- Dominic West
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Dominic West 
Dominic West, September 2008Born 15 October 1969
Sheffield, Yorkshire, EnglandOccupation Actor Years active 1991 – present Spouse Catherine Fitzgerald (2010-present) Dominic Gerard Fe West (born 15 October 1969) is an English actor best known for his role as Detective Jimmy McNulty in the HBO drama series The Wire.
Contents
Career
Film and TV
West made his debut in 1991 in a short called 3 Joes.[citation needed] His other screen appearances include True Blue, Chicago and Mona Lisa Smile. His most notable television role has been Baltimore police detective Jimmy McNulty on the HBO television police drama The Wire. West was praised for the accuracy of his character's accent.[1][2]
During his stint on The Wire, West directed the Season 5 episode, "Took".
In film, he portrayed the heavy metal guitarist Kirk Cuddy in the 2001 film Rock Star. In 2007, he played the Spartan politician Theron in 300. West also starred in the 1999 film version of William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream as Lysander.
West appeared in the role of Oliver Cromwell in the Channel 4 series The Devil's Whore. West played the villain, Jigsaw, in the December 2008 film Punisher: War Zone. He also made an appearance on Eminem's 2009 album Relapse on the opening track, as a doctor discharging Eminem from a rehab facility.
In December 2009, he starred as Hank in a radio adaptation of Eugene O'Neill's expressionist play The Hairy Ape for BBC Radio 3,[3] was a guest presenter on the BBC show Have I Got News for You, and ended the year alongside Joan Rivers and Sarah Jessica Parker with an appearance on Graham Norton's New Year's Eve Show.[4] West portrayed General Virilus in Neil Marshall's adventure thriller Centurion[5] and stars in the UK Ghost film The Awakening.[6]
In 2011, West filmed Appropriate Adult, a series about serial killer Fred West which focuses on the events between the Wests' arrests in 1994, and Fred's suicide in Birmingham's Winson Green Prison on New Year's Day, 1995. His physical resemblance to West was noted during filming and Fred West's daughter Mae West thought he captured the "evil essence of him - his character, his mannerisms, even his gait." Janet Leach found it difficult to approach Dominic in character on set because he was so convincing that it took Leach back 17 years.[7] The series aired on ITV on 4 and 11 September as a two part 90 minute special. Dominic West also said "I have this recurring dream where I'm perched on a wall and Fred West is trying to grab me and pull me down,".
Theatre
As a theatre actor, West has appeared as Konstantin in the Peter Hall-directed The Seagull (1996) at the Old Vic.[citation needed] In 2005, he returned to the stage to play Orlando in David Lan's As You Like It at the Wyndham's Theatre in London.[citation needed] He played Edward in Harley Granville Barker's The Voysey Inheritance directed by Peter Gill at the Royal National Theatre in 2006.[8] In late 2006 and early 2007, he played the lead role of Jan in Tom Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll in London's West End.[citation needed]
Continuing his theatre work, he starred at London's Donmar Warehouse as the protagonist in Pedro Calderón de la Barca’s existential drama Life is a Dream, for which he received glowing reviews.[9]
In February 2011, it was announced that he would take on the title role in Simon Gray's classic comedy, Butley, playing at the Duchess Theatre in London from 1 June 2011[10] and in the September he returned to his native Sheffield to play Iago to his former Wire co-star Clarke Peters's Othello at the Crucible Theatre.[11]
Advertising
In 2009, West starred in a series of online films known as "The Carte Noire Readers". Made to promote French coffee brand Carte Noire, they consist of actors reading love scenes from a selection of sources. West reads extracts from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen; Lady Chatterley's Lover by D. H. Lawrence; High Fidelity by Nick Hornby; The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton; Life Class by Pat Barker; The Moment You Were Gone by Nicci Gerrard; and Something Childish But Very Natural by Katherine Mansfield.[12]
Films
- 3 Joes (1991)
- Richard III (1995)
- True Blue (1996)
- Surviving Picasso (1996)
- The Gambler (1997)
- Diana & Me (1997)
- Spice World (1997)
- A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)
- Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999)
- A Christmas Carol (1999)
- 28 Days (2000)
- The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (2001)
- Rock Star (2001)
- Chicago (2002)
- Mona Lisa Smile (2003)
- The Forgotten (2004)
- Hannibal Rising (2007)
- 300 (2007)
- Punisher: War Zone (2008)
- Centurion (2010)
- Jackboots on Whitehall (2010)
- From Time to Time (2010)
- Johnny English Reborn (2011)
- John Carter (2012)
- The Awakening (2011)
Television
- The Wire (2002–2008)
- The Devil's Whore (2008)
- Breaking the Mould: The Story of Penicillin (2009)
- Have I Got News For You (Guest Host) (2009)
- The Hour (2011)
- Appropriate Adult (2011)
Personal
West was born into an Irish Catholic family[13][14] in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, the son of George West, who owned a plastics factory, and Moya, a housewife.[15] West attended Eton College and Trinity College, Dublin.[13][16] Dominic West graduated from the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London, in 1995.[citation needed]
West and Catherine FitzGerald became engaged in 2007, and married in Glin, County Limerick, Ireland on 26 June 2010.[17] They have three children together: Dora, Senan and Francis.[citation needed] Catherine Fitzgerald is the daughter of Desmond FitzGerald, the 29th Knight of Glin and was formerly married to the Earl of Durham, then Viscount Lambton.[13][18]
In November 2010, West was awarded an honorary degree for services to the Arts by Sheffield Hallam University.[19]
In November 2011, West was also awarded the Honorary Patronage of the Philosophical Society of Trinity College Dublin, where he graduated from with a degree in English in previous years.[20]
References
- ^ Levinson, Paul; "McNulty on his fine Baltimore accent" PaulLevinson.blogspot.com (Retrieved: 26 August 2009)
- ^ Rohrer, Finlo; Fraser, Katie; "The good, the bad and the mangled" news.BBC.co.uk (Magazine), 30 January 2009 (Retrieved: 26 August 2009)
- ^ "Drama on 3". BBC Radio 3. 2009. http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00p69gm. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
- ^ "Jump for Latest Centurion Clip". Dreadcentral.com. 2010-03-22. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/36530/jump-latest-centurion-clip. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
- ^ "Official Domestic One-Sheet: Neil Marshall's Centurion". Dreadcentral.com. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/37919/official-domestic-one-sheet-neil-marshalls-centurion. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
- ^ "Early Sales Art: The Awakening". Dreadcentral.com. 2010-05-14. http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/37527/early-sales-art-the-awakening. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
- ^ "TV portrayal of killer leaves daughter scared". Yahoo!. http://uk.tv.yahoo.com/news-extra/article/176427/tv-portrayal-of-killer-leaves-daughter-scared.html. Retrieved 25 August 2011.
- ^ "Dominic West on playing Edward Voysey" NationalTheatre.org.uk (Retrieved: 26 August 2009)
- ^ Spencer, Charles (2009-10-14). ""Telegraph Review of "Life is a Dream"". London: Telegraph.co.uk. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/6325214/Life-Is-A-Dream-at-the-Donmar-Warehouse-review.html. Retrieved 2010-10-07.
- ^ "Dominic West to revive classic stage role". the Guardian. 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/feb/20/dominic-west-play-butley-revival. Retrieved 2011-05-04.
- ^ "What to say about ... Othello with Dominic West and Clarke Peters". the Guardian. 2011. http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/theatreblog/2011/sep/22/othello-dominic-west-clarke-peters?newsfeed=true. Retrieved 2011-09-29.
- ^ "Dominic West reads sexy scenes" Mirror.co.uk 8 July 2009 (Retrieved: 26 August 2009)
- ^ a b c Anthony, Andrew; "Way out West" Guardian.co.uk, 26 October 2008 (Retrieved: 26 August 2009)
- ^ Wilde, Jon (19 July 2009). "Taking it to The Wire with Dominic West". Daily Mail. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1200081/Dominic-West-takes-The-Wire.html. Retrieved 19 October 2010.
- ^ Gliatto, Tom (5 August 2002). "Deceptive Detective". People Magazine. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20137675,00.html. Retrieved 31 May 2011.
- ^ Philby, Charlotte; "My Secret Life: Dominic West, actor, 39" Independent.co.uk, 21 March 2009 (Retrieved: 26 August 2009)
- ^ "Wire actor West marries long-term Irish partner" Irish Examiner, 27 June 2010 [1]
- ^ Kay, Richard (5 March 2009). "Party over for fixer to the stars". The Daily Mail (London). http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1159797/Party-fixer-stars.html. Retrieved 25 December 2009.
- ^ "The Wire star Dominic West to receive honorary degree". BBC News (London). 4 October 2010. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-11465505.
- ^ "Wire' star pays tributes to wife as he visits alma mater". Irish Independent (Dublin). 23 November 2011. http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/tv-radio/wire-star-pays-tributes-to-wife-as-he-visits-alma-mater-2942520.html.
External links
- Dominic West at the Internet Movie Database
- Dominic West talks about his work with Eminem on Relapse
Categories:- 1969 births
- Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
- Alumni of Trinity College, Dublin
- British people of Irish descent
- English film actors
- English stage actors
- English television actors
- English people of Irish descent
- Living people
- Old Etonians
- Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
- People from Sheffield
- Royal National Theatre Company members
- Shakespearean actors
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