Philip Bowen is a
British actor
An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...
who has appeared in a number of British film and television roles including in ''
The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous
''The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous'' (1993) is a novel written by Jilly Cooper as part of the Rutshire Chronicles, about a womanizer who gets embroiled in a scheme to punish wayward husbands.
The book was first published in hardback in 1993 a ...
'', ''
Agatha Christie's Poirot'', ''
Kavanagh QC
''Kavanagh QC'' is a British television series made by Central Television for ITV between 1995 and 2001. All five series are available on DVD in both Region 1 and Region 2.
Plot
The series starred John Thaw as barrister James Kavanagh QC, wh ...
'' and ''
Soldier Soldier''.
BFI.org
/ref> He was born in Sutton Coldfield
Sutton Coldfield or the Royal Town of Sutton Coldfield, known locally as Sutton ( ), is a town and civil parish in the City of Birmingham, West Midlands, England. The town lies around 8 miles northeast of Birmingham city centre, 9 miles south ...
, Warwickshire
Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon an ...
, in 1946.
Phil's professional career started at Leatherhead in ''Puss in Boots'' playing the back end of the donkey. Seasons in rep followed at Guildford, Derby, Nottingham, Birmingham, Oxford and Newcastle as well as television, radio and some film work in Hollywood.
Foreign touring for the British Council, including three years with Sir Michael Redgrave coupled with seasons at Regent's Park and the Young Vic where he played Hamlet directed by Michael Bogdanov, developed a love for Shakespeare. Associations with Tim Carroll, Master of Verse at Shakespeare's Globe, included touring Germany and playing Prospero in Maidstone Prison with the inmates playing the other parts. He met his wife, Susannna Best, while they were touring with the English Shakespeare Company and together they set up the charity, Shakespeare Link. Their vision was to access Shakespeare beyond the confines of theatre or academe, as a stimulus for communication and debate. They worked in the community, with therapists, with young people and senior citizens as well as in hospitals and prisons; teaching, directing and performing took them to Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Beirut, the Philippines, Tunisia, Mauritius, Indonesia, Malaysia, the US and Canada.
Now settled on the family smallholding
A smallholding or smallholder is a small farm operating under a small-scale agriculture model. Definitions vary widely for what constitutes a smallholder or small-scale farm, including factors such as size, food production technique or technology ...
in the Upper Wye Valley they have been translating Shakespeare into BSL, working with local schools and groups and running ‘Have-a-go Shakespeare’ sessions with all comers. In 2006 they headed up a team to plant the magical Willow Globe, woven of living willow and open to the sky, which they run both as a producing and a receiving house. Such is the success of the Willow Globe Community Company, under Phil's guidance, that it has been invited to play CADW heritage sites and, by the RSC, to perform at Stratford.
In 1996 Phil founded
Shakespeare Link
with his wife, Susanna Best (mother of the actress Eve Best
Emily "Eve" Best (born 31 July 1971) is an English actress and director. She is known for her television roles as Dr. Eleanor O'Hara in the Showtime series ''Nurse Jackie'' (2009–13), First Lady Dolley Madison in the ''American Experience'' t ...
), and is focused on broadening the appeal and accessibility of Shakespeare. This work was further extended with the establishment of th
Willow Globe
theatre on land at their home near Llanwrthwl, Powys in Wales.
References
http://www.shakespearelink.co.uk/willow-globe/
1946 births
English male television actors
Living people
{{UK-tv-actor-1940s-stub