Life and career

Russell was born in Winchester, England but brought up in Fife, Scotland.

Russell first performed before an audience in 1960 on The Shari Lewis Show, but it was not until 1980 that he had his first real acting job - performing on the London stage as the superintendent in Nobel Prize-winner Dario Fo's satire Accidental Death of an Anarchist, about police corruption in Italy. The reviews were good, and he reprised that role for television in 1983. After further honing his skills in various British TV productions and a handful of films - including Jute City, The Power of One, The Hawk and Seconds Out - Russell received exposure before international audiences as Caleb Garth in the celebrated BBC miniseries Middlemarch, based on the George Eliot novel of the same name. A year later, he fell in love on the movie screen with Helena Bonham Carter in Margaret's Museum, for which he earned a Genie nomination at the 16th Genie Awards for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role. After more TV roles and another film, Russell played Ralph Fiennes' father in another critically acclaimed film, Oscar and Lucinda . Growing recognition of his acting skills then brought him major roles in four major TV miniseries: Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, The Railway Children and The Mists of Avalon.

Television

Russell is a familiar and unforgettable face on British television and has appeared in numerous television series including Boys from the Blackstuff, Hope and Glory, Neverwhere, Great Expectations, The Mists of Avalon, Heartburn Hotel, Roughnecks, Monarch of the Glen, Waking the Dead, Silent Witness, Rockface, and Spaced. Russell has also made appearances in Still Game, Happiness, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and Cracker. From 2005 to 2006, Russell played Phil Nail in ITV's Coronation Street. Russell made an appearance in Waterloo Road as Lisa and Lenny Brown's grandfather for one episode.

He has appeared as Jock in the third series of the BBC's Jam and Jerusalem, as "Bayard, King of Mercia" in Merlin and in Hotel Babylon as an artist forced to fake his own death when he is in debt. In 2012, he was cast as Brynden "The Blackfish" Tully in the HBO fantasy drama Game of Thrones.

Films

In Margaret's Museum, a highly acclaimed film, he starred opposite Helena Bonham Carter as the Gaelic-speaking Neil Currie. Russell's other film credits include Festival, Ladies in Lavender, King Arthur, Made of Honour, Lecture 21, The 13th Warrior and The Wolfman.

He made an appearance in the 2009 film Sherlock Holmes as Captain Tanner, and reprised the role in the film's 2011 sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. He appeared in the 2010 film The Wolfman as MacQueen. Russell also appeared in Robin Hardy's The Wicker Tree which was released in the first quarter of 2012, playing the character of Beame alongside the Hobbit star Graham McTavish.

He currently plays Inspector Frederick Abberline in BBC One's Ripper Street (2012 - present). He played Tyr in the live-action film Thor: The Dark World (2013).

Edinburgh Fringe 2010

In 2010, Russell made his debut one-man show Touching the Blue.

Filmography

1992	The Power of One	Sgt. Bormann
1993	The Hawk
1997	Oscar and Lucinda	Theophilius
1999	Great Expectations (1999 film)	Joe
1999	The 13th Warrior	Helfdane
2002	Mad Dogs	Thin man
2003	The Mayor of Casterbridge (TV film)	Newson
2004	Ladies in Lavender	Adam Penruddocke
2004	King Arthur	Lancelot's Father
2004	The Rocket Post	Angus Mackay
2004	Still Game	Big Innes	Series 3 Episode 4 "Big Yin"
2005	Faith (TV film)	Gordon
2005	Heartless	Ricky
2006	Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy (TV film)	McPherson
2007	The Yellow House (TV film)	Monsieur Roulin
2007	Joe's Place (TV film)	Dave
2008	Made of Honour	Cousin Finlay
2008	Lecture 21	Hoffmeister
2008	Merlin	Bayard
2009	Book of Blood	Wyburd
2009	Sherlock Holmes	Capt. Tanner
2009	The Bill	Danny Travis (2 episodes)
2010	The Wolfman	Maqueen
2010	Cup Cake	Mute McGill
2010	The Fighter's Ballad	Father John
2011	The Wicker Tree	Beame
2011	Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows	Capt. Tanner
2012-14	Ripper Street (TV series)	Chief Inspector Frederick Abberline (14 episodes)
2013	Mary, Queen of Scots	Douglas
2013	Thor: The Dark World	Tyr
2013	The List	Peter
2013-present	Game of Thrones (TV series)	Brynden Tully (5 episodes)
2016	Stella	Uncle Clem

[ Source: Wikipedia ]