Early life

Capaldi was born in Glasgow, Scotland, the son of Nancy (née Soutar) and Gerald John Capaldi. His paternal grandfather was Italian while the rest of his ancestry is Scottish and Irish. His parents ran an ice cream business. He was educated at St Teresa's Primary School in Possilpark, St Matthew's Primary School in Bishopbriggs, and St Ninian's High School, Kirkintilloch, before attending the Glasgow School of Art.

Capaldi displayed an early talent for performance by putting on a puppet show in primary school. While at high school, he was a member of the Antonine Players, who performed at the Fort Theatre in Bishopbriggs. As an art student, he was the lead singer and guitarist in a punk rock band called The Dreamboys, whose drummer was future comedian Craig Ferguson.

Career

Various acting roles

Capaldi has appeared in over 40 films and television shows since his appearance as Danny Oldsen in Local Hero (1983). He had a role in The Lair of the White Worm (1988) and Dangerous Liaisons (1988), and was featured as Ozzy in a 1985 episode of Minder. He voiced Chief Petty Officer Grieves in the BBC Radio Ministry of Defence comedy Our Brave Boys. Capaldi's first starring role on television was as Luke Wakefield, a closeted gay man who imagines he has witnessed a crime, in the BBC drama series Mr Wakefield's Crusade. He played fictional Songs of Praise producer Tristan Campbell in two episodes of the sitcom Vicar of Dibley, and a transvestite in ITV's Prime Suspect 3. In Neil Gaiman's gothic fantasy Neverwhere, he portrayed the angel Islington.

Capaldi is also an audiobook narrator, and his many titles include several of the works of Iain Banks. He starred as Rory in the 1996 television version of Banks's The Crow Road.

In the 1999 Channel 4 series Psychos, he played a mathematician with bipolar disorder. Capaldi made an appearance as a university professor in the sitcom Peep Show, and played a prime suspect in the 2007 series of Waking the Dead. In 2007, Capaldi appeared as Mark Jenkins (Sid's dad) in the E4 teen comedy drama series Skins. He returned for a second series in 2008, only to be killed off in the third episode. He appeared in the Midsomer Murders episode "Death in Chorus" and ITV1's Fallen Angel. He also appeared in the 2007 British comedy film Magicians.

He appeared as King Charles I in the Channel 4 series The Devil's Whore, aired in 2008. Capaldi provided his voice for the animated film Haunted Hogmanay in 2006. He played Balthazar, one of the Biblical Magi, in the 2010 BBC adaptation of The Nativity.

In November 2011, he began playing Professor Marcus in The Ladykillers at the Liverpool Playhouse, then transferred to the Gielgud Theatre in London. The original run closed at the Gielgud on 14 April 2012. He appeared in The Field of Blood as Dr. Pete, for which he received a BAFTA Scotland nomination in the TV actor/actress category; he was beaten by his co-star Jayd Johnson. He had a small role as a therapist in Big Fat Gypsy Gangster, written by and starring his Getting On co-star Ricky Grover. In 2012, Capaldi played Randall Brown, the new Head of News, on the BBC2 drama The Hour. He appeared as a WHO doctor in World War Z (2013), and had a role in Maleficent (2014), but his part in the latter movie was cut during post-production.

He starred in Inside the Mind of Leonardo, a documentary about Leonardo da Vinci. In 2013 he portrayed Alan Rusbridger, the editor of The Guardian in The Fifth Estate. In 2014 he starred in a new adaptation of The Three Musketeers as Cardinal Richelieu on BBC One.

The Thick of It and In the Loop

Prior to taking over the lead role in Doctor Who, Capaldi was best known for playing spin doctor Malcolm Tucker in the BBC sitcom The Thick of It, which he played from 2005 to 2012. Tucker is said to be largely, if loosely, based upon Tony Blair's right-hand man Alastair Campbell, although Capaldi has said that he based his performance more on Hollywood power players, such as the often abrasive Harvey Weinstein. A film spin-off from The Thick of It called In the Loop (in which Capaldi returned to the role of Tucker), was released in 2009.

The role of Tucker won Capaldi several awards. In 2006, 2008 and 2010 he was nominated for the BAFTA and RTS Best Comedy Actor Awards. He won the 2010 BAFTA Television Award for Male Performance in a Comedy Role. He also won the 2010 and 2012 British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actor. He received another BAFTA Award nominaton in 2013.

Doctor Who

Capaldi was cast in 2013 as the Doctor in the BBC science-fiction series Doctor Who. His casting was announced on 4 August 2013 in a special BBC programme hosted by Zoë Ball. Capaldi first appeared as the Doctor in a cameo in the 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor", before appearing in the 2013 Christmas special, "The Time of the Doctor". A lifelong fan of the series, Capaldi had previously played Lobus Caecilius in the 2008 episode "The Fires of Pompeii" with the Tenth Doctor and his companion Donna Noble, as well as playing civil servant John Frobisher in the 2009 spin-off Torchwood: Children of Earth.

Before taking the role, Capaldi stated that he had to seriously consider the increased level of visibility that would come with the part. He revealed in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that he had been invited to audition for the role of the Eighth Doctor in 1995 prior to the production of the 1996 TV film but didn't go, stating: "I didn't go. I loved the show so much, and I didn't think I would get it, and I didn't want to just be part of a big cull of actors."

In 2014, Capaldi voiced the Doctor on the CBBC website's game, The Doctor and the Dalek and in 2015 voiced him in Lego Dimensions.

Work as director, presenter and writer

In 1992, Capaldi wrote and starred in the road movie Soft Top, Hard Shoulder, which won the audience award at the London Film Festival. In 1995, he won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film for his film Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life, which was tied with fellow nominee Trevor, leading to both films being announced as joint winners, and won BAFTA Award for Best Short Film a year before that. He also wrote and directed Strictly Sinatra in 2001, and in 2009 he wrote and presented A Portrait of Scotland, a documentary detailing 500 years' history of Scottish portrait painting.

Capaldi directed several episodes of the 2009 BBC Four sitcom Getting On (one episode of which he appeared in as a doctor).

In 2012, Capaldi wrote (with Tony Roche), directed and performed in The Cricklewood Greats, an affectionate spoof documentary about a fictitious film studio, which tracks real developments and trends throughout the history of British cinema, including silent movies, horror and bawdy comedy, and a disastrous Terry Gilliam epic (Gilliam appears as himself).

In 2013, Capaldi wrote and directed Born to be King.

Personal life

Capaldi is a patron of Worldwide Cancer Research, and the Scottish children's charity, the Aberlour Child Care Trust. He married Elaine Collins in Strathblane near his home city of Glasgow in 1991. Collins is an actress and writer, they met in 1983 in a touring production for the Paines Plough Theatre Company. They both live in Muswell Hill with their daughter.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Living Apart Together	Joe
1983	Local Hero	Danny Oldsen
1984	Bless My Soul
1985	Turtle Diary	Assistant keeper
1987	The Love Child	Dillon Flynn
1988	The Lair of the White Worm	Angus Flint
1988	Dangerous Liaisons	Azolan
1991	December Bride	Young Sorleyson
1991	Straight Talking		Short film
1992	The Lake	Max	Short film
1993	Soft Top Hard Shoulder	Gavin Bellini	Writer
1993	Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life	Writer/director
1994	Captives	Simon
1996	The Grapevine		Short film
1997	Smilla's Sense of Snow	Birgo Lander
1997	Bean	Gareth
1997	Shooting Fish	Mr. Gilzean
1998	What Rats Won't Do	Tony
2001	Strictly Sinatra	Writer/director
2002	Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War	Derek
2002	Max	David Cohn
2003	Shotgun Dave Rides East	Rob	Short film
2004	House of 9	Max Roy
2004	Niceland	John
2004	Modigliani	Jean Cocteau
2005	Wild Country	Father Steve
2005	The Best Man	Priest
2007	Salvage	James Mulwray	Short film
2007	Magicians	Mike Francis
2009	In the Loop	Malcolm Tucker
2010	Bistro	Max	Short film
2011	Big Fat Gypsy Gangster	Peter VanGellis
2013	World War Z	W.H.O. Doctor
2013	The Fifth Estate	Alan Rusbridger
2014	Maleficent	King Kinloch	Deleted scenes
2014	Paddington	Mr. Curry
2014	From The Doctor to my son Thomas	The Doctor, also writer/director	Viral video
2016	The Complete Walk	Titus Andronicus	Anthology film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Crown Court	Eamonn Donnelly	Series 13, Episode 31: "Big Deal: Part 1"
1985	The Personal Touch	Dominic	Television film
1985	Minder	Ozzie	Series 6, Episode 2: "Life in the Fast Food Lane"
1985	Travelling Man	John	Series 2, Episode 6: "Blow-Up"
1985	John and Yoko: A Love Story	George Harrison	Television film
1986	C.A.T.S. Eyes	Caldicott	Series 2, Episode 2: "Powerline"
1986	God's Chosen Car Park	Everard	Television film
1987	Up Line	Scott Dare
1987	The Story of a Recluse	Jamie	Television film
1988	Rab C. Nesbitt	John	Episode: "Seasonal Greet"
1989	Shadow of the Noose	Robert Wood	Series 1, Episode 7: "The Camden Town Murder"
1989	Dream Baby	Willie	Television film
1989	Dramarama	Tony	Series 7, Episode 7: "Rosie the Great"
1990	Chain	Robert McRae
1990	The Ruth Rendell Mysteries	Zeno Vedast	3 episodes: "Some Lie and Some Die"
1991	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Claude Langton	Series 3, Episode 5: "Wasps' Nest"
1991	Screen Two	Bruce Coldfield	Series 7, Episode 10: "Do Not Disturb"
1991	Selling Hitler	Thomas Walde
1991	Titmuss Regained	Ken Cracken
1992	The Cloning of Joanna May	Isaac
1992	Mr. Wakefield's Crusade	Luke Wakefield
1992	Early Travellers in North America	Robert Louis Stevenson	3 episodes
1992	The Secret Agent	Mr. Vladimir
1993	Micky Love	David Critchley
1993	The Comic Strip Presents...	John	Series 7, Episode 6: "Jealousy"
1993	Stay Lucky	Robin	Series 4, Episode 2: "The Driving Instructor"
1993	Prime Suspect	Vera Reynolds	Series 3
1994-95	The All New Alexei Sayle Show	Doug Hatton/Various characters	7 episodes
1994	Chandler & Co	Larry Blakeson
1994-96	The Vicar of Dibley	Tristan Campbell	2 episodes
1995	Runaway One	Mick Galligan
1996	Delta Wave	Dinsdale Draco	2 episodes: "The Light Fantastic"
1996	The Treasure Seekers	Jellicoe	Television film
1996	Lost for Words	Hiker	Short film
1996	Neverwhere	The Angel Islington
1996	Giving Tongue	Duncan Fielding	Television film
1996	The Crow Road	Rory McHoan
1997	Biography	Narrator	Episode: "John Wayne: The Unquiet American"
1997	The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling	Lord Fellamar	3 episodes
1997	I Hate Christmas Too		Short film
1998-16	Horizon	Narrator	6 episodes
1998	Bookmark	James Boswell	Episode: "Boswell's Boswell"; voice
1999	Psychos	Mark Collins	Series 1, Episode 6
1999	The Greatest Store in the World	Mr. Whiskers	Television film
2001	Hotel!	Hilton Gilfoyle	Television film
2001	High Stakes	Michael Calderwood	Series 1, Episode 6: "Dream Team"
2001 2011	BBC Breakfast	Guest	2 episodes
2002	Solid Geometry	David Hunter	Short film
2003	Unconditional Love	DI Terry Machin	Television drama
2003	In Deep	Jeremy Church	2 episodes: "Character Assassination"
2003	Fortysomething	Dr. Ronnie Pilfrey
2003	Judge John Deed	Alan Roxborough, MP	Series 3, Episode 3: "Conspiracy"
2004	Sea of Souls	Gordon Fleming	2 episodes: "Seeing Double"
2004	Passer By	Defence barrister
2004	My Family	Colin Judd	Series 5, Episode 11: "Dentist to the Stars"
2004	Foyle's War	Raymond Carter	Series 3, Episode 4: "A War of Nerves"
2004	Peep Show	Professor Alistair MacLeish	Series 2, Episode 4: "University Challenge"
2005	The Afternoon Play	Billy Shannon	Series 3, Episode 5: "The Singing Cactus"
2005-12	The Thick of It	Malcolm Tucker
2005-11	Artworks Scotland	Narrator/Himself	3 episodes
2006	Submarine Rescue	Narrator	Documentary
2006	Pinochet in Suburbia	Andy McEntee	Television docudrama
2006	Have I Got News for You	Himself	Series 31, Episode 2
2006	Donovan	Dr. Angus Baldwin	Series 1, Episode 3
2006	Trawlermen	Narrator
2006	Midsomer Murders	Laurence Barker	Series 9, Episode 7: "Death in Chorus"
2006	Aftersun	Jim	Television film
2006	The Martians and Us	Narrator
2006	Haunted Hogmanay	Jeff Wylie	Voice
2007	Waking the Dead	Lucien Calvin	2 episodes: "The Fall"
2007-08	Skins	Mark Jenkins	4 episodes
2007	Fallen Angel	Henry Appleton
2007	Coming Up	Joe	Series 5, Episode 6: "Brussels"
2008	Doctor Who	Lobus Caecilius	Series 4, Episode 2: "The Fires of Pompeii"
2008	Midnight Man	Trevor
2008	Glendogie Bogey	Jeff Wylie	Voice
2008	Cold Blood	Narrator	6 episodes
2008	The Man Who Cycled the World	Narrator	Documentary
2008	The Devil's Whore	King Charles I
2008	The Perfect TV Detective	Narrator	Documentary
2009	The Paul O'Grady Show	Guest	1 episode
2009	This Morning	Guest	1 episode
2009	Torchwood	John Frobisher
2009	The One Show	Himself	1 episode
2009-10	Getting On	Dr. Peter Healey	4 episodes; director of Series 1 and 2
2009	A Portrait of Scotland	Presenter	Documentary; writer
2009	The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson	Guest	1 episode
2010	10 Minute Tales	The Man	Series 1, Episode 9: "Syncing"
2010	Bloody Foreigners	Narrator	Series 1, Episode 4: "The Untold Invasion of Britain"
2010	Accused	Frank Ryland	Series 1, Episode 3: "Helen's Story"
2010	The Nativity	Balthazar
2011	How to Command a Nuclear Submarine	Narrator
2011	The Suspicions of Mr Whicher	Samuel Kent	Television film
2011	The Field of Blood	Dr. Pete
2011	The Penguins of Madagascar	Uncle Nigel	Season 2, Episode 49: "A Visit from Uncle Nigel"
2011	Natural World	Narrator	Series 30, Episode 4: "Komodo: Secrets of the Dragon"
2011	The Andrew Marr Show	Himself	1 episode
2012	The Cricklewood Greats	Himself (presenter)/Leslie Grangely	Spoof documentary; co-writer and director
2012	Punk Britannia	Narrator
2012	Excerpt of Black Drop	Narrator	Short film
2012	The Hour	Randall Brown
2013	Sunday Brunch	Guest	Series 2, Episode 4
2013	Inside the Mind of Leonardo	Leonardo da Vinci	Documentary
2013	Doctor Who Live: The Next Doctor	Himself
2013	Imagine	Presenter	Series 22, Episode 6: "Who's Afraid of Machiavelli?"
2013-present	Doctor Who	The Doctor	Series 8-present
2014	The Musketeers	Cardinal Richelieu
2014	Unlock Art: Exploring the Surreal	Presenter	Short film
2014	Shetland	Weather reporter	Series 2, Episode 5: "Blue Lightning: Part 1"; voice
2014	Doctor Who: The Ultimate Companion	Himself/The Doctor	Documentary
2014	Blue Peter	Himself	Episode: "The 12th Doctor"
2014	Doctor Who: Earth Conquest - The World Tour	Himself	Documentary
2014-present	Doctor Who Extra	Himself/The Doctor
2014-15	The Graham Norton Show	Guest	2 episodes
2015	Conan	Guest	1 episode
2015	Larry King Now	Guest	Series 4, Episode 28
2016	Lorraine	Guest	1 episode
2016	Aliens: The Big Think	Narrator	Documentary
2016	Class	The Doctor

Stage

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1974	An Inspector Calls		Fort Theatre
1983	John, Paul, George, Ringo and Bert	John Lennon	Young Vic
1983	Twelfth Night	Fabian
1983	The Duenna
1984	Blood Brothers	Eddie	UK tour
1984	Dracula	Jonathan Harker	Half Moon Theatre
1985	Songs for Stray Cats and Other Living Creatures	Graeme	Paines Plough Theatre
1986	All the Fun of the Fair		Half Moon Theatre
1988	The Tom and Sammy Jo Show	Tom	Tron Theatre
1989	Valued Friends	Howard	Hampstead Theatre
1989	Treats
1993	Murder Is Easy	Luke Fitzwilliam	Duke of York's Theatre
1998	The Judas Kiss	Robbie Ross	Almeida Theatre
			Playhouse Theatre
			Broadhurst Theatre
2001	Feelgood	Paul	Garrick Theatre
2007	Absurdia	Various characters	Donmar Warehouse
2011-12	The Ladykillers	Professor Marcus	Liverpool Playhouse
			Gielgud Theatre

Radio

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	If You're So Clever, Why Aren't You Rich	David	BBC Radio 4
1995	Medical Detectives	Dr. Peter Allen	BBC Radio 4
1996	Emotion Pictures	Wim Wenders	BBC Radio 3
1998	The Afternoon Play: The Road Back	Gordon Cruikshank	BBC Radio 4
1998	Christmas Panto	Louise	BBC Radio 4
2000	Fantastic Tales	Reader	BBC Radio 4
2001-05	Our Brave Boys	Officer Grieves	BBC Radio 4
2005-06	Baggage	Alistair	BBC Radio 4
2005	A Certain Age	Andy	BBC Radio 4
2007	The Making of Modern Medicine	Reader	BBC Radio 4
2007	Sputnik	Reader	BBC Radio 4
2008	Dr. No	The Armourer	BBC Radio 4
2008	The Further Adventures of the First King of Mars	Reader	BBC Radio 4
2009	The Heart of Saturday Night	Reader	BBC Radio 4
2009-10	The News at Bedtime	Jim Tweedledee	BBC Radio 4

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2014	The Doctor and the Dalek	The Doctor
2015	Lego Dimensions	The Doctor

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
1993	BAFTA Scotland Award	Best Actor	Soft Top Hard Shoulder	Won
		Best Short Film	Franz Kafka's It's a Wonderful Life	Won
1994	Angers European First Film Festival Audience Award	Short Film		Won
	BAFTA Film Award	Best Short Film		Won
1995	Academy Award	Live Action Short Film		Won
2006	RTS Television Award	Best Comedy Performance	The Thick of It	Nominated
	BAFTA TV Award	Best Comedy Performance		Nominated
2008		Best Comedy Performance		Nominated
	RTS Television Award	Best Comedy Performance		Nominated
2009	BAFTA Scotland Award	Best Acting Performance in Film	In the Loop	Won
	British Independent Film Award	Best Actor		Nominated
	NYFCO Award	Best Ensemble Cast		Won
	LAFCA Award	Best Supporting Actor		2nd place
	NYFCC Award	Best Supporting Actor		3rd place
	CFCA Award	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
	ICP Award	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
	VVFP Award	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
	Gold Derby Film Award	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
2010	OFCS Award	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
	COFCA Award	Best Supporting Actor		2nd place
	Evening Standard British Film Award	Peter Sellers Award for Comedy		Nominated
	OFTA Film Award	Best Supporting Actor		Nominated
		Best Ensemble		Nominated
	ICS Award	Best Supporting Actor		2nd place
		Best Ensemble		Won
	ALFS Award	British Actor of the Year		Nominated
	Chlotrudis Award	Best Supporting Actor		Won
		Best Ensemble Cast		Won
	SFX Award	Best Actor	Torchwood	Nominated
	BAFTA TV Award	Best Male Comedy Performance	The Thick of It	Won
	RTS Television Award	Best Comedy Performance		Nominated
	Broadcasting Press Guild Award	Best Actor		Won
	Golden Nymph	Outstanding Actor - Comedy Series		Nominated
	British Comedy Award	Best TV Comedy Actor		Won
2011	BAFTA Scotland Award	Best Actor - Television	The Field of Blood	Nominated
2012	BAFTA TV Award	Best Comedy (Programme or Series)	The Cricklewood Greats	Nominated
	British Comedy Award	Best TV Comedy Actor	The Thick of It	Won
2013	BAFTA TV Award	Best Male Comedy Performance		Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	The Hour	Nominated
	Broadcasting Press Guild Award	Best Actor	The Thick of It and The Hour	Nominated
2014	RTS Scotland Award	Special Award	N/A	Won
	GQ Men of the Year Award	TV Personality of the Year	Doctor Who	Won
2015	TV Choice Award	Best Actor		Nominated
	OFTA Television Award	Best Actor in a Drama Series		Nominated
	BAFTA Cymru Award	Best Actor		Nominated
2016	Anglophile Award	Best Actor in a Television Series		Nominated

[ Source: Wikipedia ]