Kenneth Cranham
Known for Acting · 172 credits
- Born
- 1944-12-12 (age 81)
- Place of birth
- Dunfermline - Scotland - UK
- Also known as
- Ken Cranham · Кеннет Крэнем
Biography
Scottish born actor Kenneth Cranham is one of the most recognisable character actors in Britain. Having trained at the National Youth Theatre and RADA, Cranham first came to prominence as Noah Claypole in the 1968 Carol Reed musical Oliver! In the late '70s, Cranham memorably played Sapper Salt in Euston Films' Danger UXB, before taking the title role in the popular postwar set period comedy drama Shine on Harvey Moon. His most famous film role from around this time was Dr. Philip Channard in Hellraiser II. In more recent years he has starred in the HBO series Rome, as well as the films Hot Fuzz, Layer Cake, Valkyrie, Made in Dagenham, Maleficent and Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool. Among many stage credits are West End productions of Entertaining Mr Sloane, Loot, An Inspector Calls (both transferring to Broadway), The Ruffian on the Stair, The Birthday Party and Gaslight (at the Old Vic). For his role as Inspector Goole in An Inspector Calls, he was nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award. In 2016, Cranham won the Olivier Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as Andre in Florian Zeller's The Father. The play originated at the Theatre Royal Bath's Ustinov Studio in the Autumn of 2014, before touring the country and transferring to the West End in the Summer of 2015, and returning to the Duke of York's Theatre in Spring 2016. The play received an unprecedented five star review from every leading national press publication, and Cranham's performance was described as "the performance of his life" His first wife was actress Diana Quick. He has two daughters: Nancy Cranham with actress Charlotte Cornwell, and Kathleen Cranham with his second wife, actress Fiona Victory, whom he met on the set of Shine on Harvey Moon.
Known For
TV Shows (72)
Midsomer Murders
1997
as Jude Langham
Coronation Street
1960
as Roy
Death in Paradise
2011
as Father John
Play for Today
1970
as Alan Grieves / Tom
Casualty
1986
as James Lawrence
Natural World
1983
Crown Court
1972
as John Tucker
Merlin
2008
as Aulfric
Heartbeat
1992
as Charlie Wallace
Agatha Christie's Marple
2004
as Rex Fortescue
Minder
1979
as Walter
BBC Play of the Month
1965
as Antonio
Rome
2005
as Gnaeus Pompey Magnus
New Tricks
2004
Hustle
2004
as Francis Owen
Inspector Morse
1987
as Cedric Downes
ITV Playhouse
1967
as Private Seaton
Inside No. 9
2014
as Rupert
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965
as Charlie / Barry
Trying
2020
as Barry
Strike
2017
as Dennis Creed
Strangers
1978
as Willie Bruce / DCI Jim Lennard
Lovejoy
1986
as Litvak
Upstairs Downstairs
2010
as Sgt Ashworth
Between the Lines
1992
as DCI Stubbs
Moving On
2009
as Mike
Van der Valk
1972
as Dirk Boutsen
War and Peace
2016
as Uncle Mikhail
The Spanish Princess
2019
as John Morton
ScreenPlay
1986
as Supt. Cherry / Reggie Titherington / Dick Naughton
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
1992
as Colonel Schmidt
ITV Saturday Night Theatre
1969
as Terry
Reilly: Ace of Spies
1983
as Lenin
Murder Most Horrid
1991
as Insp Salford
The Play on One
1988
as Peter / Joe Shawcross / Teddy Rose
Kavanagh Q.C.
1995
as Roy Lawrence
Shine on Harvey Moon
1982
as Harvey Moon
Lilies
2007
as Health Inspector
The White Princess
2017
as John Morton
Budgie
1971
as Inky Ballantine
Enemy at the Door
1978
as Jack Foster
New Scotland Yard
1972
as David Collins
Brideshead Revisited
1981
as Sergeant Block
Cribb
1980
as Francis Mostyn-Smith
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
2008
as Mr Clare
In the Flesh
2013
as Vicar Oddie
Murder Investigation Team
2003
as Ray Morgan
Believe Nothing
2002
as DI Aldiss
Theatre Night
1985
as Stanley
Danger UXB
1979
as Sapper Salt / L / Corporal Salt
Neil Gaiman's Likely Stories
2016
as Dean Smith
Our Mutual Friend
1998
as Silas Wegg
The Line of Beauty
2006
as Sir Maurice Tipper
Bancroft
2017
as Charlie Haverstock
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall
1996
as Reverend Michael Millward
Heroes and Villains
2007
Boy Meets Girl
1967
as Tom Last
37 Days
2014
as John Burns
Chimera
1991
as Hennessey
Dickens
2002
as John Forster
Movies (100)
Maleficent
2014
as King Henry
Hot Fuzz
2007
as James Reaper
Valkyrie
2008
as Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel
The Legend of Hercules
2014
as Lucius
Official Secrets
2019
as Judge Hyam
The Chatterley Affair
2006
as Older Keith
Layer Cake
2004
as Jimmy Price
A Good Year
2006
as Sir Nigel
Hellbound: Hellraiser II
1988
as Dr. Philip Channard / Channard Cenobite
Killing Hitler
2003
as Brigadier Sir Stewart Menzies
Pollyanna
2003
as Mr. Pendleton
Oliver!
1968
as Noah Claypole
Closed Circuit
2013
as Cameron Fischer
Gangster No. 1
2000
as Tommy
5 Days of War
2011
as Michael Stilton
Under Suspicion
1991
as Frank Vance
Suspension of Disbelief
2012
as Bullock
Robin and Marian
1976
as Jack's Apprentice
Kevin & Perry Go Large
2000
as Vicar
Graffiti Wars
2011
as Narrator (Voice)
Made in Dagenham
2010
as Monty Taylor
Women Talking Dirty
2001
as George
The Boxer
1997
as Matt MaGuire
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
2017
as Joe Turner
The Merchant of Venice
1980
as Gratiano
Dead Man's Folly
1986
as Insp. Bland
Mr. Jones
2019
as Lloyd George
Blackball
2003
as Chairman Collins
Lady Windermere's Fan
1985
as Lord Darlington
Mangal Pandey - The Rising
2005
as Mr. Kent
Bed of Roses
1996
as Simon
The Party
1988
as Joe Shawcross
Fragment of Fear
1970
as Joe
The Night Watch
2011
as Horace Mundy
Lady Audley's Secret
2000
as Sir Michael Audley
Vampira
1974
as Paddy
Brother Sun, Sister Moon
1972
as Paolo
The Caretaker
1981
as Aston
Donkeys' Years
1980
as Bill Taylor
The Sin Bin
1981
as Alan Grieves
Chocolat
1988
as Jonathan Boothby
Stealing Heaven
1988
as Vice Chancellor Suger
Flying Blind
2013
as Victor
Sparkling Cyanide
2003
as George Barton
The Changeling
1974
as Antonio
'Tis Pity She's a Whore
1980
as Giovanni
Joseph Andrews
1977
as The Wicked Squire
Born a King
2019
as Lord Curzon
On Dangerous Ground
1996
as Brigadier Charles Ferguson
Requiem Apache
1994
as Tony
Hannibal: Rome's Worst Nightmare
2006
as Narrator
RPM
1998
as Biggerman
The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones: Espionage Escapades
2000
as Colonel Schmidt
Prospero's Books
1991
as Sebastian
Trauma
2004
as DC Jackson
Royal Celebration
1993
as Douglas
A Little Bit of Lippy
1992
as Reggie Titherington
The Vision Thing
1993
as Dick Naughton
Heroes & Villains: Napoleon
2007
as General Carteaux
Harold Pinter: A Celebration
2010
as Self
Up Pompeii
1971
as Christian
Two Men Went To War
2002
as Sgt. Peter King
Vigo
1998
as The Producer
Born Romantic
2000
as Barney
Midnight Man
1997
as Brigadier Charles Ferguson
Sinking of the Lusitania: Terror at Sea
2007
as Captain Turner
The Murder of Stephen Lawrence
1999
as Michael Mansfield QC
Monkey Boy
1992
as Hennessey
Spanish Flu: The Forgotten Fallen
2009
as MJ O'Loughlin
Leviathan: The Story of Hellraiser and Hellbound: Hellraiser II
2015
as Self
The Black and Blue Lamp
1988
as Supt. Cherry
Joe Orton Laid Bare
2017
as Himself
Just Another Secret
1989
as Brosch
Night Flight
2002
as Ted Atwell
Otley
1969
as Kid
The Birthday Party
1987
as Stanley Webber
The Man from Montevideo
2007
as Gary Solway
The Most Fertile Man in Ireland
2000
as Da
The Voynich Mystery
2002
as Narrator
Shiner
2000
as Gibson
Death of a Private
1967
as Young intellectual
All the Way Up
1970
as Tom Midway
A Master of the Marionettes
1989
as Teddy
Deep in the Heart
1996
as Robert Flaherty
Butterflies Don't Count
1978
as Tom
The Last Yellow
1999
as Len
The Lavender List
2006
as Harold Wilson
Normal Service
1988
as Peter
Tale of a Vampire
1993
as Edgar
Egon Schiele: Dangerous Desires
2018
as Leopold Czihaczek
Panto!
2012
as Jerry
Man Dancin'
2004
as D.I. Walter 'Pancho' Villers
National Theatre Live: The Cherry Orchard
2011
as Firs
Sling Your Hook
1969
as Roland
The Dumb Waiter
1985
as Gus
Achilles Heel
1973
as Gordon
Hannibal: The Man Who Hated Rome
2004
as Narrator
A Genius Like Us: A Portrait of Joe Orton
1982
as Self
Making Waves
1987
as Joe Nash
Dark Ditties Presents: The Offer
2017
as The Host
About Kenneth Cranham
Scottish born actor Kenneth Cranham is one of the most recognisable character actors in Britain. Having trained at the National Youth Theatre and RADA, Cranham first came to prominence as Noah Claypole in the 1968 Carol Reed musical Oliver! In the late '70s, Cranham memorably played Sapper Salt in Euston Films' Danger UXB, before taking the title role in the popular postwar set period comedy drama Shine on Harvey Moon. His most famous film role from around this time was Dr. Philip Channard in Hellraiser II. In more recent years he has starred… With 172 credits spanning from 1960 to 2021, Kenneth Cranham has appeared in 100 films and 72 TV shows.
Fans searching for Kenneth Cranham movies, Kenneth Cranham filmography, or the latest projects starring Kenneth Cranham can stream many of these titles on Bowood.TV, free and in HD, with no subscription required.
Most Popular Kenneth Cranham Movies
- Maleficent (2014) — as King Henry
- Hot Fuzz (2007) — as James Reaper
- Valkyrie (2008) — as Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel
- The Legend of Hercules (2014) — as Lucius
- Official Secrets (2019) — as Judge Hyam
Where to Watch Kenneth Cranham Films
Most Kenneth Cranham movies and series are available to stream on Bowood.TV in full HD, completely free and without signup. Browse the complete filmography above to jump directly to any title. For more films and the latest web series featuring Kenneth Cranham, check our movies catalogue and browse page.