John Shrapnel

Person

John Shrapnel

Acting April 27, 1942

Birmingham, England, UK

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 Laurenc…

IMDb

Known for

Popular titles

Gladiator

Gladiator

8.2 2000 Movie
Troy

Troy

7.2 2004 Movie
Notting Hill

Notting Hill

7.3 1999 Movie
101 Dalmatians

101 Dalmatians

5.9 1996 Movie
Mirrors

Mirrors

6.3 2008 Movie
The Duchess

The Duchess

7.0 2008 Movie
Midsomer Murders

Midsomer Murders

7.5 1997 TV Show
The Awakening

The Awakening

6.4 2011 Movie
Merlin

Merlin

7.8 2008 TV Show
Elizabeth: The Golden Age

Elizabeth: The Golden Age

6.7 2007 Movie
K-19: The Widowmaker

K-19: The Widowmaker

6.6 2002 Movie
I Am Not an Animal

I Am Not an Animal

8.6 2004 TV Show

Biography

A closer look

Read full 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.

Filmography

Movies and shows, newest first

  1. 2022
    Hamlet Within

    Movie

  2. 2017
    The Lions Rule

    TV show Narrator (voice)

  3. 2017
    King Charles III

    Movie Archbishop of Canterbury

  4. 2017
    Britain's Nuclear Bomb - The Inside Story

    Movie Narrator (Voice)

  5. 2016
    The Return of the Flying Scotsman

    Movie Narrator - (Voice)

  6. 2015
    Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale

    Movie Camilo

  7. 2015
    Hamlet

    Movie Claudius/Ghost

  8. 2014
    OXI, an Act of Resistance

    Movie Creon

  9. 2014
    Building Burma's Death Railway: Moving Half the Mountain

    Movie Narrator

  10. 2013
    National Theatre Live: Macbeth

    Movie Duncan/Seyton/Old Man

  11. 2013
    Run.

    Movie St. Peter

  12. 2011
    The Awakening

    Movie Reverend Hugh Purslow

  13. 2009
    National Theatre Live: Phèdre

    Movie Théramène

  14. 2009
    An Organization of Dreams

    Movie Father

  15. 2008
    Apparitions

    TV show Cardinal Bukovak

  16. 2008
    Merlin

    TV show The Sarrum

More credits
  1. 2008
    The Duchess

    Movie General Grey

  2. 2008
    Mirrors

    Movie Lorenzo Sapelli

  3. 2008
    Chemical Wedding

    Movie Crowley

  4. 2007
    Hindenburg: Titanic of the Skies

    Movie Himself (Narrator)

  5. 2007
    Elizabeth: The Golden Age

    Movie Lord Howard

  6. 2007
    Once Upon a Time on the Westway

    Movie Billy Palmer

  7. 2006
    Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire

    TV show Pompey

  8. 2006
    Alien Autopsy

    Movie Michael Kuhn

  9. 2005
    Wachau - Valley of Golden Magic

    Movie Narrator (English Version)

  10. 2005
    Shadow of the Sword

    Movie Archbishop

  11. 2004
    Seven Wonders of Ancient Greece

    Movie Narrator

  12. 2004
    Troy

    Movie Nestor

  13. 2004
    I Am Not an Animal

    TV show Narrator (voice)

  14. 2004
    Seven Wonders of Ancient Egypt

    Movie Narrator

  15. 2004
    New Tricks

    TV show DAC John Felsham

  16. 2004
    Seven Wonders of Ancient Rome

    Movie Narrator

  17. 2003
    The Race for Everest

    Movie Narrator

  18. 2003
    Wild Women of Viramba

    Movie Narrator

  19. 2002
    Schönbrunn - Well of Beauty

    Movie Narrator (English Version)

  20. 2002
    Foyle's War

    TV show Raymond Brooks

  21. 2002
    Whistle

    Movie Paul

  22. 2002
    K-19: The Widowmaker

    Movie Admiral Bratyeev

  23. 2002
    Claim

    Movie Lex Vandenberg

  24. 2002
    Alone

    Movie Hannah