Early life and education

Bonneville was born in Blackheath, south-east London, to a mother who was a nurse and a urological surgeon father. He was educated at Dulwich College Preparatory School and at Sherborne School, an independent school in Dorset.

Following secondary education, Bonneville read theology at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and studied acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He left Cambridge with a 2:2 in theology and has since said that he tended to do more acting than academic work.

Bonneville is also an alumnus of the National Youth Theatre.

Career

Bonneville's first professional stage appearance was at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park. In 1987, he joined the National Theatre where he appeared in several plays, then the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1991, where he played Laertes to Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1992-1993). He played Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Bergetto in 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Kastril and later Surly in The Alchemist.

In 1991, Bonneville made his television debut, billed as Richard Bonneville. His early roles were usually good-natured bumbling characters like Bernie in Notting Hill (1999) and Mr Rushworth in Mansfield Park (1999). In the BBC television series, Take A Girl Like You (2000) and Armadillo (2001), he played more villainous characters, leading up to the domineering Henleigh Grandcourt in Daniel Deronda (2002) and the psychopathic killer James Lampton in The Commander (2003) series. In Love Again, he played the poet Philip Larkin.

In Iris (2001), he played the young John Bayley opposite Kate Winslet, with his performance lauded by critics and receiving a BAFTA nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In 2004, Bonneville played Sir Christopher Wren in the docudrama Wren - The Man Who Built Britain. Bonneville also works extensively in radio. He played the role of Jerry Westerby in the BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of the John le Carré novel The Honourable Schoolboy, first broadcast in January 2010. Earlier, he appeared in the surreal parallel universe comedy Married.

From 2010 until 2015, he appeared in the ITV period drama Downton Abbey, as Robert, Earl of Grantham.

In early 2010, he appeared in the comedy film Burke and Hare. In 2011 and 2012, he starred as Ian Fletcher in the award-winning BBC comedy series Twenty Twelve, and reprised the role in the 2014 BBC comedy series W1A. In December 2012, he appeared on BBC Two with co-star Jessica Hynes in World's Most Dangerous Roads, travelling through Georgia. He will also appear in the much-delayed film Hippie Hippie Shake with Cillian Murphy and Sienna Miller.

Since 2011, Bonneville has been the narrator of the Channel 4 show The Hotel.

In 2014, Bonneville played Mr. Brown in the film Paddington. He has also appeared in the singing comedic role of The Pirate King in the ABC fairy tale-themed musical comedy extravaganza series Galavant during its 2015 and 2016 seasons. In 2016, he narrated the ITV series The Cruise.

Personal life

Bonneville married Lulu Evans in 1998. The couple have a son.

In 2009, Bonneville was the voice of Justice Fosse in Joseph Crilly's British premiere of Kitty and Damnation for the Giant Olive Theatre Company at the Lion & Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town. Shortly thereafter he became Giant Olive's first patron. Bonneville is also a patron of the London children's charity Scene & Heard and ambassador for WaterAid .

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1994	Mary Shelley's Frankenstein	Schiller
1997	Tomorrow Never Dies	Air Warfare Officer - HMS Bedford
1999	Notting Hill	Bernie
1999	Mansfield Park	Mr. Rushworth
2001	Blow Dry	Louis
2001	High Heels and Low Lifes	Farmer
2001	The Emperor's New Clothes	Bertrand
2001	Iris	Young John Bayley	Nominated—BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated—European Film Award for Best Actor
2003	Conspiracy of Silence	Fr. Jack Dowling
2004	Piccadilly Jim	Lord Wisbeach
2004	Stage Beauty	Samuel Pepys
2005	The Commander: Virus	James Lampton	Uncredited
2005	The Commander: Blackout	James Lampton	Uncredited
2005	Man to Man	Fraser McBride
2005	Asylum	Max Raphael
2005	Underclassman	Headmaster Felix Powers
2006	Scenes of a Sexual Nature	Gerry
2007	Four Last Songs	Sebastian Burrows
2007	Hola to the World	Painter	Short film
2008	One of Those Days	Mr. Burrell	Short film
2008	French Film	Jed
2009	Knife Edge	Charles Pollock
2009	Glorious 39	Gilbert
2009	From Time to Time	Captain Oldknow
2010	Critical Eye	Brian
2010	Shanghai	Ben Sanger
2010	Third Star	Beachcomber
2010	Burke & Hare	Lord Harrington
2010	As Time Goes By	N/A
2010	Hippie Hippie Shake	John Mortimer	Unreleased
2011	Third Star	Beachcomber
2014	The Monuments Men	Lieutenant Donald Jeffries
2014	Muppets Most Wanted	Irish Journalist
2014	Paddington	Mr. Henry Brown
2016	Viceroy's House	Lord Mountbatten	Filming

Television

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1990	Chancer	Jas	2 episodes
1991	Dodgem	Rick Bayne	5 episodes
1993	Paul Merton: The Series	Captain	Episode: #2.6"
1993	Stalag Luft	Barton	Television movie
1994	The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes	Victor Savage	Episode: "The Dying Detective (credited as Richard Bonneville)"
1994	Peak Practice	Dominic Kent	Episode: "Perfect Love"
1994	Cadfael	Daniel Aurifaber	Episode: "The Sanctuary Sparrow"
1994	Between the Lines	Henry Oakes	Episode: "Close Protection"
1995	The Vet	Alan Sinclair	6 episodes
1995	EastEnders	Headmaster	Episode: "14 December 1995"
1996	Married for Life	Steve Hollingsworth	7 episodes
1996	Bugs	Nathan Pym	Episode: "Bugged Wheat"
1997	Breakout	Peter Schneider	Television movie
1997	See You Friday	Daniel	Episode: "#1.1"
1997	The Man Who Made Husbands Jealous	Ferdinand Fitzgerald	Episode: #1.1"
1997	Get Well Soon	Norman Tucker	4 episodes
1998	Heat of the Sun	Edward Herbert	Episode: "Hide in Plain Sight"
1998	Mosley	Bob Boothby	4 episodes
1998	Holding the Baby	Gordon Muir	Unknown episodes
1998	The Scold's Bridle	Tim Duggan	Television movie
1999	Murder Most Horrid	Inspector Dawson	Episode: "Confessions of a Murderer"
2000	Take a Girl Like You	Julian Ormerod	3 episodes
2000	Thursday the 12th	Brin Hopper	Television movie
2000	Madame Bovary	Charles Bovary	Television movie
2001	Hans Christian Andersen: My Life as a Fairytale	Publisher	Television movie
2001	The Cazalets	Hugh Cazalet	6 episodes
2001	Armadillo	Torquil Helvoir Jayne	TV film
2002	Midsomer Murders	Hugh Barton	Episode: "Ring Out Your Dead"
2002	Tipping the Velvet	Ralph Banner	Episode: "#1.3"
2002	Daniel Deronda	Henleigh Grandcourt	3 episodes
2002	Impact	Phil Epson	Television movie
2002	The Gathering Storm	Ivo Pettifer	Television movie
2002	Right Under My Eyes	James	Television movie
2002	The Biographer	Eric	Television movie
2002	Doctor Zhivago	Andrey Zhivago	Television movie
2003	The Commander	James Lampton	Television movie
2003	Love Again	Philip Larkin	Television movie
2003	Hear the Silence	Dr. Andrew Wakefield	Television movie
2004	Wren: The Man Who Built Britain	Christopher Wren	TV documentary
2005	The Rotter's Club	Voice of Adult Ben	2 episodes
2005	The Robinsons	George Robinson	6 episodes
2006	Courting Alex	Julian/Charles Carter	10 episodes
2006	Beau Brummell: This Charming Man	Prince Regent	Television movie
2006	Tsunami: The Aftermath	Tony Whittaker	Television movie Nominated—Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries
2007	The Vicar of Dibley	Jeremy Ogilvy	Episode: "The Vicar in White"
2007	Five Days	DSI Iain Barclay	4 episodes
2007	The Replacements	Voice	Episode: "London Calling"
2007	The Diary of a Nobody	Pooter	Television movie
2007	Miss Austen Regrets	Rev. Brook Bridges	Television movie
2007-2008	Freezing	Matt	3 episodes
2008	Bonekickers	Gregory Parton	6 episodes
2008	Lost in Austen	Mr. Bennet	4 episodes
2008	Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story	Sir Hugh Carleton Greene	Television movie
2008-2011	Country House Rescue	Narrator	24 episodes
2009	Hunter	DSI Iain Barclay	2 episodes
2009	Ruth Watson's Hotel Rescue	Narrator	6 episodes
2010	Legally Mad	Gordon Hamm	Television movie
2010-2015	Downton Abbey	Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham	52 episodes Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actor - Miniseries or Television Film Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
2010	Ben Hur	Pontius Pilate	2 episodes
2010	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Edward Masterman	Episode: "Murder on the Orient Express"
2010	The Silence	Chris	4 episodes
2010-2014	Rev.	Roland Wise	3 episodes
2011	Doctor Who	Captain Avery	2 episodes
2011	Marple: The Mirror Crack'd from Side to Side	Inspector Hewitt	Television movie
2011-2012	Twenty Twelve	Ian Fletcher	13 episodes Nominated—BAFTA TV Award for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme Nominated—British Comedy Award for Best TV Comedy Actor
2011-2014	The Hotel	Narrator	33 episodes
2012	Turn Back Time: The Family	Narrator	5 episodes
2012	Getting On	Philip Moore	Episode: "#3.6"
2012	World's Most Dangerous Roads	N/A	Episode: "#3.2"
2012	Mr Stink	Mr Stink	Television movie
2013	Da Vinci's Demons	Duke of Milan	Episode: "The Hanged Man"
2014	Top Gear	Himself	Episode: "Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car"
2014	W1A	Ian Fletcher	8 episodes Nominated - British Academy Television Award for Best Male Comedy Performance
2015	Galavant	Peter the Pillager	Episode: "Comedy Gold"
2016	The Cruise	Narrator	ITV series

Further reading

• Trowbridge, Simon. The Company: A Biographical Dictionary of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Oxford: Editions Albert Creed, 2010. ISBN 978-0-9559830-2-3.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]