Biography
Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy (née Edwards) and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel. As a stage actor, he was a member of Laurence Olivier's Royal National Theatre company and the Royal Shakespeare Company and most recently appeared as Sir Oliver Surface in The School for Scandal (directed by Deborah Warner) at the Barbican Centre in 2011. He has also appeared extensively in film and on television in roles in Elizabeth R, Z-Cars, Edward and Mrs. Simpson, 101 Dalmatians, Space: 1999, Inspector Morse, Coogan's Run, Notting Hill and Foyle's War. He presented an episode of the 1983 BBC television travel series Great Little Railways. He gave performances in three entries in the BBC Television Shakespeare plays and as Creon in the BBC's 1984 productions of the Three Theban plays of Sophocles. In America, he has starred in supporting roles as Senator Gaius in Gladiator, Nestor in Troy and Pompey in the second episode of Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. He also played the Jail Warden in the 10th Kingdom, an epic fantasy miniseries. He has the rare achievement of appearing in two episodes of Midsomer Murders as two different characters, in Death in Chorus and Written in Blood. Shrapnel appeared in an episode of Jonathan Creek as Professor Lance Graumann in the episode The Omega Man. He appears in Chemical Wedding alongside Simon Callow, telling the tale of the resurrection of occultist Aleister Crowley. Shrapnel also has experience in the field of BBC radio drama through such characters as Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse and William Gibson's Neuromancer. He is the son-in-law of Deborah Kerr through his 1975 marriage to her younger daughter Francesca Ann Bartley. They have three sons, the actors Lex Shrapnel (b.1979), Tom Shrapnel (b.1981) and the writer Joe Shrapnel (b.1976). They live in Highbury, north London.
Filmography
all 112
Movies 77
TV Shows 35
Narrator 15
self 5
Voice 3
Hamlet Within (2022)
King Charles III (2017)
Britain's Nuclear Bomb - The Inside Story (2017)
The Return of the Flying Scotsman (2016)
Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale (2015)
Hamlet (2015)
OXI, an Act of Resistance (2014)
Building Burma's Death Railway: Moving Half the Mountain (2014)
National Theatre Live: Macbeth (2013)
The Awakening (2011)
Method Actor (2011)
National Theatre Live: Phèdre (2009)
Treasure Quest (2009)
An Organization of Dreams (2009)
Apparitions (2008)
Merlin (2008)
The Duchess (2008)
Mirrors (2008)
Chemical Wedding (2008)
Hindenburg: Titanic of the Skies (2007)
Elizabeth: The Golden Age (2007)
Sparkle (2007)
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (2006)
Alien Autopsy (2006)
Challenger: Countdown to Disaster (2006)
Wachau - Valley of Golden Magic (2005)
Shadow of the Sword (2005)
Seven Wonders of Ancient Greece (2004)
Troy (2004)
I Am Not an Animal (2004)
Seven Wonders of Ancient Egypt (2004)
New Tricks (2004)
Seven Wonders of Ancient Rome (2004)
The Race for Everest (2003)
Wild Women of Viramba (2003)
Schönbrunn - Well of Beauty (2002)
Whistle (2002)
K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
Claim (2002)
Alone (2002)
Egypt's Golden Empire (2001)
Egypt's Golden Empire (2001)
The Gentleman Thief (2001)
Animals of the Ocean Desert (2001)
Waking the Dead (2001)
Mountain Men: The Ghosts of K2 (2001)
The Body (2001)
Supermassive Black Holes (2000)
Gladiator (2000)
The 10th Kingdom (2000)
Mary, Mother of Jesus (1999)
Notting Hill (1999)
Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters (1999)
The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka (1999)
Invasion: Earth (1998)
St. Stephen's: The Living Cathedral (1997)
Predators Killing for a Living (1997)
Jonathan Creek (1997)
Bodyguards (1997)
Midsomer Murders (1997)
101 Dalmatians (1996)
Two Deaths (1996)
Alien Empire (1996)
King Arthur: His Life and Legends (1995)
Kavanagh Q.C. (1995)
England, My England (1995)
Fatherland (1994)
Wycliffe (1994)
Shakespeare: The Animated Tales (1992)
Between the Lines (1992)
SS-3: The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich (1992)
Selling Hitler (1991)
Selling Hitler (1991)
For the Greater Good (1991)
The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story (1990)
Centrepoint (1990)
Blackeyes (1989)
About Face (1989)
How to Get Ahead in Advertising (1989)
Testimony (1988)
Partition (1987)
Personal Services (1987)
Theban Plays: Antigone (1986)
Theban Plays: Oedipus at Colonus (1986)
Theban Plays: Oedipus the King (1986)
The Burston Rebellion (1985)
Poppyland (1985)
Sorrell and Son (1984)
Natural World (1983)
My Cousin Rachel (1983)
King Lear (1982)
The Woman in White (1982)
Troilus & Cressida (1981)
Timon of Athens (1981)
The Tom Machine (1980)
Gossip From The Forest (1979)
Edward and Mrs Simpson (1978)
Edward & Mrs. Simpson (1978)
Armchair Thriller (1978)
Professional Foul (1977)
BBC2 Play of the Week (1977)
Hitting Town (1976)
Hennessy (1975)
Space: 1999 (1975)
Pope Joan (1972)
Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)
Justice (1971)
Elizabeth R (1971)
The Ha-Ha (1969)
Critical Eye
Hamlet Revenant
Stonehenge Rediscovered
Ratings
Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1942-04-27
Deathday2020-02-14 (77 years old)
Birth NameJonathan Shrapnel
Birth PlaceBirmingham, United Kingdom
ChildrenLex Shrapnel
CitizenshipsUnited Kingdom
Also Known AsJohn Morley Shrapnel
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