Derek Jacobi is a British actor and stage director who has appeared in over 60 films, numerous stage productions and television shows in the course of an illustrious career spanning over five decades. A founder member of the Royal National Theatre in London, he is a winner of two of the most prestigious professional theatre awards in the world - the Laurence Olivier Award and the Tony Award. Though principally known for his work in theatre, Jacobi's work in film and television has also earned him several accolades, including two Primetime Emmy Awards and a BAFTA Award.
Jacobi was mentored by the Laurence Olivier himself, and first ventured into professional theatre in the early 1960s, appearing in popular National Theatre productions like Hamlet and Othello before eventually making his feature film debut in the silver screen adaptation of Othello (1965). Following appearances in films like The Day of the Jackal (1973) and The Odessa File (1974), and television shows like Man of Straw and The Pallisers, the actor got his first big break when he essayed the titular role in the 1976 mini-series I, Claudius, a performance which earned him a BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor that year. Some of Jacobi's memorable performances in the 1980s came in Little Dorrit (1987), Henry V (1989) and the TV movie The Tenth Man (1988), the last of which won him a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries besides earning him a Golden Globes nomination. The epic historical drama Gladiator (2000), Nanny McPhee (2005), The King's Speech (2010) and the mystery drama Murder on the Orient Express (2017) are some of Jacobi's significant film credits in the past two decades. Notable television credits during this time period include Doctor Who, Vicious and Last Tango in Halifax.