John Shrapnel

Actor · 1942–2020 · Birmingham, England, UK

Biography

Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy (née Edwards) and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel.[1] 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.

Acted in 96

2020s

2022
Hamlet Within
Movie

2010s

2017
King Charles III
Archbishop of Canterbury
2015
Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale
Camilo
Hamlet
Claudius/Ghost
2013
National Theatre Live: Macbeth
Duncan/Seyton/Old Man
Run.
St. Peter
2011
The Awakening
Reverend Hugh Purslow
62

2000s

2009
National Theatre Live: Phèdre
Théramène
An Organization of Dreams
Father
2008
Apparitions
Cardinal Bukovak · 6 episodes
Merlin
The Sarrum · 1 episode
79
The Duchess
General Grey
66
Mirrors
Lorenzo Sapelli
46
Chemical Wedding
Crowley
2007
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Lord Howard
56
Once Upon a Time on the Westway
Billy Palmer
2006
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire
Pompey · 1 episode
78
Alien Autopsy
Michael Kuhn
64
2005
Shadow of the Sword
Archbishop
2004
Troy
Nestor
65
New Tricks
DAC John Felsham · 1 episode
78
2002
Foyle's War
Raymond Brooks · 1 episode
84
Whistle
Paul
K-19: The Widowmaker
Admiral Bratyeev
64
Claim
Lex Vandenberg
Alone
Hannah
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
Sergent Mike McCaffrey · 1 episode
74
2001
The Gentleman Thief
Monty Sinclair
Waking the Dead
John Christie · 2 episodes
77
The Body
Moshe Cohen
39
2000
Gladiator
Gaius
80
The 10th Kingdom
Governor of Prison · 5 episodes
80

1990s

1999
Mary, Mother of Jesus
Simon
Notting Hill
PR Chief
74
Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters
General Charette
The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka
Iwaszkiewicz
1998
Invasion: Earth
Air Marshal Bentley · 6 episodes
1997
Predators Killing for a Living
TV
Jonathan Creek
Prof. Lance Graumann · 1 episode
80
Bodyguards
Commander Alan MacIntyre · 7 episodes
Midsomer Murders
Max Jennings, Leo Clarke · 1 episode
78
1996
101 Dalmatians
Skinner
53
Two Deaths
Cinca
1995
Coogan's Run
Douglas Crown · 1 episode
King Arthur: His Life and Legends
Movie
Kavanagh Q.C.
Mr. Justice Griffin · 1 episode
76
England, My England
Samuel Pepys
1994
Fatherland
General Globus
60
Wycliffe
Dr. Sam Malvern · 1 episode
1993
Selling Hitler
Gerd Schulte-Hillen
1992
Hamlet
Claudius
Shakespeare: The Animated Tales
Claudius / The Ghost (voice) · 1 episode
75
Between the Lines
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dunning, D.C.C. Dunning · 13 episodes
74
1991
Selling Hitler
Gerd Schülte-Hillen · 1 episode
G.B.H.
Dr Jacobs · 3 episodes
For the Greater Good
Norman May-Boys MP · 2 episodes
1990
The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story
BKA Police Chief
The Chief
Dan Cheyney · 1 episode