Robert Lonsdale (born 2 November 1983) is an English actor and musician.

Early life and education

Son of Tom and Dilys Lonsdale, he was born on 2 November 1983 in

Marsden, West Yorkshire Marsden is a large village in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. It is in the South Pennines close to the Peak District which lies to the south. The village is west of Huddersfield at the confluence of the River ...

, and has one sister. He went to the

Academy of Live and Recorded Arts The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) was a British drama school. It had two sites: ALRA South on Wandsworth Common in south London and ALRA North in Wigan, Greater Manchester. It was founded in 1979 by director and actor Sorrel Carson w ...

. He won the Carlton Hobbs Bursary and was once described by

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...

as "a young man with enormous talent".

Career

Lonsdale first started acting at the age of eight. One of his first television acting roles was on '' Coronation Street'' in 2002. He has appeared on television and on stage in various roles. He has also done work on radio plays for the BBC, including ''All Quiet on the Western Front'', ''Henry VIII'', ''The Steps'', ''Walter Now'', ''Pilgrim'', ''

The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively for ...

'' (on BBC Radio 3 in 2009), '' The Pattern of Painful Adventures'' (2008), '' On the Beach'' (November 2008 for Radio 4) and ''The Tenant of Wildfell Hall'' (BBC). Lonsdale has appeared on stage in ''Brilliant Adventures'' as Luke at The Royal Court, ''A Life'' at the

Finborough Theatre The Finborough Theatre is a fifty-seat theatre in the West Brompton area of London (part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea) under artistic director Neil McPherson. The theatre presents new British writing, as well as UK and world pr ...

, and ''Anna Christie'' (alongside Jude Law and

Ruth Wilson Ruth Wilson (born 13 January 1982) is an English actress. She is known for her performances as the eponymous protagonist in ''Jane Eyre'' (2006), as Alice Morgan in the BBC psychological crime drama ''Luther'' (2010–2013, 2019), as Alison L ...

) at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage and Josie Rourke have all served as artistic director, a post held since 2019 by Mi ...

. He's also acted in ''La Bete'' (on West End/Broadway), ''The Indian Wants The Bronx'' at the Young Vic and ''

Made in Dagenham ''Made in Dagenham'' is a 2010 British comedy-drama film directed by Nigel Cole and starring Sally Hawkins, Bob Hoskins, Miranda Richardson, Geraldine James, Rosamund Pike, Andrea Riseborough, Jaime Winstone, Daniel Mays and Richard Schiff. ...

''. In 2013, he won Best Studio Performance in ''Brilliant Adventures'' at Royal Exchange Studio for the

Manchester Theatre Awards The Manchester Theatre Awards were established in 2011 to replace the Manchester Evening News Theatre Awards. The MEN awards, created in 1981 by Alan Hulme, the paper's theatre critic, had long been recognised as the most important theatrical priz ...

. In 2014, Lonsdale played the lead role of Private Prewitt, the American GI in '' From Here to Eternity the Musical'' and sang several numbers in the show. This was his first musical. He released one of the number from the show, “Fight the Fight”, as a single. He was nominated for a Whatsonstage Award for Best Actor. Following ''From Here to Eternity'' he played Daniel in ''Another Place'' at The Drum,

Theatre Royal, Plymouth Theatre Royal, Plymouth, is a theatre venue in Plymouth, Devon. It consists of a 1,300-seat main auditorium, The Lyric, which regularly hosts large-scale musicals, opera and ballet; a 200-seat studio, The Drum; and a 50-seat studio, The Lab. O ...

. and one of the leading roles in the BBC's '' The Interceptor.'' From 2015 to 2017, Lonsdale played a series regular in ''

Chewing Gum Chewing gum is a soft, cohesive substance designed to be chewed without being swallowed. Modern chewing gum is composed of gum base, sweeteners, softeners/ plasticizers, flavors, colors, and, typically, a hard or powdered polyol coating. Its t ...

'' as Connor, Tracey's (

Michaela Coel Michaela Ewuraba Boakye-Collinson (born 1 October 1987), known professionally as Michaela Coel, is a British screenwriter and actress. She is best known for creating and starring in the E4 sitcom ''Chewing Gum'' (2015–2017), for which she won ...

) love interest and a poet. In 2017, Lonsdale was in ''

A Lie of the Mind ''A Lie of the Mind'' is a play written by Sam Shepard, first staged at the off-Broadway Promenade Theater on 5 December 1985. The play was directed by Shepard himself with stars Harvey Keitel as Jake, Amanda Plummer as Beth, Aidan Quinn as Franki ...

'' at

Southwark Playhouse Southwark Playhouse is a theatre in London, located between Borough and Elephant and Castle tube stations. History The Southwark Playhouse Theatre Company was founded in 1993 by Juliet Alderdice and Tom Wilson. They identified the need for a ...

with

Gethin Anthony Gethin David L. Anthony (born 9 October 1983) is an English television and film actor best known for his role as Renly Baratheon in ''Game of Thrones'' from 2011 to 2012. Early life and education Anthony was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwicks ...

and Kate Fahy. The following year, he performed in the play ''Utility'' at the

Orange Tree Theatre The Orange Tree Theatre is a 180-seat theatre at 1 Clarence Street, Richmond in south-west London, which was built specifically as a theatre in the round. It is housed within a disused 1867 primary school, built in Victorian Gothic style. T ...

in Richmond. He appeared in the musical '' Standing at the Sky's Edge'' at the

Crucible Theatre The Crucible Theatre (often referred to simply as "The Crucible") is a theatre in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England which opened in 1971. Although it hosts regular theatrical performances, it is best known for hosting professional snooker's ...

Sheffield Sheffield is a 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 historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

in 2019 and The National Theatre in 2023. He plays the guitar, the ukulele, the bugle and a bit of piano and writes his own music.

Personal life

Lonsdale ran the

London Marathon The London Marathon is an annual marathon held in London, United Kingdom, and is the 2nd largest annual road race in the UK, after the Great North Run in Newcastle. Founded by athletes Chris Brasher and John Disley in 1981, it is typically he ...

in 2018 on behalf of Heads Together charity, which encourages people to speak openly about mental health. He lives in South East London and supports Tottenham Hotspur.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* *
TV appearance
on '' This Morning'' singing with

Darius Campbell Darius Campbell Danesh (19 August 1980 – 11 August 2022) was a Scottish singer-songwriter, actor and film producer. He first came to prominence as Darius Danesh when he appeared in the first series of '' Popstars'' in 2001, and the 2002 inau ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lonsdale, Robert 1983 births 21st-century English male actors Alumni of the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts English male film actors English male stage actors English male television actors Living people Male actors from Yorkshire People from Marsden, West Yorkshire Male actors from Huddersfield