George Asprey (born 1 October 1966) is a British stage, film, and television character actor. Since 2008, Asprey has played the part of Scar in the West End theatre production of the musical The Lion King.

Early life

Of Asprey's origins, the Daily Mirror said that his world had been one of "indecent wealth" and he was not born with a silver spoon in his mouth but a "silver shovel".^[1] The only son of Edward Asprey, of Asprey the jewellers, he was educated at Charterhouse School and was expected to join the family business on leaving school. Asprey rebelled, wishing instead to pursue an acting career. This was not welcomed by his father, and the pair did not speak for several months.^[1] Asprey subsequently studied business in the United States, with a view to joining the family firm, but while there was cast in a stage production of The Tempest. This led him to audition for entry to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), and at the age of twenty he was one of nineteen new students accepted out of some 2,500 applicants.^[2][3]

Career

Soon after leaving LAMDA, Asprey was cast as Sean Devereux in the television film The Dying of the Light (Yorkshire Television, 1992). His character was a UNICEF aid worker who was murdered, and Asprey received good reviews for the performance.^[1] He appeared as a policeman in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994).^[4]

In 1995, Asprey was cast as Tony Paterson, a promiscuous hairdresser, in the ITV television serial An Independent Man.^[1] In 2003 he played Doc Holliday in a BBC production,^[5] in 2016 appeared as Walter Monckton in The Crown,^[6] and in 2021 played Jonathan Rees QC in Four Lives.

Asprey's longest-running part on stage is as Scar in the West End production of The Lion King, which he began to play in 2008 and was still performing in October 2019, when in an interview he described Scar as "probably the greatest baddie that Disney has ever written".^[2] The production had to close in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 lockdown, but it reopened at the Lyceum Theatre in July 2021, with Asprey returning as Scar.^[7]

Personal life

In 1992, while they were both appearing in The Sound of Music, Asprey dated Amanda Holden.^[8]

Asprey and his wife Kirsten have three daughters.^[9]

Filmography

Film

• The Dying of the Light (TV movie, 1992) as Sean Devereux^[1]
• Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994) as Policeman^[4]
• Secrets & Lines (2000) as Andrew^[3]
• AKA (2002) as David, Lord Glendening^[10]
• Out of Bounds (2003) as Matthew Van Huet^[3]
• The Wedding Date (2005) as Pat^[3]
• Ian Fleming: Bondmaker (2005) as Officer
• The Greatest Game Ever Played (2005) as Wilfred Reid^[11]
• Riot at the Rite (2005) as Voucher, journalist^[12]
• The Gentlemen (2019) as Lord Snowball^[3]
• Without Remorse (2021) as Denis Stewart^[13][3]

Television

• A Breed of Heroes (BBC, 1994) as Second Lieutenant^[3]
• An Independent Man (1995) as Tony Patterson^[1][3]
• The Peter Principle (1995) as Frank^[3]
• Supply and Demand (1997) as Barry Guard^[3]
• Coming Home (1998) as Dr Jeremy Wells^[3]
• Trial & Retribution (1998) as DC Jack Hutchens^[3]
• The Bill (1998) as Andrew Stirling^[3]
• Nancherrow (1999) as Dr Jeremy Wells^[3]
• Holby City (2003) as Simon Hargreaves^[3]
• The Wild West: Gunfight at the OK Corral (BBC, 2003) as Doc Holliday^[5]
• Mayo (2006) as Adam Hendrick^[12]
• Waking the Dead (2007) as Young Bruno Rivelli^[12]
• Psychoville (2009) as John Haigh^[12]
• Upstairs Downstairs (2010) as Oswald Mosley^[12]
• The Crown (2016) as Walter Monckton^[6]
• The Barking Murders (2021) as Jonathon Rees QC^[12]