Richard McCabe (born William McCabe; 18 August 1960) is a Scottish actor who has specialised in classical theatre. He is an Associate Artist of the

Royal Shakespeare Company The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs over 1,000 staff and produces around 20 productions a year. The RSC plays regularly in London, St ...

(RSC).

Career

McCabe is an Associate Artist of the

(RSC), best known for his roles, ranging from comedy (Puck, Autolycus, Thersites, Apemantus) to drama (King John, Iago, Flamineo). He first gained major attention as Puck in the 1989 production of ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a comedy written by William Shakespeare 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One subplot involves a conflict amon ...

'', with a production that featured punk fairies and a scrapyard set. As Autolycus, McCabe entered Act III in ''

The Winter's Tale ''The Winter's Tale'' is a play by William Shakespeare originally published in the First Folio of 1623. Although it was grouped among the comedies, many modern editors have relabelled the play as one of Shakespeare's late romances. Some criti ...

'', hanging from a bunch of huge balloons (1992–93; RST, Barbican, UK and international tour). His first leading part was creating the role of

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...

in Peter Whelan's ''

School of Night The School of Night is a modern name for a group of men centred on Sir Walter Raleigh that was once referred to in 1592 as the "School of Atheism". The group supposedly included poets and scientists Christopher Marlowe, George Chapman, Matthew R ...

'', a new play commissioned by the RSC to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Marlowe's death in 1993 (1993–94). Other major roles with the RSC have been the title role in '' King John'' (2006; Josie O’Rourke, Swan); Iago opposite Ray Fearon in ''

Othello ''Othello'' (full title: ''The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice'') is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare, probably in 1603, set in the contemporary Ottoman–Venetian War (1570–1573) fought for the control of the Island of Cypru ...

'' (1999-2000; Michael Attenborough, RST & Barbican); Flamineo in John Webster’s ''White Devil'' (1996–97; Gale Edwards, Swan & The Pit). McCabe has also been associated with

Chichester Chichester () is a cathedral city and civil parish in West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher:Ordnance Survey – Southampton B2 edition. Publishing Date:2009. It is the only ci ...

's Festival Theatre, playing a range of contrasting roles including the title role in '' Scapino or The Trickster'' by Molière (Festival Theatre 2005), directed by Silviu Purcarete. In 2010, McCabe played the critic Moon in ''

The Real Inspector Hound ''The Real Inspector Hound'' is a short, one-act play by Tom Stoppard. The plot follows two theatre critics named Moon and Birdboot who are watching a ludicrous setup of a country house murder mystery, in the style of a whodunit. By chance, th ...

'' by

Tom Stoppard Sir Tom Stoppard (born , 3 July 1937) is a Czech born British playwright and screenwriter. He has written for film, radio, stage, and television, finding prominence with plays. His work covers the themes of human rights, censorship, and politi ...

, and Mr. Puff in ''

The Critic ''The Critic'' was an American primetime adult animated sitcom revolving around the life of New York film critic Jay Sherman, voiced by Jon Lovitz. It was created by writing partners Al Jean and Mike Reiss, who had previously worked as writers a ...

'' by

Richard Brinsley Sheridan Richard Brinsley Butler Sheridan (30 October 17517 July 1816) was an Irish satirist, a politician, a playwright, poet, and long-term owner of the London Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. He is known for his plays such as ''The Rivals'', ''The Sc ...

in a double bill at the Minerva theatre, as well as Jonson in ''

Bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** Bi ...

'' by Edward Bond that subsequently transferred to the Young Vic. In 2011 McCabe played Jim Hacker in a nationwide tour of ''Yes, Prime Minister'' which then transferred to both the Apollo and Gielgud theatres. He played Tropachov in ''Fortune's Fool'' by Turgenev at the Old Vic theatre. In September and October 2012, he played an older Romeo opposite Kathryn Hunter's Juliet in Ben Power's adaptation of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'', called ''A Tender Thing'' (2009), directed by Helena Kaut-Hausen. He also played

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

over a period of three years (1999-2001) for Birmingham Rep's production directed by Bill Alexander. This included appearing at the Hamlet Festival at Elsinore Castle in Denmark in 2001. On 28 April 2013, McCabe won an Olivier Award as Best Supporting Actor for his role as PM

Harold Wilson James Harold Wilson, Baron Wilson of Rievaulx, (11 March 1916 – 24 May 1995) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from October 1964 to June 1970, and again from March 1974 to April 1976. He ...

in the original production of Peter Morgan's '' The Audience'' at the Gielgud Theatre. He had previously been nominated for an Olivier Award in 1994 for his role as Autolycus in the 1992 RSC production of ''

''. On 7 June 2015, McCabe won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in the Broadway production of ''The Audience'', starring Dame

Helen Mirren Dame Helen Mirren (born Helen Lydia Mironoff; born 26 July 1945) is an English actor. The recipient of numerous accolades, she is the only performer to have achieved the Triple Crown of Acting in both the United States and the United Kingdom. ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

. Mirren won the Best Actress Tony Award. He also won awards for Outstanding Featured Actor (Outer Critics' Circle Awards) and Distinguished Performance (Drama League Awards). In 2017, McCabe acted in the role of Major General David Harding in the

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

film, ''Rangoon''. McCabe also played Cicero in the ''

Imperium In ancient Rome, ''imperium'' was a form of authority held by a citizen to control a military or governmental entity. It is distinct from ''auctoritas'' and ''potestas'', different and generally inferior types of power in the Roman Republic an ...

'' cycle of plays at the

in 2017/8. The 2022

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

production of ''

The Yeomen of the Guard ''The Yeomen of the Guard; or, The Merryman and His Maid'', is a Savoy Opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It premiered at the Savoy Theatre on 3 October 1888 and ran for 423 performances. This was the eleventh ...

'' at the

Coliseum Theatre The London Coliseum (also known as the Coliseum Theatre) is a theatre in St Martin's Lane, Westminster, built as one of London's largest and most luxurious "family" variety theatres. Opened on 24 December 1904 as the London Coliseum Theatre o ...

, London, featured McCabe as Jack Point.

Other

Described by Michael Billington of ''

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 ...

'' as "One of our finest actors" and Charles Spencer of ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

'' as "One of the best actors of his generation", McCabe has received Olivier and Tony Awards. On television McCabe played Frank Gresham Senior, owner of Greshamsbury Park, in Julian Fellowes' adaptation for ITV of Anthony Trollope's novel ''

Doctor Thorne ''Doctor Thorne'' by Anthony Trollope (Chapman and Hall, London, 1858) is the third novel in the ''Chronicles of Barsetshire'' series, between ''Barchester Towers'' and ''Framley Parsonage''. The idea of the plot was suggested to Trollope by ...

''. He has also appeared in ''

Poldark ''Poldark'' is a series of historical novels by Winston Graham, published from 1945 to 1953 and continued from 1973 to 2002. The first novel, '' Ross Poldark'', was named for the protagonist of the series. The novel series was adapted twice ...

'', ''

Peaky Blinders The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1910s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to middle-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racke ...

'', all four series of '' Wallander'', ''

Indian Summers ''Indian Summers'' is a British drama television series that began airing on Channel 4 on 15 February 2015. The show details the events of summers spent at Simla, in the foothills of the Himalayas, by a group of the British governing and tradi ...

'', and ''

The Best of Men ''The Best of Men'' is a factually based 2012 television film which describes the pioneering work of Dr Ludwig Guttmann with paraplegic patients at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, which led to the foundation of the Paralympic Games. It stars Eddie M ...

''. On film McCabe has appeared in '' Eye in the Sky'', '' Mindhorn'', ''

The Constant Gardener ''The Constant Gardener'' is a 2001 novel by British author John le Carré. The novel tells the story of Justin Quayle, a British diplomat whose activist wife is murdered. Believing there is something behind the murder, he seeks to uncover the t ...

'', ''

Master and Commander ''Master and Commander'' is a 1969 nautical historical novel by the English author Patrick O'Brian, first published in 1969 in the US and 1970 in the UK. The book proved to be the start of the 20-novel Aubrey–Maturin series, set largely in th ...

'', ''

Notting Hill Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Road M ...

'', and ''

Persuasion Persuasion or persuasion arts is an umbrella term for Social influence, influence. Persuasion can influence a person's Belief, beliefs, Attitude (psychology), attitudes, Intention, intentions, Motivation, motivations, or Behavior, behaviours. ...

''. Other films include ''

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'', '' The Invisible Woman'', '' The Duchess'', '' Vanity Fair'', and ''

Nightwatching ''Nightwatching'' is a 2007 film about the artist Rembrandt and the creation of his 1642 painting ''The Night Watch''. The film is directed by Peter Greenaway and stars Martin Freeman as Rembrandt, with Eva Birthistle as his wife Saskia van Uyle ...

''.

Filmography

Films

Television

Awards and honours

*1994, nominated as Best Supporting Actor, Olivier Award *2013, won Best Supporting Actor, Olivier Award *2015, won Best Featured Actor in a Play, Tony Award *2015 won Outer Critics Circle Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play *2015 nominated for Distinguished Performance Award, Drama League Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCabe, Richard 1960 births 20th-century Scottish male actors 21st-century Scottish male actors Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Laurence Olivier Award winners Tony Award winners Royal Shakespeare Company members Scottish male film actors Scottish male stage actors Scottish male television actors Scottish people of French descent Male actors from Glasgow Living people