''King Lear'' is a 2008 television film based on the

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

play of the same name, directed by

Trevor Nunn Sir Trevor Robert Nunn (born 14 January 1940) is a British theatre director. He has been the Artistic Director for the Royal Shakespeare Company, the Royal National Theatre, and, currently, the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. He has directed dramas ...

. It was broadcast on

More4 More4 is a British free-to-air television channel, owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The channel launched on 10 October 2005. Its programming mainly focuses on lifestyle and documentaries, as well as foreign dramas. Content When ...

in the UK on Christmas Day, and shown on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

' ''

Great Performances ''Great Performances'' is a television anthology series dedicated to the performing arts; the banner has been used to televise theatrical performances such as plays, musicals, opera, ballet, concerts, as well as occasional documentaries. It is p ...

'' in the United States in March 2009. The production was filmed mainly at Pinewood Studios in England. It features the same cast and director as the 2007 RSC production, and started filming only a few days after the final performance at the

New London Theatre The Gillian Lynne Theatre (formerly New London Theatre) is a West End theatre located on the corner of Drury Lane and Parker Street in Covent Garden, in the London Borough of Camden. The Winter Garden Theatre formerly occupied the site until 1965 ...

, at Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire. The film was released on DVD in the UK and then in the US on 21 April 2009. It was shown on

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

on 26 December 2008, as well as being broadcast on PBS in 2009 and a number of other TV stations internationally, including NHK Japan.

Cast and crew

Cast

* Ian McKellen – King Lear *

Romola Garai Romola Sadie Garai (; born 6 August 1982) is a British actress and film director. She appeared in ''Amazing Grace'', ''Atonement'', and '' Glorious 39'', and in the BBC series '' Emma'', '' The Hour'' and ''The Crimson Petal and the White''. I ...

– Cordelia *

William Gaunt William Charles Anthony Gaunt (born 3 April 1937 in Pudsey, West Riding of Yorkshire) is an English actor. He became widely known for television roles such as Richard Barrett in ''The Champions'' (1968–1969), Arthur Crabtree in '' No Place ...

– Earl of Gloucester *

Jonathan Hyde Jonathan Stephen Geoffrey King (born 21 May 1948), known professionally as Jonathan "Nash" Hyde, is an Australian-English actor. Hyde is perhaps best known for roles as Herbert Arthur Runcible Cadbury in the 1994 comedy film '' Richie Rich'', Sa ...

– Earl of Kent * Philip Winchester – Edmund *

Sylvester McCoy Percy James Patrick Kent-Smith (born 20 August 1943), known professionally as Sylvester McCoy, is a Scottish actor. Gaining prominence as a physical comedian, he became best known for playing the seventh incarnation of the Doctor in the lon ...

– The Fool *

Frances Barber Frances Barber (née Brookes, born 13 May 1958) is an English actress. She received Olivier Award nominations for her work in the plays '' Camille'' (1985), and ''Uncle Vanya'' (1997). Her film appearances include three collaborations with Gar ...

– Goneril *

Monica Dolan Monica Margaret Dolan (born 15 March 1969) is an English actress. She won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actress for playing Rosemary West in '' Appropriate Adult'' (2011). Career Dolan was born in Middlesbrough and trained at the Gu ...

– Regan * David Weston – A Gentleman * Guy Williams – Duke of Cornwall *Seymour Matthews – Curan * John Heffernan – Oswald *Ben Meyjes – Edgar * Julian Harries – Duke of Albany *Naomi Capron – Maid *

Kieran Bew Kieran Bew (born 18 August 1980) is an English actor, known for portraying Alfonso, Duke of Calabria in '' Da Vinci's Demons'' for Starz, '' Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale'' for Hallmark Entertainment and Gary Parr in Jimmy ...

– Soldier * Peter Hinton- Duke of Burgundy *

Ben Addis Ben Addis is a Welsh actor known for his work in theatre and television,. Early life and education Addis was born in Blaenavon. He was part of Gwent Young People's Theatre (GYPT) in Abergavenny and The National Youth Theatre of Wales. He trained ...

– King of France

Crew

*Director –

*Producer – Richard Price *Line Producer –

Andy Picheta Andy Picheta is a director and producer of film and television, music videos and musical concerts. Picheta has produced music videos and concerts for musicians including Bon Jovi, AC/DC, Lionel Richie, Madonna, Prince, U2 and The Jacksons, and ...

*Cinematographer – Paul Wheeler

Production history

King Lear started filming only a few days after the final stage performance on 12 January 2008. Filming at Pinewood Studios lasted for around a month. Whilst McKellen appeared fully nude in the original production,

would not allow this on screen, so he appeared only partially nude in the televised production.

References

External links