The Resume

(June 14, 1949-December 2, 2021)
Born in Cape Town, South Africa
Member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)
Appeared in the films 'Shadey (1985), 'The Young Poisoner's Handbook' (1995), 'Mrs. Brown' (1997), 'Shakespeare in Love' (1998), 'The Wolfman' (2010)< and 'War Book' (2014)
Wrote the plays 'I.D.' (2003), 'Primo' (2004), and 'The Giant' (2008)
Knighted for services to drama (2000)

Why he might be annoying:

After arriving in England, he decided to cover up being South African. And Jewish. And gay: 'Each of these things went into the closet until my entire identity was in the closet.'
He noted about his political naiveite before arriving in Britain, 'I grew up in the middle of the atrocity of apartheid without even noticing it.'
After he auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he received a rejection letter advising, 'We strongly urge you to seek a different career.'
He abused cocaine for over two decades.
When his performance as the fool in an RSC production of 'King Lear' (1982) threatened to upstage Michael Gambon in the title role, Gambon chided him, 'Look 'ere, Tone, this play's called King Lear, not King Lear plus some cunt in a red nose.'

Why he might not be annoying:

When he won an Olivier Award for Best Actor that cited his performances in both Shakespeare's Richard III and Harvey Feirstein's Torch Song Trilogy, he said, 'I'm very happy to be the first actor to win an award for playing both a king and a queen.' (1985)
He won a second Olivier Award a dozen years later for portraying artist Stanley Spencer in 'Stanley.' (1997).
He won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show for Primo (2006).
He was Prince Charles' favorite actor.
He and RSC director Gregory Doran were one of the first same-sex couples to enter into a civil union in Great Britain (2005).

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• Agatha Christie Films
• Allegedly Gay Men
• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 85]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [June] (Ranked: 6141949)
• I Abused Cocaine
• I am a Member of the Royal Shakespeare Company
• I am South African
• I Checked into Rehab
• I Died in 2021 (Ranked: 72)
• I Married in 2015
• I Married Someone of the Same Gender
• I Portrayed Cyrano de Bergerac
• I Portrayed Hitler
• I Portrayed King Lear
• I Portrayed Macbeth
• I Portrayed Shylock
• I Portrayed Sigmund Freud
• I Portrayed Willy Loman [Death of a Salesman]
• Knights
• Look at Me, I'm Performing Shakespeare
• Look at Me, I'm Using a Cane or Crutches
• Playwrights
• Profiles 53251-53500 (Ranked: 53439)
• Stage Fright - Topophobic

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 89 Votes: 52.81% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 72 Votes: 52.78% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 200 Votes: 32.00% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying