Portrait of Ronald Pickup

Ronald Pickup

Acting

Biography

Pickup was born in Chester, England, the son of Daisy (née Williams) and Eric Pickup, who was a lecturer.[1] Pickup was educated at The King's School, Chester, trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London, and became an Associate Member of RADA. His television work began with an episode during the second series of Doctor Who in 1964, for which he was paid £30. Pickup worked with Laurence Olivier at the Royal National Theatre, most notably in Three Sisters and Long Day's Journey Into Night. In 1973, he starred in the BBC drama series The Dragon's Opponent, playing a World War II bomb disposal expert and also appeared in The Day of the Jackal. He played Lt. Harford in Zulu Dawn in 1979, portrayed Igor Stravinsky in Nijinsky in 1980, Prince John in Ivanhoe in 1982, and in 1983 he appeared opposite Penelope Keith in Moving, in 1988 in the BBC miniseries The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (1988 TV Serial) as the voice of Aslan, and in 1990 he starred in the short lived sit-com, Not with a Bang. More modern roles have included parts in Hornblower, Hustle, Foyle's War, Midsomer Murders, Waking the Dead, The Bill, Silent Witness, Sherlock Holmes, and Inspector Morse. He is also a regular character in the BBC sitcom The Worst Week of My Life. His most recent appearance was in Holby City as Lord Charles Byrne. Pickup gave a highly acclaimed performance as a decayed Russian aristocrat in the BBC series Fortunes of War, based on a work by Olivia Manning. He also provided the voice for Aslan in the BBC's adaptation of the Chronicles of Narnia and starred opposite Judi Dench in the 1989 Channel 4 serial Behaving Badly. He is also an accomplished stage actor. He was nominated for a 1998 Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Performance in a Supporting Role of 1997 for his performance in Amy's View. Pickup had the starring role as composer Giuseppe Verdi in the acclaimed The Life of Verdi, written and directed by Renato Castellani. In 2005, he had a supporting role in the family-based film, The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby. Between March and August 2009, he starred as Lucky in Sean Mathias' production of Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett opposite Sir Ian McKellen (Estragon), Patrick Stewart (Vladimir) and also Simon Callow (Pozzo). The tour opened in Malvern before travelling to Milton Keynes, Brighton, Bath, Norwich, Edinburgh and Newcastle; its run at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket was extended due to demand. In February 2010 he also appeared as 'Pegleg' in the BBC's period drama Lark Rise to Candleford. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ronald Pickup, licensed under CC-BY-SA,full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Born: June 7, 1940

Place of Birth: Chester, England, UK

Filmography

2021
End of Term

as Damian Self

2018
2017
Darkest Hour

as Neville Chamberlain

2017
2016
The Crown

as Archbishop of Canterbury

2016
The Have-Nots

as Bentham

2013
Atlantis

as Orpheus

2012
2011
Vera

as Mr. Kipford

2010
Downton Abbey

as Sir Michael Reresby

2009
Theatreland

as Himself

2008
Dark Floors

as Tobias

2005
Supernova

as Dr. Malcolm Handey

2005
Cherished

as Professor Sir Roy Meadow

2004
Evilenko

as Aron Richter

2004
Feather Boy

as Ernest Sorrel

2004
Benefit to Mankind

as Professor Quentin Tapscott

2004
Hustle

as Harry Holmes

2004
Sea of Souls

as Alex Galt

2004
New Tricks

as Sir Wilfred Felspar

2004
Secret Passage

as Da Monte

2003
Cambridge Spies

as Colonel Winter

2002
Foyle's War

as Sir Giles Messinger

2002
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries

as Sir Stuart Stinhurst

2002
The Jury

as Jeffrey Livingstone

2001
Waking the Dead

as Charles Sutton

2000
Breathtaking

as Dr. Maclaren

1998
Hornblower

as Don Massaredo

1997
Lolita

as Young Humbert's Father

1997
Midsomer Murders

as Rupert Smythe-Webster

1997
Midsomer Murders

as Ernest Balliol

1997
Ivanhoe

as Waldemar Fitzurse

1996
Der Blinde

as Dr. Bartnik

1995
Black Hearts in Battersea

as Duke Of Battersea

1995
A Very Open Prison

as Brian Silcott

1994
Milner

as Jocelyn Fry

1994
Message for Posterity

as Richard Browning

1994
The Riff Raff Element

as Roger Tundish

1994
The Rector's Wife

as Daniel Byrne

1992
My Friend Walter

as Sir Walter Raleigh

1992
A Time to Dance

as Andrew Powell

1991
Performance

as King Henry IV

1991
Performance

as Siegfried Shrager

1991
Performance

as Richard Browning

1991
Absolute Hell

as Siegfried Shrager

1991
A Murder of Quality

as Felix D'Arcy

1991
Journey of Honor

as Capt. Crawford

1990
Not with a Bang

as Brian Appleyard

1990
Jekyll & Hyde

as Jeffrey Utterson, Esquire

1989
1988
The Chronicles of Narnia

as Aslan (voice)

1988
Testimony

as Marshall Tukhachevsky

1987
Fortunes of War

as Prince Yakimov

1987
The Ruth Rendell Mysteries

as Chief Inspector Moore

1987
The Fourth Protocol

as Wynne-Evans

1987
Inspector Morse

as Ian Matthews

1986
Ladies' Night

as James Tripp

1986
The Mission

as Hontar

1986
Casualty

as Martin / Reginald Freeborn

1986
Matlock

as Sir Alec Moore

1986
Lovejoy

as Edwin Felt

1985
Eleni

as Spiro

1985
1985
Screen Two

as Brian Silcott

1984
Camille

as Jean

1984
Sherlock Holmes

as Barrymore

1984
Pope John Paul II

as Jan Tyranowski

1984
Albert Einstein

as Albert Einstein

1984
Puccini

as Giulio Ricordi

1983
1982
Verdi

as Giuseppe Verdi

1982
The Letter

as Howard Joyce

1982
Ivanhoe

as Prince John

1982
Verdi

as Giuseppe Verdi

1981
Bergerac

as Sir Antony Villiers

1980
Nijinsky

as Igor Stravinsky

1979
Zulu Dawn

as Lt. Harford

1979
Henry VIII

as Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury

1978
1977
BBC2 Play of the Week

as Norman Reynolds

1977
Joseph Andrews

as Mr. Wilson

1975
King Lear

as Edgar

1975
1974
Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill

as Lord Randolph Churchill

1974
Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill

as Randolph Churchill

1974
Mahler

as Nick

1973
1973
1970
Play for Today

as Richard Massingham

1970
Three Sisters

as Baron Tusenbach

1967
Romeo and Juliet

as Mercutio

1967
1965
1965
BBC Play of the Month

as Brother Martin Ladvenu

1963
Doctor Who

as Physician

----
Schadenfreude

as The Gambler