1. Alun Armstrong's credits include several Charles Dickens adaptations, and the eccentric ex-detective Brian Lane in New Tricks.
44 Facts About Alun Armstrong
1. 2.
Alun Armstrong is an accomplished stage actor who spent nine years with the Royal Shakespeare Company.
3.
Alun Armstrong originated the role of Thenardier in the London production of Les Miserables, and won an Olivier Award in the title role in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.
4.
Alun Armstrong took part in the National Youth Theatre summer school in 1964, but his background and northern accent made him feel out of place.
5.
Alun Armstrong found the course pretentious and felt that he did not fit in, and he was sent down after two years when he stopped attending classes.
6.
Alun Armstrong had jobs with a bricklayer and as a gravedigger before he decided to try acting again.
7.
Alun Armstrong started out as an assistant stage manager at the Cambridge Arts Theatre, then went on to a Theatre in Education company affiliated with the Sheffield Repertory Theatre.
8.
On learning that the film was being made in Newcastle, Alun Armstrong wrote a letter to MGM, the studio making the film, and was invited to meet director Mike Hodges, who was keen to cast local actors.
9.
Alun Armstrong has appeared in a number of films, although usually in supporting roles.
10.
Alun Armstrong played a French soldier, Lieutenant Lecourbe, in Ridley Scott's 1977 film The Duellists.
11.
Alun Armstrong had a supporting role as the bandit leader Torquil in the 1983 fantasy film Krull.
12.
Alun Armstrong was the villainous Egyptian cult leader Baltus Hafez in The Mummy Returns, and he portrayed Saint Peter with a Geordie accent in Millions.
13.
Alun Armstrong had small roles as the High Constable in Sleepy Hollow, Cardinal Jinette in Van Helsing, Magistrate Fang in Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist and Uncle Garrow in Eragon.
14.
Alun Armstrong was cast in two mini-series dealing with coal miners in North East England.
15.
Alun Armstrong has portrayed characters from the works of Charles Dickens.
16.
Alun Armstrong played Wackford Squeers and Mr Wagstaff in the eight-hour Royal Shakespeare Company stage adaptation of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby that was filmed for television in 1982.
17.
Alun Armstrong has appeared in two versions of Oliver Twist: the 1999 ITV mini-series as Agnes Fleming's father Captain Fleming and the 2005 Roman Polanski film as Magistrate Fang.
18.
Alun Armstrong has had roles in four BBC Dickens adaptations, as Daniel Peggotty in David Copperfield ; as Inspector Bucket in Bleak House ; as Jeremiah and Ephraim Flintwinch in Little Dorrit ; and as Hiram Grewgious in The Mystery of Edwin Drood.
19.
Alun Armstrong has been a fan of Dickens since reading David Copperfield aloud in school.
20.
Alun Armstrong particularly remembered Dan Peggotty's houseboat on the beach, and in order to play the role he turned down an offer from Clint Eastwood, with whom he had worked on White Hunter Black Heart.
21.
Alun Armstrong portrayed 18th century politician Henry Fox in the BBC serial Aristocrats.
22.
Alun Armstrong was nominated for a Royal Television Society award for his role in This Is Personal.
23.
Alun Armstrong is known for his role as Brian Lane in the BBC One series New Tricks about a group of former police detectives who help investigate unsolved and open cases for London's Metropolitan Police.
24.
Alun Armstrong starred in the 2004 TV film When I'm 64 about a lonely retired schoolteacher who starts a relationship with another man.
25.
Alun Armstrong chose the role, despite his apprehension about filming a love scene with co-star Paul Freeman, because he thought it was a lovely and thought-provoking story.
26.
Alun Armstrong starred in The Girls Who Came to Stay, about a British couple who take in two girls exposed to the effects of the Chernobyl disaster, and Filth, as the husband of "Clean-Up TV" activist Mary Whitehouse.
27.
Alun Armstrong guest starred in the 2014 Christmas special of Downton Abbey, and took the role of Clifford Bentley in ITV police drama Prime Suspect 1973.
28.
Alun Armstrong spent nine years with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1979 to 1988.
29.
In 1981, Alun Armstrong joined the cast of the eight-hour production of The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby as Wackford Squeers.
30.
Alun Armstrong went on tour to perform on Broadway at the Plymouth Theatre.
31.
Alun Armstrong performed the roles of Leontes in The Winter's Tale and John Proctor in The Crucible on a national tour that included Christ Church, Spitalfields in 1984 and on tour to Poland in 1985.
32.
Alun Armstrong was one of the first to be cast, along with fellow Royal Shakespeare Company members Sue Jane Tanner and Roger Allam.
33.
Alun Armstrong reprised the role, paired with Jenny Galloway as Mme.
34.
Alun Armstrong appeared in the 25th anniversary concert, though Matt Lucas performed the role of Thenardier.
35.
Alun Armstrong received nominations in two categories for the 1985 Olivier Award: Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Musical for Les Miserables and Actor of the Year for The Crucible and The Winter's Tale.
36.
Alun Armstrong was nominated for an Olivier Award for Outstanding Performance of the Year by an Actor in a Musical.
37.
Alun Armstrong won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Musical in 1994 for his performance as Sweeney Todd in the 1993 London revival of the musical at the National Theatre.
38.
At the Donmar Warehouse, Alun Armstrong appeared as Albert Einstein in Terry Johnson's Insignificance in 1995, and he played Hamm in Samuel Beckett's Endgame in 1996.
39.
Alun Armstrong took the lead role at short notice in Shelagh Stephenson's play Mappa Mundi in 2002, replacing Ian Holm, who withdrew due to illness.
40.
Alun Armstrong appeared in the music video for their song "The Lost Buoys".
41.
In July 2009, Alun Armstrong was awarded two honorary degrees in recognition of his contributions to the arts.
42.
Alun Armstrong received an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia and an Honorary Doctorate of Arts from the University of Sunderland.
43.
The theatre at the Civic Hall in Stanley, County Durham, near Alun Armstrong's hometown, was named after him in 2014.
44.
Alun Armstrong is a supporter of AFC Wimbledon, as is his character in New Tricks.