Stanley Townsend
BornAugust 1961 (age 62)
Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland
NationalityIrish
EducationWesley College, Dublin
Alma materTrinity College Dublin
OccupationActor
SpouseOrla Charlton
AwardsIrish Times Best Actor Award
2004 Shining City

Stanley Townsend (born August 1961) is an Irish actor.

Personal life

Townsend was born and brought up in Dublin. After attending Wesley College, Dublin, he studied mathematics and civil engineering at Trinity College. While there he joined the Dublin University Players, the college's Amateur Dramatic Society. He later co-founded co-operative theatre company Rough Magic with writer/director Declan Hughes and theatre director Lynne Parker, performing in numerous productions including The Country Wife, Nightshade, and Sexual Perversity in Chicago. He subsequently went on to perform in several productions at The Gate and The Abbey Theatres in Dublin. In London, he has worked with such directors as Sam Mendes in The Plough and the Stars, Richard Eyre in Guys and Dolls and Rufus Norris in Under the Blue Sky. Theatre appearances at the Royal Court include The Alice Trilogy directed by Ian Rickson and Shining City directed by Conor McPherson, for which he won an Irish Theatre Award and was nominated for the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Actor in 2004.[1]

Career

Townsend's television work began on a number of shows for RTÉ in Dublin. Since moving to London, television appearances have included Spooks, The Commander, Hustle, Waking the Dead, and Omagh Bombing.

Film credits include Mike Newell's Into the West, Jim Sheridan's In the Name of the Father with Daniel Day-Lewis, The Van by Stephen Frears, Peter Greenaway's The Tulse Luper Suitcases, The Libertine with Johnny Depp, Paul Morrison's Wondrous Oblivion with Delroy Lindo, John Boorman's The Tiger's Tale and Michael Radford's Flawless. He currently lives in London.

Theatre

Townsend's work in theatre includes: Remember This,[2] Guys and Dolls, Phedre and Happy Now? at the National Theatre, London; The Alice Trilogy,[3] Shining City[4] (for which he won the Irish Times Best Actor Award),[1] Under the Blue Sky,[5] The Weir and Tribes at the Royal Court, London; The Wake,[6] Trinity for Two and Sacred Mysteries at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin; The Gingerbread Mix-up at St Andrews Lane, Dublin; Prayers of Sherkin[7] at the Old Vic, London; Someone Who'll Watch Over Me at West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds; The Plough and the Stars[8] at the Young Vic, London; Democracy[9] at the Bush Theatre, London; Speed-the-Plow for Project Arts Centre, Dublin; Saint Oscar for Field Day Theatre Company, Derry; Sexual Perversity in Chicago, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, The Country Wife, Nightshade and The White Devil for Rough Magic, Dublin; Who Shall Be Happy...? for Mad Cow Productions, Belfast, London and tour; and 'Art' in the West End. He played Eddie Carbone in A View from the Bridge at the Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh in early 2011. His portrayal of Sims in The Nether for director Jeremy Herrin at the Royal Court Theatre in July 2014 won critical acclaim.[10]

Television

Townsend's television credits include: Zen,[11] Whistleblower, He Kills Coppers, Prosperity, Saddam's Tribe,[12] Rough Diamond,[13] Waking The Dead, Spooks,[14] The Virgin Queen, Hustle,[15] Omagh, The Brief, Murder Squad, Fallen, Wire in the Blood, The Commander, Menace,[16] Seventh Stream, Heartbeat, Station Jim, Table 12, Casualty, Best of Both Worlds, Active Defence, DDU (Making the Cut), Ballykissangel, Peak Practice, Jonathan Creek, A Touch of Frost, The Governor,[17] The Bill, Parnell and the Englishwoman, Nighthawks, Fortycoats & Co., Lost Belongings, Lapsed Catholic, Glenroe, Ashes to Ashes, Mad Dogs, Sherlock, Call the Midwife, Quirke, Ripper Street, 24: Live Another Day, Galavant, The Hollow Crown, Redwater, The Tunnel, New Tricks, Foyle's War, The Collection, Death in Paradise, Informer, Fresh Meat, and General Ad-Din in The Spy.[18]

Film

Film includes: Killing Bono (2011), Happy-Go-Lucky (2008),[19] Nativity (2006),[20] Flawless (2007),[21] The Tiger's Tail (2006), Isolation (2005),[22] The Libertine (2004),[23] Inside I'm Dancing (2004),[24] Tulse Luper II (2004), Suzie Gold (2004),[25] Wondrous Oblivion (2003),[26] American Girl (2002), Monsieur N (2003), Mystics (2003),[27] The Van (1996), My Friend Joe (1996),[28] Moll Flanders (1996),[29] Jake's Progress (1995), Beyond Reason (1995), Good Girls, In the Name of the Father (1993),[30] Blue Ice (1992), The Miracle (1991),[31] Taffin (1988),[32] Cars 2 (2011), Lovely Louise [de] (2013) and Florence Foster Jenkins (2016).

Video games

Townsend is the voice of the god Saradomin in the MMORPG RuneScape, as well as Nakmor Drack in Mass Effect: Andromeda. He also voiced Azar Javed in the video game The Witcher and Consul Triton in Xenoblade Chronicles 3.[33]

References

  1. ^ a b "Press Office – Rough Diamond: Stanley Townsend plays Charlie Carrick". BBC. 19 December 2006. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  2. ^ "Productions : Remember This". National Theatre. Archived from the original on 7 February 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  3. ^ Alistair Smith (17 November 2005). "The Stage / Reviews / The Alice Trilogy". Thestage.co.uk. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  4. ^ Michael Billington (10 June 2004). "Shining City, Royal Court, London | | guardian.co.uk Arts". Arts.guardian.co.uk. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  5. ^ The Royal Court Theatre / Under The Blue Sky Archived 19 April 2004 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ The Wake. (Abbey Theater, Dublin, Ireland) (theater reviews) | Variety | Find Articles at BNET.com[dead link]
  7. ^ Theatre: First night review – Prayers of Sherkin Old Vic, London | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET.com[dead link]
  8. ^ "> What's On > Archive > Production Details". Young Vic. 28 October 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  9. ^ thebushtheatre[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ Shuttleworth, Ian (27 July 2014). "The Nether, Royal Court Theatre, London". Financial Times. Retrieved 1 August 2014. Stanley Townsend has played some sinister types in his time, but this may well be a personal best.
  11. ^ "Drama – Zen". BBC. 17 January 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  12. ^ Sam Wollaston (11 May 2007). "Sam Wollaston on last night's TV | Media". The Guardian. UK. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  13. ^ "RTÉ Television – Rough Diamond". Rte.ie. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  14. ^ "Spooks – Series 4, Episode 5 Credits". BBC. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  15. ^ "Drama – Hustle – Characters & Actors". BBC. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  16. ^ Menace Credits Archived 23 March 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ La Plante Productions – The Governor Archived 16 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ "General Ad-Din". TV Maze. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  19. ^ Happy-Go-Lucky Movie Review From The Berlin Film Festival Archived 21 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ The Nativity Story Movie Review (2006) from Channel 4 Film
  21. ^ "Flawless – Cast – New York Times". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2008. Archived from the original on 19 January 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  22. ^ Isolation Movie Review (2005) from Channel 4 Film
  23. ^ "The Libertine – Cast – New York Times". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2011. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  24. ^ "'Inside I'm Dancing' – Cinema, Movie, Film Reviews – Review by Garreth Murphy | Entertainment.ie Ireland". Entertainment.ie. Archived from the original on 17 June 2008. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  25. ^ "Suzie Gold – Cast – New York Times". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2011. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  26. ^ "Wondrous Oblivion – Cast – New York Times". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2011. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  27. ^ "RTÉ.ie Entertainment: Mystics". Rte.ie. 11 December 2003. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  28. ^ "My Friend Joe (1996)". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2011. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011.
  29. ^ "Moll Flanders – Cast – New York Times". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2011. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  30. ^ "In the Name of the Father – Cast – New York Times". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2011. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  31. ^ "The Miracle – Cast – New York Times". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2011. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  32. ^ "Taffin – Cast – New York Times". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2011. Archived from the original on 20 May 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  33. ^ Xenoblade Chronicles 3 Credits [HD 1080P], retrieved 27 August 2022

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