Actor and director, born in Kent, SE England, UK. Brought up in Milwaukee, WI, he trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and with the Chrysalis Theatre School, London. He was given his first job in 1980 at the Glasgow Citizens Theatre. Since then he has worked for many of Britain’s leading theatre companies, including Shared Experience (touring), the Bush in London, the Contact Theatre in Manchester, the Royal Court in London, the Oxford Playhouse, the Royal National Theatre, and the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1994 he received an Olivier Award for Best Actor in Thelma Holt’s production of Much Ado About Nothing. He has always demonstrated an extraordinary affinity for the works of Shakespeare, and in 1995 was appointed founding artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre on London’s South Bank. Performances at the Globe include Two Gentlemen of Verona (1996), Henry V (1997), Anthony and Cleopatra (1999, playing Cleopatra), Hamlet (2000), and Twelfth Night (2002, playing Olivia). For the Globe he has directed Triumphs and Mirths (1997) and Julius Caesar (1999). Film work includes Prospero’s Books (1991) and Intimacy (2000). In 2004 he announced his intention to step down as artistic director at the end of 2005.