Bill Nighy
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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, Mack the Knife, The Little Drummer Girl, Being Human, True Blue, Indian Summer, FairyTale: A True Story, Still Crazy, Guest House Paradiso, Blow Dry, The Lawless Heart, AKA, Lucky Break, I Capture the Castle, Underworld, Love Actually and Shaun of the Dead.
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.
External links
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- The Bill Nighy Experience (http://www.billnighy.net/) (fan site)de:Bill Nighy