Richard Harrington (born 12 March 1975) is a Welsh actor.

Early and personal life

Harrington was born in

Gurnos Gurnos is a community of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales, United Kingdom. It consists principally of the Gurnos Estate. The population in 2011 5,280. Background The Gurnos Estate is a large housing estate established by Merthyr Tydfil Coun ...

and brought up in Heolgerrig,

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after T ...

. Harrington speaks

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

as a second language; he came from an English-speaking family but studied in a Welsh Medium school in Merthyr. He has said that filming ''Y Gwyll'' improved his fluency significantly. Harrington has two children with a former girlfriend and a son, born in 2019, with his partner Hannah Daniel, with whom he lives in

Crystal Palace, London Crystal Palace is an area in south London, England, named after the Crystal Palace Exhibition building, which stood in the area from 1854 until it was destroyed by fire in 1936. Approximately south-east of Charing Cross, it includes one of ...

. Harrington took part in the 2012 and 2013 Snowdonia Marathon alongside his friend and fellow actor

Mark Lewis Jones Mark Lewis Jones (born 31 August, 1964) is a Welsh actor, whose roles include that of a First Order Captain Moden Canady in '' Star Wars: The Last Jedi'', a police inspector in BBC drama series ''55 Degrees North'', a whaler in the film '' Mast ...

. They both ran Marathon des Sables in 2014.

Career

Harrington has had starring roles in the Welsh show ''Hinterland'' (known as '' Y Gwyll'' in Welsh), ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and ...

'',

Jimmy McGovern James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He als ...

's '' Gunpowder, Treason & Plot'', and Gavin Claxton's comedy feature film '' The All Together''. He has also had roles in ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Orig ...

'', '' Spooks'', '' Casualty'', ''

Holby City ''Holby City'' (stylised on-screen as HOLBY CIY) is a British medical drama television series that aired weekly on BBC One. It was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama '' Casualty'', and ...

'', '' Hustle'', '' Dalziel and Pascoe'', ''

Silent Witness ''Silent Witness'' is a British crime drama television series produced by the BBC, which focuses on a team of forensic pathology experts and their investigations into various crimes. First broadcast in 1996, the series was created by Nigel ...

'', ''

Lark Rise to Candleford ''Lark Rise to Candleford'' is a trilogy of semi-autobiographical novels by Flora Thompson about the countryside of north-east Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire, England, at the end of the 19th century. The stories were previously published s ...

, and

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 ...

.'' He won a

BAFTA Cymru BAFTA Cymru (or BAFTA in Wales or WAFTA) is the Welsh branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and was founded in 1987.

Award for his portrayal of a young gay hustler in the BBC film ''Dafydd'', part of the '' Wales Playhouse'' programme. On stage, Harrington has toured with Fiction Factory/Y Cwmni's productions of Ed Thomas's plays ''House of America'', ''Gas Station Angel'' and ''Stone City Blue''. He also appeared in the 1997 film version of '' House of America''. In 2015, Harrington won another BAFTA Cymru Award for his role as DCI Tom Matthias in ''Y Gwyll'' / ''Hinterland''. In April 2017, Harrington presented the

BBC Two Wales BBC Two Wales is the national variation of BBC Two for BBC Cymru Wales. It is broadcast from BBC Cymru Wales New Broadcasting House, Central Square in Cardiff with live continuity provided by a team of announcer/directors. The channel opts out f ...

programme ''Richard Harrington: My Grandfather's War'', in which he followed the journey his grandfather had made through Spain in 1937 in order to fight against fascism in the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

. In February 2021, speaking of the first year of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, Harrington revealed that he had worked as a

Deliveroo Deliveroo is a British online food delivery company founded by Will Shu and Greg Orlowski in 2013 in London, England. It operates in the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Ireland, Italy, Singapore, Hong Kong, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait ...

driver to supplement his income during lockdown, due to the lack of work.

Filmography

Theatre * '' House of America'' – Fiction Factory * ''Gas Station Angel'' – Royal Court * ''Stone City Blue'' – Theatre Clwyd * ''Art and Guff'' – Soho Theatre * ''Other Hands'' – Soho Theatre * ''

Look Back in Anger ''Look Back in Anger'' (1956) is a realist play written by John Osborne. It focuses on the life and marital struggles of an intelligent and educated but disaffected young man of working-class origin, Jimmy Porter, and his equally competent yet i ...

'' – Theatre Royal, Bath * ''Coriolanus'' – NTW * ''Home I'm Darling'' – National Theatre

External links

BBC Bleak House profile

Richard Harrington
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrington, Richard Living people Welsh male television actors People from Merthyr Tydfil People educated at Ysgol Gyfun Garth Olwg Welsh-speaking actors 1975 births