Bill Nighy

Bill Nighy

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Biography

Bill Nighy (born William Francis Nighy, December 12th 1949)
Bill Nighy is an English actor best known for his role in 2003 rom com 'Love Actually'.

Childhood: Bill Nighy was born in Caterham, Surrey. His parents were Catherine Josephine Nighy, a psychiatric nurse, and Alfred Martin Nighy, a car garage manager and former chimney sweep. He was brought up in a Roman Catholic household and was an altar boy. He attended Roman Catholic grammar school the John Fisher School in Purley and joined the school theatre group. He gained two O-levels and worked for the Croydon Advertiser before training at the Guildford School of Dance and Drama.

Acting career: Bill Nighy started out his acting career on stage, working at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool and appearing at the National Theatre in Ken Campbell and Chris Langham's show 'Illuminatus!'. He also made appearances in TV shows such as 'Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil' opposite John Shea and Tony Randall. In 1991, he starred in BBC mini-series 'The Men's Room' with Amanda Redman and Harriet Walter. He made some highly acclaimed National Theatre appearances including in Tom Stoppard's 'Arcadia' in 1993 opposite Felicity Kendal, and in Joe Penhall's 'Blue/Orange' in 2000 which landed him an Olivier Award nomination. In 1998, he played rock star Ray Simms in the movie 'Still Crazy' alongside Stephen Rea, Billy Connolly, Timothy Spall and Jimmy Nail. The following year he had a starring in an episode of BBC comedy series 'People Like Us' which also starred Chris Langham. In 2002, he made an appearance in the return of 'Auf Wiedersehen, Pet' with Timothy Spall, Jimmy Nail and Tim Healy. 2003 saw him in the thriller 'State of Play' opposite James McAvoy, Philip Glenister, Marc Warren, and John Simm which won him a BAFTA for Best Actor; as well as 'Underworld' with Kate Beckinsale, and 'Love Actually' with Hugh Grant, Keira Knightly, Liam Neeson and Martin Freeman which won him his second BAFTA. In 2004, he appeared in costume drama 'He Knew He Was Right' and appeared in the comedy 'Shaun of the Dead' opposite Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The following year he played Slartibartfast in the film adaptation of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' with Martin Freeman and Alan Rickman. 2006 was a busy year seeing him in the drama 'Gideon's Daughter' opposite Miranda Richardson which won him a Golden Globe, in his debut Broadway show Sam Mendes' 'The Vertical Hour' with Julianne Moore, as Davy Jones in 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' with Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom and in 'Notes on a Scandal' with Judi Dench and Cate Blanchett. In 2008, he appeared in 'Valkyrie' with Tom Cruise and Kenneth Branagh. The following year he was in 'Wild Target' alongside Emily Blunt and Rupert Grint. In 2010, he played Minister for Magic Rufus Scrimgeour in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1' alongside Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson. 2012 saw him in 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel' with Judi Dench and Tom Wilkinson, 'Wrath of the Titans' with Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes and 'Total Recall' with Colin Farrell.

Personal life: Bill Nighy separated from his partner of 27 years Diana Quick in 2008. The two have one daughter, Mary Nighy. He is the Patron of the CPFRIS (Crystal Palace F.C. Fast Results & Information Service) Disabled Children's Club and the Ann Craft Trust. He has Dupuytren's contracture, where his little and ring finger are bent towards his palm.



Biography by Contactmusic.com

The Limehouse Golem Review

OK

A Victorian thriller with rather heavy echoes of Jack the Ripper, this film struggles to rise above the murky atmosphere it weaves. And the plot itself is as dense as the low-lying London fog. But the gifted cast members make the most of the talky dialogue, drawing the audience into a twisty mystery even if it perhaps isn't as surprising as it hopes to be.

This is 1880 East London, where Inspector Kildare (Bill Nighy) has been dogged by rumours that he's "not the marrying kind", so he's given the most hopeless case in town: finding a ghostly serial killer who is staging increasingly elaborate murders. With Constable Flood (Daniel Mays) helping him, Kildare narrows the suspects down to philosopher Karl Marx (Henry Goodman), stage star Dan (Douglas Booth), novelist George (Watkins) or playwright John (Sam Reid), whose actress wife Lizzie (Olivia Cooke) is on trial for poisoning him. For some reason, Kildare becomes particularly intrigued by Lizzie's case, hoping he can get some inside information about her stage colleagues from her.

In adapting Peter Ackroyd's novel, Jane Goldman seems intent on including all of the book's gyrations and details, which can't help but make the film feel overstuffed. Plot-strands head off in every direction (including flashbacks and imagined sequences), many simply vanishing while others take turns that don't quite make sense. Even so, alert viewers will easily work out whodunit by about halfway through. Then the script waits until the very end to reveal this.

Continue reading: The Limehouse Golem Review

Bill Nighy Plays His First Cop In The Limehouse Golem


Bill Nighy

In the Victorian horror thriller The Limehouse Golem, Bill Nighy plays an upstanding policeman whose career has been limited because his fellow officers see him as "not the marrying kind". Costars include Olivia Cooke, Douglas Booth, Eddie Marsan and Daniel Mays.

Bill Nighy and Olivia Cooke star in 'The Limehouse Golem'Bill Nighy and Olivia Cooke star in 'The Limehouse Golem'

And there was one thing that really sold him on the movie. "It was a great role and I've waited a long time to be a detective," he laughs. "I like the whole genre, and he's unexpected. So the idea was to hopefully avoid cliches."

Continue reading: Bill Nighy Plays His First Cop In The Limehouse Golem

The Limehouse Golem Trailer


Long before the days of Jack the Ripper, there was another monster haunting the streets of London. A killer so terrible that locals dub him the Golem. Dan Leno, a real life theatre comedian, is for some reason dragged into the investigation by Inspector John Kildare of Scotland Yard, who is struggling to find a link between the murders. And he also enlists the help of a young woman named Elizabeth Cree whose terrified that she's next on the Golem's hit list. Kildare knows there is a witness, or witnesses, somewhere, and the Golem soon reveals that he is also aware that somebody knows who he is and leaves a warning that 'he who observes spills no less blood than he who inflicts the blow'.

Continue: The Limehouse Golem Trailer

Their Finest Review

Excellent

Skilfully written, directed and acted, this offbeat British period film tells a story that catches our attention with its vivid characters and original setting. Based on real people and situations, it also rings unusually truthful in its combination of comedy and drama. It's another remarkably observant movie from Danish director Lone Scherfig (An Education).

The setting is 1940s London, where the Ministry of Information has assembled a team to make movies to help with the war effort. Catrin (Gemma Arterton) is a secretary who finds herself assigned as a screenwriter, working alongside Buckley and Parfitt (Sam Claflin and Paul Ritter) to write movies for veteran actor Ambrose (Bill Nighy). When Catrin discovers a story about twin sisters who participated in the Dunkirk boatlift, she proposes it as a film idea, and soon the entire crew goes into production, adding an American soldier (Jake Lacy) to the cast to accommodate the wishes of US military allies. This annoys Ambrose, who had been hoping to play the hero himself.

Scherfig directs the film with a light touch that brings the period to vivid life and never bogs down in the intensity of wartorn Britain, recognising the reality while undermining it with brittle humour and messy romance. Catrin has an artist husband (Jack Huston) who isn't happy about her new job, and there are hints of a romantic-comedy subplot between Catrin and Buckley.

Continue reading: Their Finest Review

Bill Nighy, Gemma Arterton and Sam Clafin at the BFI London Film Festival premiere of 'Their Finest' - London, United Kingdom - Thursday 13th October 2016

Bill Nighy, Gemma Arterton and Sam Clafin
Bill Nighy, Gemma Arterton and Sam Clafin
Bill Nighy, Gemma Arterton and Sam Clafin

Dad's Army Review

Weak

The beloved 1970s British sit-com gets the big screen treatment, although there's been very little attempt to do anything clever with it aside from A-list casting. There are some terrific gags in Hamish McColl's script, but director Oliver Parker (Johnny English Reborn) fails to find the comical potential in the material. So the film feels clumsy and muted, which is certainly not going to attract a new generation of fans to the premise.

It's 1944 in the small village of Walmington on the southern English coast, where the men who were unfit to serve in the regular army have volunteered for the Home Guard when they're not working their normal jobs. The platoon's captain is bank manager Mainwaring (Toby Jones), who leads a ragtag group of retirees (Tom Courtenay, Michael Gambon and Bill Paterson) and younger army rejects (Daniel Mays and Blake Harrison) through a series of exercises along the seaside cliffs. They've been tipped off that there's a Nazi spy in the area, but they're all so smitten by the curvy visiting journalist Rose (Catherine Zeta-Jones) that they fail to notice that she's up to something nefarious.

The material is ripe for political-edged comedy, which the script touches on in between the relentless double entendre. And the cast is definitely up for it, delivering solid performances that bring out character details while playing up the goofy interaction between them. But Parker leaves them looking adrift on-screen, never cranking up either a sense of pace or a spark of life. Each set-piece falls utterly flat, starting with the movie's opening scene in which the gang is chased around afield by a supposedly angry bull. And everything that follows feels half-hearted, which means that the Carry On-style innuendo, physical slapstick and nutty action all fall flat.

Continue reading: Dad's Army Review

Dad's Army Trailer


Everybody's favourite British regiment is back in the new version of Dad's Army. Director Oliver Parker has recruited the much loved classic British TV Show with the help of some of the UK's best known actors. Like the TV show, the movie is set in 1944 and World War II is almost at its peak. The Home Guard is patrolling the streets of Walmington-on-Sea and their spirits are rather dampened by the thought of the imminent invasion. Their only light relief comes from a visit from a beautiful journalist going by the name of Rose Winters. Rose soon has all the men on their best behaviour and all the ladies of the town attempting to up their game. However it's soon 'back to work' for the men when they find out there's a spy living amidst the residents in their small seaside town.

Continue: Dad's Army Trailer

Norm Of The North Trailer


Norm is a polar bear frequently laughed at by his Arctic neighbours for his friendly disposition and inclination to hug rather than hunt. However, life becomes no laughing matter for the other polar bears, reindeer and orca that exist in their icy habitat when humans start visiting with cameras, boats. and plans to settle there. Norm is enlisted by a wise seagull to take to the city, flanked by three invincible lemming cohorts, to persuade the mastermind behind the new housing plans of Greene Homes that he really doesn't want to build on the chilly retreat, but unwittingly becomes his furry mascot. Norm does, however, meet a young girl who agrees to help publicize the issue, and save his family and friends. But if he ever wants to return to his own home, he's going to have to do some serious undercover research

Continue: Norm Of The North Trailer

Dad's Army Trailer


And they're back! The hilarious band of men that put their lives on the line for their country return in an all new adventure on the big screen. World War II is at its very peak during the 1940s and the Home Guard at Walmington-on-Sea are about to have an unusually eventful episode. Hours of patrolling the army base at Dover - trying to keep spirits up on the eve of the soldiers' impending journey to France to take on the Germans - are over for now, because UK intelligence have just uncovered a mysterious secret signal over the radio - apparently someone has been sending messages from Walmington to Berlin, and now nobody can be trusted. The Home Guard aid the mission to uncover the spy - though nobody dares put too much faith in this bumbling lot.

Continue: Dad's Army Trailer

Video - Lee Daniels Joins Arrivals At China-Themed 2015 Met Gala - Part 4


Film director Lee Daniels was among arrivals at the 2015 Met Gala. He was snapped leaving the Mark Hotel in New York ahead of the event, alongside a host of other celebrities who were adhering to the theme of China: Through The Looking Glass.

Continue: Video - Lee Daniels Joins Arrivals At China-Themed 2015 Met Gala - Part 4

Video - Helen Mirren Was A Picture Of Elegance At 2015 Tony Nominees Reception - Part 2


Helen Mirren, who plays the Queen yet again in the speculative Broadway (and West End!) play 'The Audience', looked elegant as always as she was snapped arriving at the 2015 Tony Nominees Reception at the Paramount Hotel in New York. The veteran actress has been nominated for Best Performance By An Actress In A Leading Role In A Play.

Continue: Video - Helen Mirren Was A Picture Of Elegance At 2015 Tony Nominees Reception - Part 2

Bill Nighy and Bradley Cooper Thursday 28th July 2011 Bill Nighy and Bradley Cooper arrive at The Wolseley Restaurant for an early dinner together. London, England

Bill Nighy and Bradley Cooper
Bill Nighy

Bill Nighy Quick Links

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Bill Nighy

Date of birth

12th December, 1949

Occupation

Actor

Sex

Male

Height

1.88


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Bill Nighy Movies

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

The Limehouse Golem Movie Review

A Victorian thriller with rather heavy echoes of Jack the Ripper, this film struggles to...

The Limehouse Golem Trailer

The Limehouse Golem Trailer

Long before the days of Jack the Ripper, there was another monster haunting the streets...

Their Finest Movie Review

Their Finest Movie Review

Skilfully written, directed and acted, this offbeat British period film tells a story that catches...

Their Finest Trailer

Their Finest Trailer

It's the early 1940s and World War II is in full swing. Bombs are raining...

Dad's Army Movie Review

Dad's Army Movie Review

The beloved 1970s British sit-com gets the big screen treatment, although there's been very little...

Dad's Army Trailer

Dad's Army Trailer

Everybody's favourite British regiment is back in the new version of Dad's Army. Director Oliver...

Norm Of The North Trailer

Norm Of The North Trailer

Norm is a polar bear frequently laughed at by his Arctic neighbours for his friendly...

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Dad's Army Trailer

Dad's Army Trailer

And they're back! The hilarious band of men that put their lives on the line...

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Movie Review

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Movie Review

A badly under-developed script leaves a fine cast without much to do in this sequel...

Pride Movie Review

Pride Movie Review

Based on a true story, this crowd-pleasing comedy-drama is such a joy to watch that...

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Trailer

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Trailer

Set eight months after the 2012 original film, The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel sees...

Pride Trailer

Pride Trailer

During the UK miners strike between 1984 and 1985, working families are in desperate need...

I, Frankenstein Movie Review

I, Frankenstein Movie Review

Even with its relentlessly cliched production design (trenchcoats and flickering candles galore), this raucous gothic...

I, Frankenstein Trailer

I, Frankenstein Trailer

Adam is the original creature created by Dr. Frankenstein 200 years ago and has taken...

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