Ronald Pickup
Acting
Born June 7, 1940, Chester, England, UK
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.
Filmography
- 2025Schadenfreude — The Gambler
- 2021End of Term — Damian Self
- 2018The Happy Prince — Judge
- 2017Darkest Hour — Neville Chamberlain
- 2017Stealing Silver — Udo
- 2017The Time of Their Lives — Frank
- The Crown — Archbishop of Canterbury
- 2016The Have-Nots — Bentham
- 2015The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel — Norman Cousins
- 2014A Little Place Off the Edgware Road — Bearded Man
- Atlantis — Orpheus
- Pramface
- 2012The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel — Norman Cousins
- Vera — Mr. Kipford
- Downton Abbey — Sir Michael Reresby
- 2010Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time — King Sharaman
- 2008Dark Floors — Tobias
- Lark Rise to Candleford
- Lewis — Fr Moreno Mancini
- 2007The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey — William McDowell
- 2005A Life in Suitcases: A History of Tulse Luper — Monsieur Moitessier
- 2005Cherished — Professor Sir Roy Meadow
- 2005Supernova — Dr. Malcolm Handey
- 2005The Adventures of Greyfriars Bobby — Cecil Johnson
- 2005The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 3: From Sark to the Finish — Monsieur Moitessier
- 2004Benefit to Mankind — Professor Quentin Tapscott
- 2004Evilenko — Aron Richter
- Feather Boy — Ernest Sorrel
- Hustle — Harry Holmes
- New Tricks — Sir Wilfred Felspar
- Sea of Souls — Alex Galt
- 2004Secret Passage — Da Monte
- 2004The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 2: Vaux to the Sea — Monsieur Moitessier (uncredited)
- The Worst Week of My Life — Fraser Cook
- Cambridge Spies — Colonel Winter
- 2003The Tulse Luper Suitcases, Part 1: The Moab Story — Monsieur Moitessier
- Foyle's War — Sir Giles Messinger
- The Inspector Lynley Mysteries — Sir Stuart Stinhurst
- The Jury — Jeffrey Livingstone
- Murder Rooms: The Dark Beginnings of Sherlock Holmes — Sir John Starr
- Waking the Dead — Charles Sutton
- 2000Breathtaking — Dr. Maclaren
- 1999Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil — Don Massaredo
- Hornblower — Don Massaredo
- 1998The Untitled — Robert Kennings
- 1997Bring Me the Head of Mavis Davis — Percy Stone
- Ivanhoe — Waldemar Fitzurse
- 1997Lolita — Young Humbert's Father
- Midsomer Murders — Rupert Smythe-Webster, Ernest Balliol
- Dalziel and Pascoe — Walter Wulfstan
- 1996Der Blinde — Dr. Bartnik
- Hetty Wainthropp Investigates — Lester Rose
- 1996Samuel Beckett: As the Story Was Told — Narrator
- Silent Witness
- 1995A Very Open Prison — Brian Silcott
- Black Hearts in Battersea — Duke Of Battersea
- 1995Henry IV — Henry IV
- 1994In The Cold Light Of Day — Morris
- 1994Message for Posterity — Richard Browning
- 1994Milner — Jocelyn Fry
- Scarlett — Whitlock
- The Rector's Wife — Daniel Byrne
- The Riff Raff Element — Roger Tundish
- 1993Bethune: The Making of a Hero — Alan Coleman
- A Time to Dance — Andrew Powell
- 1992My Friend Walter — Sir Walter Raleigh
- 1992The Golden Years
- 1991A Murder of Quality — Felix D'Arcy
- 1991Absolute Hell — Siegfried Shrager
- 1991Journey of Honor — Capt. Crawford
- Performance — King Henry IV, Siegfried Shrager, Richard Browning
- 1991The War That Never Ends — Diodotus
- El C.I.D. — Jack
- 1990Jekyll & Hyde — Jeffrey Utterson, Esquire
- Not with a Bang — Brian Appleyard
- 1990The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair — Aslan (voice)
- 1989A Dry White Season — Louw
- Behaving Badly
- 1989Danny the Champion of the World — Captain Lancaster
- 1989The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian & The Voyage of the Dawn Treader — Aslan (voice)
- 1988Chekhov in Yalta — Konstantin Stanislavski
- 1988Testimony — Marshall Tukhachevsky
- The Chronicles of Narnia — Aslan (voice)
- 1988The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe — Aslan (voice)
- 1988The Hound of the Baskervilles — Barrymore
- Fortunes of War — Prince Yakimov
- Inspector Morse — Ian Matthews
- 1987The Fourth Protocol — Wynne-Evans
- The Ruth Rendell Mysteries — Chief Inspector Moore
- Casualty — Martin / Reginald Freeborn
- 1986Ladies' Night — James Tripp
- Lovejoy — Edwin Felt
- Matlock — Sir Alec Moore
- 1986The Mission — Hontar
- Unnatural Causes — James Tripp
- 1985Eleni — Spiro
- Moving
- Screen Two — Brian Silcott
- Albert Einstein — Albert Einstein
- 1984Camille — Jean
- 1984Pope John Paul II — Jan Tyranowski
- 1984Puccini — Giulio Ricordi
- Sharing Time — Philip
- Sherlock Holmes — Barrymore
- 1983Never Say Never Again — Elliott
- 1983The Crystal Spirit: Orwell on Jura — George Orwell
- 1983Waters of the Moon — Julius Winterhalter
- 1982Ivanhoe — Prince John
- 1982The Letter — Howard Joyce
- 1982Verdi — Giuseppe Verdi
- Verdi — Giuseppe Verdi
- Bergerac — Sir Antony Villiers
- 1980Nijinsky — Igor Stravinsky
- 1979Henry VIII — Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1979In England's Green and Pleasant Land — Norman Reynolds
- 1979Zulu Dawn — Lt. Harford
- 1978For Tea on Sunday — Ian
- The BBC Television Shakespeare — Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury
- 1978The Thirty Nine Steps — Bayliss
- 1977...but the clouds...
- BBC2 Play of the Week — Ian, Norman Reynolds
- 1977Ghost Trio
- 1977Joseph Andrews — Mr. Wilson
- Romance — Rory Balneath
- 1975King Lear — Edgar
- The Fight Against Slavery — William Pitt
- 1975The Philanthropist — Philip
- 1974All Good Men
- Father Brown — Kalon
- 1974Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill — Lord Randolph Churchill
- Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill — Randolph Churchill
- 1974Mahler — Nick
- 1973Long Day's Journey Into Night — Edmund Tyrone
- 1973The Day of the Jackal — The Forger
- The Dragon's Opponent — Charles "Mad Jack" Howard
- 1973The Roses of Eyam — Reverend William Mompesson
- Play for Today — Richard Massingham
- 1970Three Sisters — Baron Tusenbach
- ITV Saturday Night Theatre — Edmund Tyrone
- ITV Playhouse — Graham
- 1967Much Ado About Nothing — Don Pedro
- 1967Romeo and Juliet — Mercutio
- BBC Play of the Month — Mercutio, Ariel, Brother Martin Ladvenu, Edgar
- 1964Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror — Physician
- Doctor Who — Physician
- Hallmark Hall of Fame — Jean
Appearances as themselves (2)
- 2009Theatreland — Self
- The Lively Arts — Self