Elliot Aidan Cowan (born 9 July 1976) is a British film and television actor, known for portraying Corporal Jem Poynton in ''

Ultimate Force ''Ultimate Force'' is a British television Action movie, action drama television series, series that was shown on ITV (TV network), ITV, which deals with the activities of Red Troop of the SAS (Special Air Service). The first episode was broad ...

'', Mr Darcy in '' Lost in Austen'', and

Ptolemy Claudius Ptolemy (; , ; ; – 160s/170s AD) was a Greco-Roman mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, geographer, and music theorist who wrote about a dozen scientific treatises, three of which were important to later Byzantine science, Byzant ...

in the 2004 film ''

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

''. He also starred as

Lorenzo de' Medici Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (), known as Lorenzo the Magnificent (; 1 January 1449 – 9 April 1492), was an Italian statesman, the ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic, and the most powerful patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Lore ...

in ''

Da Vinci's Demons ''Da Vinci's Demons'' is a historical fantasy drama television series that presents a fictional account of Leonardo da Vinci's early life. The series was conceived by David S. Goyer and stars Tom Riley in the title role. It was developed and ...

'' and Daron-Vex in ''

Krypton Krypton (from 'the hidden one') is a chemical element; it has symbol (chemistry), symbol Kr and atomic number 36. It is a colorless, odorless noble gas that occurs in trace element, trace amounts in the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere and is of ...

''. Cowan recently played King Henry VII in Starz's '' The Spanish Princess'' and featured in the

Hulu Hulu (, ) is an American Subscription business model, subscription streaming media service owned by Disney Streaming, a subsidiary of the Disney Entertainment segment of the Walt Disney Company. It was launched on October 29, 2007, initially as ...

miniseries '' Black Cake''.

Early life and education

Born in London, Cowan was brought up in

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in northeastern Essex, England. It is the second-largest settlement in the county, with a population of 130,245 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 Census. The demonym is ''Colcestrian''. Colchester occupies the ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

. He is the son of a consultant physician and a charity worker, and has a younger brother and sister. Cowan boarded at Uppingham School in

Rutland Rutland is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Leicestershire to the north and west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-west. Oakham is the largest town and county town. Rutland has a ...

. He later obtained a first class degree in drama at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

, before attending the

Royal Academy of Dramatic Art The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, also known by its abbreviation RADA (), is a drama school in London, England, which provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in Bloomsbury, Central London ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, from which he graduated in July 2001. From 1994 to 1996, Cowan was a member of the

National Youth Music Theatre The National Youth Music Theatre (NYMT) is an arts organisation in the United Kingdom providing pre-professional education and musical theatre stage experience for young people. Based in London, it is constituted as a private limited company (or ...

. He plays

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

and

cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, and has worked with the London Sinfonia.

Career

Cowan's television credits include '' Judge John Deed'', ''

'', ''

Jonathan Creek ''Jonathan Creek'' is a long-running British mystery fiction, mystery crime drama series produced by the BBC and written by David Renwick. It stars Alan Davies as the title character, who works as a creative consultant to a stage magician whi ...

'', '' Poirot'', '' Foyle's War'', ''

The Ruby in the Smoke ''The Ruby in the Smoke'' is a mystery novel for young adults by the English author Philip Pullman published in 1985. The story is set in the Victorian era, where 16-years-old Sally Lockhart discovers the reason of her father's mysterious death ...

'', '' Lost in Austen'' and the television movie '' The Project''. Cowan has appeared in the films '' The Golden Compass'', '' Happy-Go-Lucky'', '' The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey'', ''

Love and Other Disasters ''Love and Other Disasters'' is a 2006 romantic comedy film written and directed by Alek Keshishian. It had its world premiere at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival. In 2008, the film had its UK premiere in London as the gala scree ...

'', and ''

Howl Howl most often refers to: * Howling, an animal vocalization in many canine species * "Howl" (poem), a 1956 poem by Allen Ginsberg Howl or The Howl may also refer to: Film * '' The Howl'', a 1970 Italian film * ''Howl'' (2010 film), a 2010 Am ...

''. His theatre work includes productions of '' The Revenger's Tragedy'', '' Women Beware Women'', '' Henry V'', ''

The Seagull ''The Seagull'' () is a play by Russian dramatist Anton Chekhov, written in 1895 in literature, 1895 and first produced in 1896 in literature#Drama, 1896. ''The Seagull'' is generally considered to be the first of his four major plays. It dramati ...

'' and '' Camille''. He played

Stanley Kowalski Stanley Kowalski is a fictional character in Tennessee Williams' play '' A Streetcar Named Desire''. In the play Stanley lives in the working-class Faubourg Marigny neighborhood of New Orleans with his wife, Stella ( DuBois), and is employe ...

in the 2009 revival of ''

A Streetcar Named Desire ''A Streetcar Named Desire'' is a play written by Tennessee Williams and first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947. The play dramatizes the experiences of Blanche DuBois, a former Southern belle who, after encountering a series of pe ...

'' at the

Donmar Warehouse The Donmar Warehouse is a 251-seat, not-for-profit Off-West End theatre in Covent Garden, London, England. It first opened on 18 July 1977. Sam Mendes, Michael Grandage, Josie Rourke and Michael Longhurst have all served as artistic direc ...

, and was a lead in '' Les Blancs'' at the National Theatre in 2016. He played ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' at the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a Theater (structure), theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 at Southwark, close to the south bank of the Thames, by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men. It was ...

from 23 April- 27 June 2010 alongside Laura Rogers as Lady Macbeth. He starred as Lord Goring in '' An Ideal Husband'' at the Vaudeville Theatre in London's West End from 4 November 2010 to 19 February 2011.
' London Theatre Direct''. Retrieved on 2011-08-27. As of 2010, he voiced Alec Trevelyan in Goldeneye 007 for the Wii console, also providing his likeness.

Personal life

He lives in

Dalston Dalston () is an area of East London, in the London Borough of Hackney. It is northeast of Charing Cross. Dalston began as a hamlet on either side of Dalston Lane, and as the area urbanised the term also came to apply to surrounding areas i ...

, London. On 7 August 2011, Elliot swam the long Lake Zurich Swim race, to raise funds for the Neonatal Unit at Guy's and St. Thomas's in memory of Alfie Blacksell.

Filmography

Film

Television

Videogames

Theatre

References

External links

* *
Official ITV 'Lost in Austen' websiteSwim for Alfie Zurich for Alfie2011 Lake Zurich Swim – Guy's and St. Thomas's Neonatal – Alfie Blacksell
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Elliot 1976 births English male television actors English male stage actors English male film actors English male voice actors English male radio actors Alumni of the University of Birmingham Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art People educated at Uppingham School English male Shakespearean actors Living people Royal Shakespeare Company members 21st-century English male actors People from Dalston Male actors from London Male actors from Colchester Actors from the London Borough of Hackney