Hugo Alexander Speer (born 17 March 1968) is an English actor and director.

Early life and education

Hugo Speer was born in

Harrogate Harrogate ( ) is a spa town and the administrative centre of the Borough of Harrogate in North Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, the town is a tourist destination and its visitor at ...

in the then West Riding of Yorkshire and educated at

Harrogate Grammar School Harrogate Grammar School is a co-educational academy school and sixth form in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, England. It has around 1,900 pupils in the main school. A 2022 Ofsted inspection rated the school as 'Outstanding' in all five areas of ...

. He studied acting at the

Arts Educational Schools Arts Educational Schools, or ArtsEd, is an independent performing arts school based in Chiswick in the London Borough of Hounslow. Overview ArtsEd provides specialist vocational training at secondary, further and higher education level in musi ...

, London.

Career

Acting

Speer began his acting career appearing in the TV series '' McCallum'', ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused on ...

'', and ''

Heartbeat A heartbeat is one cardiac cycle of the heart. Heartbeat, heart beat, heartbeats, and heart beats may refer to: Computing *Heartbeat (computing), a periodic signal to indicate normal operation or to synchronize parts of a system *Heartbeat, clus ...

''. He played a minor role in the film ''

Bhaji on the Beach ''Bhaji on the Beach'' is a 1993 British comedy-drama film directed by Gurinder Chadha (in her feature film directorial debut) and written by Meera Syal. Plot A community group of British women (mostly Punjabis of various faiths) of differen ...

'' before his first notable appearance as Guy in the film ''

The Full Monty ''The Full Monty'' is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy. The film is s ...

''. Following this film's worldwide success he went on to appear in ''Swing'' (1999), '' Deathwatch'' and ''

The Interpreter ''The Interpreter'' is a 2005 political thriller film directed by Sydney Pollack, starring Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, and Jesper Christensen. It was the first film shot inside the United Nations Headquarters, as well as the fina ...

'' (playing

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

's brother). However, most of his work has been on TV, including sitcom ''

Men Behaving Badly ''Men Behaving Badly'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British British sitcom, sitcom that was created and written by Simon Nye. It follows the lives of Gary Strang (Martin Clunes) and his flatmates Dermot Povey (Harry Enfield; series 1 ...

'', dramas ''

Clocking Off ''Clocking Off'' is a British television drama series which was broadcast on BBC One for four series from 2000 to 2003. It was produced for the BBC by the independent Red Production Company, and created by Paul Abbott. It was effectively an ant ...

'', ''

The Last Detective ''The Last Detective'' is a British TV comedy drama series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV between 7 February 2003 and 31 May 2007, starring Peter Davison as the title character, Detective Constable "Dangerous Davies". The series is based o ...

'', ''

Boudica Boudica or Boudicca (, known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh as ()), was a queen of the ancient British Iceni tribe, who led a failed uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60 or 61. She ...

'' (2003), and '' The Rotters' Club'' (2005), as well as the 2005

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

adaptation of Dickens' ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and ...

''. In 2006, he appeared in the postal worker drama '' Sorted''. In 2008, he starred alongside

Martine McCutcheon Martine Kimberley Sherrie McCutcheon (formerly Ponting, born 14 May 1976) is an English actress and singer. She began appearing in television commercials at an early age and made her television debut in the children's television drama ''Bluebird ...

in ''

Echo Beach "Echo Beach" is a song recorded by the Canadian group Martha and the Muffins in 1979. Written by band member Mark Gane, it was released as a single from their album ''Metro Music'' in 1980 and went on to reach number 5 in Canada, number 6 in Aust ...

''. In 2011 he played a repairman whose repairs "come to life" in the supernatural drama '' Haven'', based on a

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

story. Speer also provides narration for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

series, ''Cops with Cameras'', Channel 5's '' The Bachelor'',

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

series '' 999: What's Your Emergency?'' and the

series ''Seaside Rescue''. He appears as John Foster in the penultimate and final episodes of the fourth series of '' Skins''. Hugo Speer also narrated a factual programme on

Discovery HD Discovery HD is the international name of the high-definition television channels owned by Warner Bros. Discovery EMEA, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. The international Discovery HD (later Discovery HD World in Asia-Pacific markets, no ...

called ''Gold Divers'', and '' Alaska: The Last Frontier''. Since 2010 he has played the lead character of DCI John Stone in eight series of the

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC that replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. It broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history from the BBC' ...

police drama ''Stone''. From 2013 to 2014 he starred as Inspector Valentine in the new version of ''

Father Brown Father Brown is a fictional Roman Catholic priest and amateur detective who is featured in 53 short stories published between 1910 and 1936 written by English author G. K. Chesterton. Father Brown solves mysteries and crimes using his intuiti ...

'' on

TV in the first series and the first episode of the second series. He made a return appearance in the 2020 episode 8.10 "The Tower of Lost Souls" Starting in 2014, Speer appeared as Captain Treville in ''

The Musketeers ''The Musketeers'' is a British period action drama programme based on the characters from Alexandre Dumas's 1844 novel ''The Three Musketeers'' and co-produced by BBC America and BBC Worldwide. The series follows the musketeers Athos, Aramis ...

''. The series concluded in 2016. Since 2018 he has played the character Lucius in the historical fantasy drama series ''

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

'', which is produced by

Sky Atlantic Sky Atlantic is a British pay television channel owned by Sky Group Limited broadcast in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The channel is primarily dedicated to imported programmes from the United States, and holds the domestic rights to HBO ...

and

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime is a paid subscription service from Amazon which is available in various countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services include same, one- ...

Directing

In 2010 Hugo Speer made his directorial début with the short film '' MAM'' starring

Josie Lawrence Josie Lawrence (born Wendy Lawrence; 6 June 1959) is an English actress and comedian. She is best known for her work with the Comedy Store Players improvisational troupe, the television series ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'' and as Manda Best in '' ...

, Paul Barber and Ronan Carter. The family drama about a 12-year-old boy was scripted by Vivienne Harvey. It was produced by Vigo Films and shot mostly in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

Personal life

On 19 February 2015, Speer married

Glaswegian The Glasgow dialect, popularly known as the Glasgow patter or Glaswegian, varies from Scottish English at one end of a bipolar linguistic continuum to the local dialect of West Central Scots at the other. Therefore, the speech of many Glaswegian ...

actress, writer and director

Vivienne Harvey Vivian (and variants such as Vivien and Vivienne) is a given name, and less often a surname, derived from a Latin name of the Roman Empire period, masculine ''Vivianus'' and feminine '' Viviana'', which survived into modern use because it is the ...

. In 2009, Speer was involved in a car accident that saw him crash his BMW into a traffic island while driving after drinking over the legal limit. He was returning from a wake. No one was hurt in the incident and Speer was banned from driving for eighteen months. Speer moved to London after his success in ''

'' and lived there for fifteen years but moved back to his native North Yorkshire. His pastimes include

falconry Falconry is the hunting of wild animals in their natural state and habitat by means of a trained bird of prey. Small animals are hunted; squirrels and rabbits often fall prey to these birds. Two traditional terms are used to describe a person ...

, walking and music. He is a supporter of

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

. He is friends with fellow actor

Andrew Scarborough Andrew Scarborough (born 30 November 1973) is an English actor, most widely known for his starring role on screen as Tim Drewe in the multi BAFTA and Emmy award-winning ''Downton Abbey'' he also Co-starred as Colonel Fielding in the Film ‘� ...

, whom he worked with in the ''

Hearts and Bones ''Hearts and Bones'' is the sixth solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was released in 1983 by Warner Bros. Records. Background The album was originally intended to be called ''Think Too Much'', but Mo Ostin, president ...

'' for two series. Speer and Scarborough have known each other since they were children. In July 2022, Speer was sacked from a planned follow-up television version of ''The Full Monty'' made by

Disney+ The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and deligh ...

following allegations of "inappropriate conduct". A spokesperson for the actor said Speer denies the allegations and will challenge them.Hugo Speer sacked from Full Monty reboot over ‘inappropriate conduct’ claims
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'', 2 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Speer, Hugo 1968 births People educated at the Arts Educational Schools English male film actors English male television actors Living people Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners Actors from Harrogate Male actors from Yorkshire English male radio actors English film directors 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors People educated at Harrogate Grammar School