Profile of Bill Nighy on Famous Like Me

Bill Nighy (born December 12, 1949 in Caterham, Surrey) is a British actor. He started in television and theatre before appearing in cinema roles in 1981. He is together with but not married to the actress Diana Quick. They have one daughter, Mary.

Nighy has starred in many radio and television dramas, notably the BBC serial, The Men's Room (1991), and more recently the thriller State of Play (2003) and costume drama He Knew He Was Right (2004). He played Sam in the 1981 BBC Radio dramatisation of The Lord of the Rings, and also appeared in the 1980s BBC radio versions of Yes, Minister episodes.

His films include Eye of the Needle, Curse of the Pink Panther, The Phantom of the Opera: The Motion Picture, Mack the Knife, The Little Drummer Girl, Being Human, True Blue, Indian Summer, FairyTale: A True Story, Still Crazy, Guest House Paradiso, Blow Dr], The Lawless Heart, AKA, Lucky Break, I Capture the Castle, Underworld, Love Actually, Shaun of the Dead, The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy, The Girl in the Café and The Constant Gardener .

In February 2004 he was awarded the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Love Actually, and followed this up at the BAFTA Television Awards in April with the Best Actor award for State of Play.

In early 2004 the British tabloid press reported Nighy's partner as saying that he had been offered the coveted role of the Doctor in the 2005 revival of the BBC television series Doctor Who. Quick is alleged to have told reporters that he had considered but ultimately rejected the offer. The editor of Doctor Who Magazine, Clayton Hickman, had earlier mentioned to the press that Nighy was the first choice of executive producer and writer Russell T. Davies. The role was accepted by Christopher Eccleston some weeks later and Davies subsequently claimed that Eccleston had always been the first choice for the role.

In 2005, he appeared as Slartibartfast in the film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, by Douglas Adams and also in the one-off BBC One comedy-drama The Girl in the Café.

Selected Filmography

• Stormbreaker (2006)
• Flushed Away (2006) (voice)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
• Underworld: Evolution (2006)
• The Constant Gardener (2005)
• The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
• The Magic Roundabout (2005) (voice)
• The Girl in the Café (TV)
• Enduring Love (2004)
• He Knew He Was Right (2004) (miniseries)
• Shaun of the Dead (2004)
• Underworld (2003)
• Love Actually (2003)
• State of Play (2003) (TV series)
• The Lost Prince (2003) (TV)
• The Inspector Lynley Mysteries: Well Schooled in Murder (2002) (TV)
• Kiss Me Kate (1998) (TV series) (1999–2000)
• Guest House Paradiso (1999)
• Still Crazy (1998)
• Being Human (1993)
• The Phantom of the Opera: The Motion Picture (1989)
• The Little Drummer Girl (1984)
• Curse of the Pink Panther (1983)

This content from Wikipedia is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Bill Nighy