Douglas Reith

Person

Douglas Reith

Acting 73 July 16, 1953

Melton, Suffolk, England, UK

Douglas Reith is a British actor and teacher. He is best known for his role as Lord Merton in the television series Downton Abbey (2010–2015), as well as its two follow-up films.…

IMDb

Known for

Popular titles

Rush

Rush

7.7 2013 Movie
Dumbo

Dumbo

6.6 2019 Movie
Outlander

Outlander

8.2 2014 TV Show
The Crown

The Crown

8.2 2016 TV Show
Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey

8.1 2010 TV Show
The Queen

The Queen

6.9 2006 Movie
Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey

7.2 2019 Movie
Serial Teachers 2

Serial Teachers 2

5.3 2015 Movie
Downton Abbey: A New Era

Downton Abbey: A New Era

7.2 2022 Movie
SAS: Red Notice

SAS: Red Notice

5.8 2021 Movie
Minder

Minder

7.1 1979 TV Show
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

7.1 2025 Movie

Biography

A closer look

Read full biography

Douglas Reith is a British actor and teacher. He is best known for his role as Lord Merton in the television series Downton Abbey (2010–2015), as well as its two follow-up films. Reith was born in Melton, Suffolk. He studied acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. He began acting in the late 1970s, beginning with an appearance in International Velvet (1978) alongside Tatum O'Neal and Christopher Plummer. He worked as an announcer and presenter at BBC Radio 3 for five years before leaving to study Greats at Christ Church, Oxford for four years beginning in 1989. He worked as a teacher, including at Westminster School, before resuming his acting career. Reith joined the cast of Downton Abbey as Lord Merton in 2012, and alongside the cast was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series at the 23rd Screen Actors Guild Awards. He reprised the role in the films Downton Abbey (2019) and Downton Abbey: A New Era (2022). In 2017, Reith was cast in Tim Burton's live-action remake Dumbo (2019). In 2019, he was cast in SAS: Red Notice (2021).

Filmography

Movies and shows, newest first

  1. 2025
    Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

    Movie Lord Merton

  2. 2022
    Downton Abbey: A New Era

    Movie Lord Merton

  3. 2021
    The War Below

    Movie Field Marshal Haig

  4. 2021
    SAS: Red Notice

    Movie Sir Charles Whiteside

  5. 2021
    Professor T

    TV show Dean

  6. 2019
    Downton Abbey

    Movie Lord Merton

  7. 2019
    Pandora

    TV show Prescott Fleming

  8. 2019
    Dumbo

    Movie Sotheby

  9. 2017
    Fearless

    TV show Justice Angus Hill

  10. 2016
    The Crown

    TV show Admiral Leach

  11. 2016
    Agatha Raisin

    TV show Lord Pendlebury

  12. 2015
    Serial Teachers 2

    Movie Le chef de la sécurité

  13. 2014
    Outlander

    TV show Professor Brown

  14. 2013
    Rush

    Movie Awards Presenter

  15. 2011
    W.E.

    Movie Lord Brownlow

  16. 2010
    Downton Abbey

    TV show Lord Merton

More credits
  1. 2009
    Enid

    Movie BBC Interviewer

  2. 2006
    Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire

    TV show Metellus

  3. 2006
    The Queen

    Movie Lord Airlie

  4. 2005
    The Queen's Sister

    Movie Horace Featherstonehaugh

  5. 2005
    Elizabeth I

    TV show Judge

  6. 2002
    Rose and Maloney

    TV show Sir Andrew Ross

  7. 1998
    Bloodlines: Legacy of a Lord

    Movie

  8. 1996
    The Prince and the Pauper

    TV show Chamberlain

  9. 1984
    Cold Warrior

    TV show Ferris

  10. 1984
    Amy

    Movie Jimmy Martin

  11. 1983
    An Englishman Abroad

    Movie Toby

  12. 1980
    The Happy Autumn Fields

    Movie Fitzgeorge

  13. 1979
    Minder

    TV show Bellars

  14. 1978
    International Velvet

    Movie Howard

  15. 1976
    Rentaghost

    TV show Auctioneer

  16. 1975
    Rumpole of the Bailey

    TV show Sergeant Downs

  17. 1974
    Playhouse

    TV show Fitzgeorge