimo, 2003, RSC
Julius Caesar Marcus Brutus, 2005, Barbican, London
The Winter's Tale Leontes, 2006, RSC
The Vertical Hour Oliver Lucas, 2008, Royal Court Theatre, London
A Doll's House Dr. Rank, 2009, Donmar Warehouse, London
Awards and nominations
References
^ Gullen, Zoë; Sefton, Daniel, eds. (2006). Debrett's People of Today 2006 . London: Debrett's. p. 969. ISBN 9781870520324 . Retrieved 1 December 2023 .
^ "Anton Lesser talks Qyburn, Jaime Lannister's Gold Hand, & The Mountain" . flicksandthecity.com . 5 June 2014. Retrieved 27 September 2016 .
^ a b Smurthwaite, Nick (28 May 2019). "Actor Anton Lesser: 'I'd much rather be here than stuck halfway up a mountain' " . The Stage . Retrieved 15 August 2019 .
^ "Anton Lesser - RADA" . Royal Academy of Dramatic Art . Retrieved 15 August 2019 .
^ "Jews in the News: Carl Reiner, Mel Brooks and David H. Steinberg | Tampa JCCS and Federation" .
^ "Anton Lesser" . IMDb . Retrieved 6 March 2023 .
^ Arnold, Sue (1 December 2007). "Verse yourself in Rumi's words" . The Guardian . Retrieved 6 September 2023 .
^ Delaney, Zoe (20 September 2021). "Endeavour star Anton Lesser's secretly famous daughter who appears alongside him" . mirror . Retrieved 6 March 2023 .
^ Shepherd, Jack (13 June 2016). "Game of Thrones season 6 episode 8: What rumour does Qyburn confirm for Cersei?" . The Independent . Retrieved 22 September 2023 .
^ Han, Karen (7 May 2019). "Qyburn is playing the long game (of thrones)" . Polygon . Retrieved 22 September 2023 .
^ Siquig, Alex (19 April 2019). "In Praise of Qyburn, Westeros's Resident Freak" . The Ringer . Retrieved 22 September 2023 .
^ Taylor, Jordyn (13 May 2019). "How Fans Reacted to Qyburn's Death on Game of Thrones" . Men's Health . Retrieved 22 September 2023 .
^ Harvey-Ball, Thom. "New Supporter - Anton Lesser!" . Chapel Lane Theatre Company . Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2023 .
^ Fabrique. "BAFTA TV awards for RADA alumni — RADA" . www.rada.ac.uk . Retrieved 6 March 2023 .
^ Griffiths, Al (29 September 2022). "What Andor gets right that the Star Wars prequel trilogy got wrong" . Digital Spy . Retrieved 22 September 2023 .
^ "Lily Lesser" at IMDb.
^ as spelled in The life and death of Richard II programme by the Royal Shakespeare Theatre 1990
^ "BAFTA Television Awards 2016 – winners in full" . RadioTimes . 8 May 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2016 .
^ "Nominations Announced for the 24th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards" (PDF) . Screen Actors Guild . 13 December 2017. Retrieved 13 December 2017 .
^ Rubin, Rebecca (13 December 2017). "SAG Award Nominations: Complete List" . Variety . Retrieved 13 December 2017 .
External links
International National Academics Artists People Other