Simon McBurney

 ( 1957 Births ) 

Simon Montagu McBurney, OBE (born 25 August 1957), is an English actor, playwright, and theatre and opera director. He is the founder and artistic director of the Théâtre de Complicité, London. He has had roles in the films The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Friends with Money, The Last King of Scotland (both 2006), The Golden Compass (2007), The Duchess (2008), Robin Hood, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (both 2010), Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011), Magic in the Moonlight, The Theory of Everything (both 2014), (2015), and Nosferatu (2024). He played Cecil the choirmaster in BBC's The Vicar of Dibley (1994–2004).

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Early life McBurney was born on 25 August 1957

Tomasz Wiśniewski (2016). 9783319334431, Springer International Publishing. . ISBN 9783319334431

in Cambridge, England. His father, Charles McBurney, was an American archaeologist and academic of Scottish people descent. His paternal great-grandfather was American surgeon Charles McBurney, who was credited with describing the medical sign McBurney's point. Simon McBurney's mother, Anne Francis Edmondstone (née Charles), was a British secretary of English, Scottish and Irish ancestry. His parents were distant cousins who met during World War II. His older brother is composer and writer Gerard McBurney.

He attended Marlborough College and Cambridgeshire College of Art and Technology (now Anglia Ruskin University) before studying English literature at Peterhouse, Cambridge, graduating in 1980. He moved to Paris and trained for the theatre at the Jacques Lecoq Institute and under Philippe Gaulier.

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Career on 6 August 2015]] McBurney is a founder and artistic director of the UK-based theatre company Complicité, which performs throughout the world. In 1997 he was awarded the Europe Prize Theatrical Realities, with the Théâtre de Complicité. He directed their productions of Street of Crocodiles (1992); The Three Lives of Lucie Cabrol (1994), which was adapted from the John Berger trilogy Into Their Labours; To the Wedding (another Berger collaboration); Mnemonic (1999); The Elephant Vanishes (2003); A Disappearing Number (2007); A Dog's Heart (2010); The Master and Margarita (2011), and The Kid Stays in the Picture (2017).

A Disappearing Number was a devised piece conceived and directed by McBurney, taking as its inspiration the story of the collaboration between two of the 20th century's most remarkable pure mathematicians, the Indian genius Srinivasa Ramanujan, and Cambridge don G. H. Hardy. A Disappearing Number at the Barbican It played at the Barbican in autumn 2008 and toured internationally. In February 2009, McBurney directed the Complicité production Shun-kin, based on two texts by Jun'ichiro Tanizaki. It was produced in London and Tokyo in 2010.

On a freelance basis, McBurney directed the following: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and All My Sons (2008) (both in New York City), and live comedy shows, including Lenny Henry's So Much Things To Say and French and Saunders' Live in 2000.

McBurney is an established screen actor. He played the recurring role of Cecil the choirmaster in The Vicar of Dibley, CIA computer whiz Garland in Body of Lies, Dr. Atticus Noyle in The Manchurian Candidate (2004), British diplomat Nigel Stone in The Last King of Scotland, the metrosexual husband Aaron in Friends with Money, Fra Pavel in The Golden Compass, Charles James Fox in The Duchess, and Oliver Lacon in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He also wrote the story and was an executive producer for Mr. Bean's Holiday.

From 2010 to 2014, he appeared in the BBC comedy television series Rev., portraying the role of Archdeacon Robert. McBurney provided the voice of Kreacher in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010). In the series The Borgias, he portrayed the canon law expert Johann Burchard. He is the Artiste Associé of the 66th Festival d'Avignon (2012). He starred in The Encounter, about photographer Loren McIntyre becoming lost in the Javari Valley in Brazil and his experiences with locals, which premiered at the 2015 Edinburgh International Festival. In July 2015, he starred as Atlee, the director of MI6 in the film , and in 2016, he portrayed paranormal investigator Maurice Grosse in the horror film sequel The Conjuring 2.

In 2013, he directed the English National Opera production of Mozart's The Magic Flute at the London Coliseum, and the same opera at the New York Metropolitan Opera in 2023.

In September 2019, the Complicité production of The Encounter was ranked by The Guardian writers as the 13th best theatre show since 2000.

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Personal life In 2007, he met concert pianist Cassandra "Cassie" Yukawa; they lived together with their two children. They previously lived in north London. His sister-in-law is violinist Diana Yukawa.

In the 2005 New Year Honours, McBurney was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) "for services to Drama". He is an Ambassador for Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples' rights.

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Filmography

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Film

1991	Kafka	Assistant Oscar
1994	A Business Affair	Salesman
	Being Human	Hermas
	Tom & Viv	Dr. Reginald Miller
	Mesmer	Franz
1996	The Ogre	Brigadier
1997	The Caucasian Chalk Circle	Azdak the Judge	Video
1998	Cousin Bette	Vauvinet
1999	Onegin	Monsieur Triquet
2000	Eisenstein	Sergei Eisenstein
2003	Bright Young Things	Sneath (Photo-Rat)
	Skagerrak	Thomas
2004	The Reckoning	Stephen
	The Manchurian Candidate	Dr. Atticus Noyle
	Human Touch	Bernard
2006	Friends with Money	Aaron
	The Last King of Scotland	Nigel Stone
2007	The Golden Compass	Fra Pavel
2008	Body of Lies	Garland
	The Duchess	Charles James Fox
2009	Boogie Woogie	Robert Freign
2010	Robin Hood	Father Tancred
	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1	Kreacher	Voice
2011	Jane Eyre	Mr. Brocklehurst
	Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy	Oliver Lacon
2013	For Those Who Can Tell No Tales	Tim Clancy
2014	Magic in the Moonlight	Howard Burkan
	The Theory of Everything	Frank Hawking
2015		Director Atlee
2016	The Conjuring 2	Maurice Grosse
	Allied	S.O.E. Official
2018	The Mercy	Sir Francis Chichester
2020	Siberia	Magician
	Wolfwalkers	Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell	Voice
2022	The Pale Blue Eye	Captain Hitchcock
2024	A Mistake	Andrew McGrath
	Nosferatu	Herr Knock
2025	The Actor

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Television

1988	Screenplay	Martin	Episode: "Burning Ambition"
1989	The Two of Us	The Man	Episode: "Trust"
1992	The Bill	Shaun Anderton	Episode: "Man of the People"
1992–1993	The Comic Strip Presents	Mick / Madman	2 episodes
1994–2004	The Vicar of Dibley	Choirmaster Cecil	4 episodes
1995	Performance	Ancient Pistol	Episode: "Henry IV"
1996	Absolutely Fabulous	Conductor	Episode: "The Last Shout (Part 1)"
1999	Midsomer Murders	Henry Carstairs	Episode: "Death of a Stranger"
2010–2014	Rev.	Archdeacon Robert	19 episodes
2011–2013	The Borgias	Johann Burchard	6 episodes
2013	Utopia	Christian Donaldson	3 episodes
2014	Knifeman	Houdyshell	Unsold pilot
2015	The Casual Vacancy	Colin "Cubby" Wall	Miniseries; 3 episodes
2019	The Loudest Voice	Rupert Murdoch	Miniseries
2019–2023	Carnival Row	Runyan Millworthy	Recurring
2023	Hijack	Edgar	Miniseries

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Accolades

• 1997: Europe Prize Theatrical Realities (with the Théâtre de Complicité)
• 1998: Laurence Olivier Award ( Best Choreography for "The Caucasian Chalk Circle" ("Der kaukasische Kreidekreis"), Royal National Theatre, Olivier Stage, London)
• 1999: Critics' Circle Theatre Award ( Best new play for "Mnemonic" at the Riverside Theatre)
• 2005: Officer of the Order of the British Empire, "New Years Honours List" of Queen Elizabeth II.
• 2007: Nestroy Theatre Prize (nomination Best Directing for "A Disappearing Number" at the Wiener Festwochen)
• 2007: Critics' Circle Theatre Award ( Best new play for "A Disappearing Number" at the Théâtre de Complicité)
• 2008: Konrad Wolf Prize

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External links

• Profile: Simon McBurney at The Guardian
• American Theatre Wing's Working in the Theatre Episode on Solo Performance featuring McBurney

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