John Hudson (actor)

John Hudson is a British actor who has been a member of Equity since 1977. He graduated from Cambridge University in 1977, having played the lead in a notable production of "Hamlet" at Queens' College, directed by Roger Michell and having taken part in the Footlights revue, ‘Tag!’ with Jimmy Mulville, Rory McGrath, Nicholas Hytner and Robert Bathurst. The following year, he played Philip Marlowe in Michell’s ‘Private Dick’ at the New End Theatre, Hampstead.

Later London appearances included Regent’s Park Open Air (‘Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘Twelfth Night’) in 1979, "Woman in Mind" at the Vaudeville in 1986, ‘A Man for All Seasons’ with Charlton Heston at the Savoy in 1988 and ‘Exchange’ at the Vaudeville in 1989. He worked extensively at the King’s Head Theatre in Islington (where he also briefly lived) and the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond (both the room above the pub and the newer building opposite). In the regions he appeared at Chester, Chichester, Scarborough, Hornchurch, Westcliff, York, St Andrews and frequently at the Wolsey Theatre, Ipswich, where roles included the title parts in ‘Richard the Third’ and ‘The Elephant Man’, Jack in ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’, Puck in ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ and Mephistopheles in ‘Doctor Faustus’.

On television, John Hudson has played many roles in episodes of series, including ‘Eastenders’, ‘Jonathan Creek’. ‘Absolutely Fabulous’, ‘London’s Burning’, ‘Peak Practice’, ‘Juliet Bravo’, ‘Casualty’, ‘The Bill’ (of course), ‘Touching Evil’ and ‘The Sharp End’. He played Valere in ‘The Miser’ with Nigel Hawthorne as Harpagon, Dickie in ‘The Winslow Boy’ with Emma Thompson and Ian Richardson, Valentine in ‘The Two Gentlemen of Verona’ in the BBC Shakespeare Cycle and Robbie Ross in the series, ‘Oscar’, which starred Michael Gambon as Wilde.

He was in the 1980 film ‘The Priest of Love’ in which Ian McKellen played D H Lawrence and the remake of ‘A Man for All Seasons’, made for cable, in which Hudson played Will Roper. He is currently working as a teacher, but he stepped briefly back on the boards in ‘The Women of Lockerbie’ at the Orange Tree Theatre in 2005.

He was awarded a Doctorate for his PhD thesis on the plays of Alan Ayckbourn in 2006. He is currently on the staff of St Paul's School (London). He also writes songs, having composed two lyrics for the revised version of 'Private Dick', the words and music for a show about the Cheshire Salt Industry (not easy!) and the words to 'Orpheus on the Underground', recorded by close-harmony group, Cantabile, and which features in the film, 'Peter's Friends'. He has recently embarked on a side-line in humorous and ironic songs, accompanied by the guitar, and has been performing in various pubs and clubs in the South West London area. He can be heard on [http://www.MySpace.com/johnhudsonsongs]