Jonathan Coy (born 24 April 1953, in

Hammersmith Hammersmith is a district of West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) is a British actor. He has worked since 1975 largely in

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, ...

, notably as Henry in the long-running legal series '' Rumpole of the Bailey'' and as Bracegirdle in the television series '' Hornblower'', adapted from the books by C. S. Forester. He also appeared as the German character, Kurt, in the British television series '' Brideshead Revisited'', in Season 1, Episode 7, entitled ''The Unseen Hook'', and Colin Grove in ''

The Sandbaggers ''The Sandbaggers'' is a British spy drama television series about men and women on the front lines of the Cold War. Set contemporaneously with its original broadcast on ITV in 1978 and 1980, ''The Sandbaggers'' examines the effect of espionag ...

'' in 1978. In 2008 he played Lloyd in a UK tour of the play ''

Noises Off ''Noises Off'' is a 1982 play by the English playwright Michael Frayn. Frayn conceived the idea in 1970 while watching from the wings a performance of '' The Two of Us'', a farce that he had written for Lynn Redgrave. He said, "It was funnier ...

'', Leonato in the 2011

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...

production of ''

Much Ado About Nothing ''Much Ado About Nothing'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare thought to have been written in 1598 and 1599.See textual notes to ''Much Ado About Nothing'' in ''The Norton Shakespeare'' ( W. W. Norton & Company, 1997 ) p. 1387 The play ...

'', with

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show ''Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

, and Colonel Luykin in Pinero's '' The Magistrate'' at the

Royal National Theatre The Royal National Theatre in London, commonly known as the National Theatre (NT), is one of the United Kingdom's three most prominent publicly funded performing arts venues, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Royal Opera House. I ...

in 2012-13, a production that was included in Season 4 of National Theatre Live. In 1997 he appeared as Doug Arkwright in

Hetty Wainthropp Investigates ''Hetty Wainthropp Investigates'' is a British crime drama television series, starring Patricia Routledge as the title character, Henrietta "Hetty" Wainthropp, that aired for four series between 3 January 1996 and 4 September 1998 on BBC One. ...

(“Daughter of the Regiment”, S3:E2). He also played a German spy called "Hans Maier" in the BBC Series ''

Foyle's War ''Foyle's War'' is a British detective drama television series set during and shortly after the Second World War, created by ''Midsomer Murders'' screenwriter and author Anthony Horowitz and commissioned by ITV after the long-running series ...

'', Series 2 Episode 1; and played the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rule ...

in the BBC series '' The Scarlet Pimpernel'' (1999).http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00qby2y BBC Scarlet Pimpernel (Accessed Dec 2010) In 2003 he played Henry VIII in the Six Mothers-in-law of Henry VIII 'an unreliable history', on BBC Radio 4. He appeared in the 2001 critically acclaimed television film ''

Conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agr ...

'' as Erich Neumann, the Director of the Office of the Four Year Plan. His main scenes were with

Brendan Coyle David "Brendan" Coyle (born 2 December 1962) is an English-Irish actor. He won the Olivier Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role for '' The Weir'' in 1999. He also played Nicholas Higgins in the miniseries '' North & South'', Robert ...

, who played Gestapo General Heinrich Muller. He would be reunited with Coyle over 10 years later on the set of ''

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States o ...

'', where Coy played Mr George Murray, Lord Grantham's lawyer. Coy portrayed George Murray again in '' Downton Abbey: A New Era''. In 2014 he appeared in the world premiere production of ''

Privacy Privacy (, ) is the ability of an individual or group to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively. The domain of privacy partially overlaps with security, which can include the concepts of ...

'' 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 ...

, London, and in 2015 in the world premiere production of Stoppard's '' The Hard Problem''.

References

1953 births Living people English male television actors English male stage actors {{england-actor-stub