Jonathan Pryce

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Jonathan Pryce
Pryce at the Mar del Plata Film Festival in 2006
Born
John Price
OccupationActor
Years active1970–present
SpouseKate Fahy (1974–present)
AwardsBest Actor Award - Cannes Film Festival
1995 Carrington

Jonathan Pryce (born John Price; June 1, 1947) is a Welsh stage and film actor. He began his career as a stage actor in the late 1970s, after studying in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and getting married to Irish actress Kate Fahy in 1974. His work in theater got him several supporting roles in film and television; these would eventually led him on to star in Terry Gilliam's cult film Brazil (1985).

He is known for being a versatile actor,[1][2] and has participated in box-office hits such as Evita, Tomorrow Never Dies, Pirates of the Caribbean and The New World, as well as being involved in independant projects such as Glengarry Glen Ross and Carrington. His career in theatre has also been prolific, and he has won two Tony Awards—the first in 1977 for his Broadway debut in Comedians, the second for his 1991 role as "the Engineer" in the musical Miss Saigon.

Biography

Early life

Pryce was born John Price in Holywell, Flintshire, Wales, the son of Margaret Ellen (née Williams), a retail cashier and shopkeeper, and Isaac Price, a coal miner who also ran a small general grocery shop; he has two older sisters. Price was educated at Holywell Grammar School (today Holywell High School), and, at the age of 16, he went to art college and then started training to be a teacher at Edge Hill College in Ormskirk. While studying, he took part in a college theatre production and an impressed friend sent off to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art for an application form. Pryce would wound up not only being accepted but also winning a scolarship.[3][4][5]

1970s

Although Pryce found the RADA a bit "straight-laced",[6] he graduated and went on to perform with the Royal Shakespeare Company and at the Nottingham Playhouse theatre. He then joined the Everyman Theatre Liverpool Company, eventually becoming the theatre's Artistic Director.[7][8] While working at the Everyman Theatre Pryce met Irish actress Kate Fahy, the two got married in 1974 and based their home in the Hampstead area of London, where they currently live with their three children: Patrick (b.1983), Gabriel (b.1986) and Phoebe (b.1990).[9] It is during this time that he made his first appearance on the screen, having a minor role on a 1972 episode of the British science fiction programme Doomwatch, called Fire & Brimstone. It was not until 1976, however, that he got his first movie role, playing Joseph Manasse in the film drama Voyage of the Damned, starring Faye Dunaway.

1980s

In 1980, his performance in the title role of Hamlet at the Royal Court Theatre won him an Olivier Award, and was acclaimed by some critics as the definitive Hamlet of his generation.[10][11] That year he also appeared in the film Breaking Glass, a film that is remarkable in that it also featured in the cast (sometimes in small roles) very many actors who would eventually become stars of film and television, actors such as Jim Broadbent, Richard Griffiths and Phil Daniels; also during this year, Pryce had a small but pivotal role in the 12th episode of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series, one that he reprised for the Quintessential Phase which was broadcast in 2005.

File:Brazil-JPryce2.jpg
Pryce as Sam Lowry in Brazil

After appearing mostly on TV films, such as Martin Luther, Heretic, Something Wicked This Way Comes and the Ian McEwan-scripted film The Ploughman's Lunch, he achieved a breakthrough with his role as the subdued protagonist Sam Lowry in the ex-Monty Python Terry Gilliam's 1985 film, Brazil. The film, an analogy to Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, was acclaimed in Europe and won two BAFTA Film Awards. In the American version some scenes were removed by its distributor, Universal Pictures, so as to make the film "shorter" and more consumer-friendly.[12] Despite being 43 minutes shorter than the original version, the movie was also well received in the United States and won three awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and two Academy Awards nominations. Brazil became a cult film,[13][14] and is still frequently mentioned in the media in lists and rankings, such as Time magazine's list of the 100 best films of all time and Total Film magazine's 2004 list of the 20th greatest British movie of all time (which Brazil topped).[15] The film was described by Harlan Ellison as "the finest SF movie ever made"[12] and it holds a 97% freshness rate in Rotten Tomatoes.[16] After Brazil, Pryce appeared in the historical thriller The Doctor and the Devils and then in the Gene Wilder-directed film Haunted Honeymoon, which would turn out to be Wilder's wife, Gilda Radner's last film, as she would die three years later, in 1989. During this period of his life, Pryce continued to perform on stage, noteworthy as the successful but self-doubting writer Trigorin in a London production of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull in late 1985.[17]

In 1988 Pryce worked once again with Terry Gilliam in The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, playing "The Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson". The film is one of the most famous fiascos in film history,[18] with production costing more than $40 million, when the original budget was $23.5 million.[19][20] The film has gained cult favorite status over time, however, and in a commentary track on the DVD edition of Tideland, Gilliam now says that Munchausen is one of the films that his fans most often cite as a favorite (along with Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Brazil, 12 Monkeys and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas).[21] During the last year of the decade, Pryce appeared on one of the earliest episodes of the improvisation show Whose Line Is It Anyway?, alongside Paul Merton and John Sessions.[22]

1990s

After having some minor roles in the big screen, such as in the independent film Glengarry Glen Ross and in Scorcese's The Age of Innocence, Pryce successfully returned to the stage and originated the role of The Engineer, an Eurasian pimp in the award winning West End musical Miss Saigon. His performance was praised in England,[23][24] but when production moved to Broadway the Actors' Equity Association (AEA) would not allow Pryce to portray the Engineer because, according to their executive secretary, "[t]he casting of a Caucasian actor made up to appear Asian is an affront to the Asian community".[25] Cameron Mackintosh, the play's producer decided to cancel the $10 million New York production because he would not let the freedom of artistic expression be attacked.[26] Realizing that its decision would result in the loss of many jobs, the AEA decided to make a deal with Mackintosh, allowing Pryce to appear on the play. He would then, in 1991, win a Tony Award for his performance.[27][28] Pryce returned to the London stage the following year, to star alongside Elaine Paige in the 1992 revival of the Fellini-inspired musical Nine.[29]

In 1993 Pryce was going to star, alongside River Phoenix and Judy Davis, in the film Dark Blood, but production had to be shut down when, 11 days shy of completing production, Phoenix suddenly died.[30] What was finished of the film is owned by the film's director George Sluizer and he has made available some of the raw material, which features Pryce and Phoenix on a field in Utah, on his personal website.[31] Between 1993 and 1994, Pryce became a spokesman in a series of American television commercials for Infiniti, notably for the Infiniti J30. These advertisements were widely ridiculed because of the campaign's general "snobiness".[32] These commercials were parodied on Saturday Night Live in 1993, with Mike Myers doing an impersonation of Pryce, spokesmodeling for sleek luxury toilets instead of automobiles.[33] 1994–1995 would be a better time for Pryce, as he went on to portray Fagin in the 1994 revival of the musical Oliver!,[34] and would star the following year, alongside Emma Thompson, in the film Carrington, which turns around a platonic relationship between gay writer Lytton Strachey and painter Dora Carrington. Pryce's portrayal of Strachey gained him the Best Actor Award at that year's Cannes Film Festival.[35]

File:Evita-Madonna-Pryce.jpg
Pryce with Madonna in Evita

The following year Pryce starred, alongside Madonna and Antonio Banderas, in his first musical film; Evita. In this Oscar-winning adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's stage musical, Pryce portrayed the Argentinian dictator Juan Peron. The movie's soundtrack was an international Top 10 success; it contains over thirty songs, some of them duets and some of them singles, but most of it is sung by either Madonna, Banderas and/or Pryce. Pryce has two songs sung enitrely by him: She Is A Diamond and On The Balcony Of The Casa Rosada. Both his acting and his singing received mixed reviews from the press.[36][37] Madonna's performance, however, was acclaimed and, in 1997, her You Must Love Me won an Academy Award for Best Original Song as well as a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.[38] After Evita, Pryce went on to portray James Bond's enemy, Elliot Carver, a billionaire media mogul, in the 1997 film Tomorrow Never Dies. During the rest of the decade Pryce would play to his new acquired villain fame, portraying a cold-heart murderer in Ronin, a diabolical Cardinal in the controversial Stigmata and, while cooperating with Comic Relief, the Master in the Doctor Who special, Doctor Who and the Curse of Fatal Death.

2000s

During the early 2000s Pryce starred and participated in a variety of movie flops, such as The Affair of the Necklace, What a Girl Wants, Unconditional Love and Terry Gilliam's unfinished The Man Who Killed Don Quixote. While his on-screen projects where failing, however, the 2001 London stage production of My Fair Lady and his portrayal of Professor Henry Higgins was being acclaimed by the media.[39] He landed, in 2003, a role in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, where he portrayed a fictional Governor of Jamaica, Weatherby Swann. After Pirates Pryce has appeared in quite a few super-productions, such as De-Lovely (Pryce's second musical film), a chronicle of the life of songwriter Cole Porter, for which Kevin Kline and Pryce covered a Porter song called Blow, Gabriel, Blow, The Brothers Grimm, Pryce's fourth project with Terry Gilliam, starred by Matt Damon and Heath Ledger, and The New World, where he had a minor role as King James.

In 2006 Pryce voiced over the French adult animated film, Renaissance, which he stated wanted to do because he had never "done something quite like it before".[40] That same year he reprised the role of Governor Weatherby Swann for the Pirates of the Caribbean sequels, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Both where filmed at the same time but released with a year in between.[41] Also, during 2006, Pryce returned to the Broadway stage replacing John Lithgow, from January to July, as Lawrence Jameson in the musical version of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.[42] During early 2007 Pryce played Sherlock Holmes in a TV film, the BBC production Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars.[43] Currently, from September 2007 through January 2008, he is appearing as Shelly Levene in a new West End production of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross at London's Apollo Theatre.[44]

Theatre credits

Preceded by Tony Award for Best Leading Actor in a Musical
1991
for Miss Saigon 		Succeeded by

Filmography

Year Title Role
1983 Something Wicked this Way Comes Mr. Dark
1985 Brazil Sam Lowry
1986 Haunted Honeymoon Charles Abbot
Jumpin' Jack Flash Jack
1987 Man on Fire Michael
1988 Consuming Passions Mr Farris
The Adventures of Baron Munchausen Right Ordinary Horatio Jackson
1992 Glengarry Glen Ross James Lingk
1993 Dark Blood (unreleased) Harry
Barbarians at the Gate Henry Kravis
1995 Carrington Lytton Strachey
1996 Evita Colonel Juan Perón
1997 Regeneration Captain William Rivers
Tomorrow Never Dies Elliot Carver
1998 Ronin Seamus O'Rourke
1999 Stigmata Cardinal Houseman
2000 The Suicide Club Bourne
2001 The Affair of the Necklace Cardinal Louis de Rohan
2003 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl Gov. Weatherby Swann
What a Girl Wants Alistair Payne
2004 De-Lovely Gabe
2005 The Brothers Grimm Delatombe
The New World King James
2006 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest Gov. Weatherby Swann
2007 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Gov. Weatherby Swann
Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars Sherlock Holmes
2008 Leatherhead (to be released) C.C. Pyle
Preceded by Award for Best Actor - Cannes Film Festival
1995
for Carrington 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Official James Bond villain actor
1997 		Succeeded by

References

  1. ^ London.broadway.com - Jonathan PryceRetrieved on 2007-November 10.
  2. ^ Broadwayworld.com - Jonathan Pryce Confirmed To Step Into 'Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'Retrieved on 2007-November 10.
  3. ^ BBC.co.uk Jonathan Pryce Retrieved on 2007-October 28.
  4. ^ Tribute.ca - Jonathan Pryce Retrieved on 2007-October 28.
  5. ^ Guardian Unlimited - I always wanted to be a pop star... Retrieved on 2007-December 9.
  6. ^ Guardian Unlimited - I always wanted to be a pop star... Retrieved on 2007-December 9.
  7. ^ BBC.co.uk Jonathan Pryce is Sherlock Holmes Retrieved on 2007-October 28.
  8. ^ Jonathan Pryce Ön Sayfa Retrieved on 2007-October 28.
  9. ^ Filmreference.com Jonathan Pryce Biography (1947-) Retrieved on 2007-October 28.
  10. ^ Hamlet - Stage History Retrieved on 2007-November 6
  11. ^ Laurence Olivier Awards: Past winners Retrieved on 2007-11-06
  12. ^ a b Matthews, Jack. "Dreaming Brazil". Essay accompanying DVD release by The Criterion Collection.
  13. ^ Entertainment Weekly's Top 50 Cult Movies (Brazil #13) Retrieved on 2007-November 26.
  14. ^ CBS News - Terry Gilliam Sounds Off Retrieved on 2007-November 26.
  15. ^ ALL-TIME 100 movies Retrieved on 2007-November 6
  16. ^ Rotten Tomatoes - Brazil Retrieved on 2007-November 6
  17. ^ Jonathan Pryce's Biography at the Theatre Royal Haymarket website Retrieved on 2007-November 26.
  18. ^ Robert Parish, James (2006). Fiasco: A History of Hollywood's Iconic Flops. Wiley. ISBN 0471691593
  19. ^ LOSING THE LIGHT - Terry Gilliam & The Munchausen Saga (a summary) Retrieved on 2007-November 6
  20. ^ Box Office Mojo - THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN Retrieved on 2007-November 6
  21. ^ Gilliam, Terry. (2006). Tideland DVD Commentary by Terry Gilliam and screenwriter Tony Grisoni [DVD]. Velocity / Thinkfilm
  22. ^ "Whose Line is it Anyway?" - Episode Guide - Series one (1988) Retrieved on 2007-November 26
  23. ^ Allocine.co.uk - Jonathan Pryce Retrieved on 2007-November 26.
  24. ^ London Theater Guide Online - Miss Saigon 10th Anniversary show 1990 Review Retrieved on 2007-November 26.
  25. ^ Mervyn Rothstein, "Union Bars White in Asian Role; Broadway May Lose 'Miss Saigon'," New York Times, 8 August 1990, A1.
  26. ^ NY Times - Jonathan Pryce, 'Miss Saigon' and Equity's Decision (page 3) Retrieved on 2007-November 6
  27. ^ Miss Saigon: Bringing Discrimination into the Limelight Retrieved on 2007-November 6
  28. ^ NY Times - Dispute Settled, 'Miss Saigon' Is Broadway Bound Retrieved on 2007-November 6
  29. ^ Regard en Coulisse-De 8 et 1/2 a Nine Retrieved on 2007-December 9. (French)
  30. ^ Rio's Attic - Phoenix Filmography Retrieved on 2007-November 6
  31. ^ George Sluizer's official website/videos Retrieved on 2007-November 19
  32. ^ NY Times - THE MEDIA BUSINESS: ADVERTISING;Infiniti chooses artsy ads with musings about the meaning of life to sell its luxury cars. Retrieved on 2007-November 6
  33. ^ [http://snltranscripts.jt.org/93/93htoilet.phtml SNL Transcripts - Infiniti Q45 Toilet I] Retrieved on 2007-November 6
  34. ^ PLAYBILL.COM'S BRIEF ENCOUNTER with Jonathan Pryce Retrieved on 2007-December 9.
  35. ^ IMDb: Cannes Film Festival: 1995 Retrieved on 2007-November 26
  36. ^ Evita The Movie Retrieved on 2007-November 6
  37. ^ 1997 - Reviews Jahiel Retrieved on 2007-November 6
  38. ^ Tim Rice (I) - Awards Retrieved on 2007-November 26
  39. ^ BBC News - Fair Lady's luvverly show Retrieved on 2007-November 10.
  40. ^ Jonathan Pryce puts his voice on Retrieved on 2007-November 16.
  41. ^ Chapter 7 - Return to The Bahamas Retrieved 2007-November 10.
  42. ^ MSN Entertainment News - Jonathan Pryce Returns to Broadway Stage Retrieved on 2007-November 5.
  43. ^ BBC.co.uk Jonathan Pryce is Sherlock Holmes Retrieved on 2007-October 28.
  44. ^ London Theatre Guide - Pryce and Gillen in Glengarry Retrieved on 2007-October 28.

External links

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