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Michael Pennington

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Michael Pennington

Michael Vivian Fyfe Pennington (7 June 1943 – 7 May 2026) was an English actor, director and writer. Together with director Michael Bogdanov, he founded the English Shakespeare Company in 1986 and was its joint artistic director until 1992. He wrote ten books, directed in the UK and across the world, and was an honorary associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Over a 60-year stage career he played a host of Shakespeare's title roles and other leading characters, while on screen he appeared as Laertes in Hamlet (1969), Moff Jerjerrod in Return of the Jedi (1983), and Michael Foot in The Iron Lady (2011).

Infobox

Born
Michael Vivian Fyfe Pennington (1943-06-07)7 June 1943 Cambridge, England
Died
7 May 2026(2026-05-07) (aged 82) Denville Hall, London, England
Occupations
Actor director writer
Years active
1964–2026
Spouse
Katharine Barker (m. 1964; div. 1967)
Children
1

Tables

· Filmography › Film
1969
Role(s)
Laertes
Notes
With Nicol Williamson in the title role
1983
Role(s)
Moff Jerjerrod
1997
Role(s)
Moff Jerjerrod
Notes
Archive footage; Special Edition re-release
2005
Role(s)
Marcus
2011
Role(s)
Michael Foot
Notes
With Meryl Streep in the title role
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1969
Hamlet
Laertes
With Nicol Williamson in the title role
1983
Return of the Jedi
Moff Jerjerrod
1997
The Empire Strikes Back
Moff Jerjerrod
Archive footage; Special Edition re-release
2005
Fragile
Marcus
2011
The Iron Lady
Michael Foot
With Meryl Streep in the title role
· Filmography › Television
1966
Role(s)
Wulfnoth Godwinson
Notes
"Conquest" TV play
1967
Sat'day While Sunday
Role(s)
Adrian
Notes
2 episodes
1968
Role(s)
Will Ladislaw
Notes
7 episodes
1970
Mad Jack
1971
Role(s)
John Sheldon
Notes
1 episode, "Well; There Was This Girl, You See"
1972
An Affair of Honour
Role(s)
Martin
Notes
TV film: Thirty-Minute Theatre
Role(s)
Lafarge
Notes
1 episode, "The Contract"
1977
Role(s)
Minister
Notes
TV film
1978
Role(s)
Saint-Just
Notes
TV film
1982
Role(s)
Posthumus
Notes
BBC Television Shakespeare
The White Guard
Role(s)
Alexei Turbin
Notes
TV film
1984
Waving to a Train
Role(s)
Richard
Notes
TV film
Role(s)
Carl Jung
Notes
2 episodes
1986
The Theban Plays by Sophocles
Role(s)
Oedipus Rex
Notes
Theban Plays: Oedipus Rex
1987
Role(s)
Sherlock Holmes
Notes
TV film
1989
Role(s)
Hugh Pargeter
Notes
4 episodes
1994
Degas and Pissarro Fall Out
Role(s)
Degas
Notes
Short
2003
Role(s)
Richard Siegler
Notes
1 episode
Role(s)
Judge Howard Sinclair
Notes
6 episodes
2008
Role(s)
Abbot
Notes
1 episode, "Matters of State"
2016
Role(s)
Bishop Reynard
Notes
Episode 4 "The Daughter of Autolycus"
2022
Role(s)
The Trust
Notes
5 episodes (voice role)
Year
Title
Role
Notes
1965
The Wars of the Roses
1966
Theatre 625
Wulfnoth Godwinson
"Conquest" TV play
1967
Sat'day While Sunday
Adrian
2 episodes
1968
Middlemarch
Will Ladislaw
7 episodes
1970
Mad Jack
1971
Public Eye
John Sheldon
1 episode, "Well; There Was This Girl, You See"
1972
An Affair of Honour
Martin
TV film: Thirty-Minute Theatre
1972
Callan
Lafarge
1 episode, "The Contract"
1977
The Witches of Pendle
Minister
TV film
1978
Danton's Death
Saint-Just
TV film
1982
Cymbeline
Posthumus
BBC Television Shakespeare
1982
The White Guard
Alexei Turbin
TV film
1984
Waving to a Train
Richard
TV film
Freud
Carl Jung
2 episodes
1986
The Theban Plays by Sophocles
Oedipus Rex
Theban Plays: Oedipus Rex
1987
The Return of Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
TV film
1989
Summer's Lease
Hugh Pargeter
4 episodes
1994
Degas and Pissarro Fall Out
Degas
Short
2003
State of Play
Richard Siegler
1 episode
The Bill
Judge Howard Sinclair
6 episodes
2008
The Tudors
Abbot
1 episode, "Matters of State"
2016
Father Brown
Bishop Reynard
Episode 4 "The Daughter of Autolycus"
2022
Raised by Wolves
The Trust
5 episodes (voice role)
· Filmography › Radio
1982
Fahrenheit 451
Role(s)
Montag
1994
Parrots and Owls
Role(s)
John Ruskin
Notes
Jeremy Howe
Year
Title
Role
Producer
Station
Notes
1982
Fahrenheit 451
Montag
BBC Radio 4
Gregory Evans's adaptation of Ray Bradbury's novel
1994
Parrots and Owls
John Ruskin
Jeremy Howe
BBC Radio 3
Play by John Purser

References

  1. Debrett's People of Today, Debrett's Peerage Ltd, 2006, p. 1276
  2. The Sunday Telegraph
    http://www.michaelpennington.me.uk/page137.html
  3. The Independent
    https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/michael-pennington-dame-judi-dench-once-he-ate-a-lot-of-garlic-before-a-love-scene-i-think-i-punched-9983832.html
  4. The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/feb/12/2
  5. Pinter's World: Relationships, Obsessions, and Artistic Endeavors
    https://books.google.com/books?id=p_BlDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA32
  6. "The BBC audio complete Sherlock Holmes"
    http://merrisonholmes.com/memoirs.php
  7. Oberon Books, London, 2003
  8. Proceedings of the British Academy, vol 131, 2004 Lectures, pp 205-227
  9. Love's Labour's Lost: Critical Essays
    https://books.google.com/books?id=aXTlzkwVecAC&pg=PA385
  10. People
    https://people.com/archive/from-piaf-to-cleopatra-this-is-the-american-spring-of-britains-multitalented-jane-lapotaire-vol-15-no-16/
  11. The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/may/11/michael-pennington-actor-dies-shakespeare-star-wars
  12. The Telegraph
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2026/05/10/michael-pennington-english-shakespeare-company-old-vic/
  13. The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2026/may/11/michael-pennington-obituary
  14. The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2025/apr/02/prudence-skene-obituary
  15. Hamlet:A User's Guide, p 7
  16. Are You There Crocodile? Inventing Anton Chekhov
  17. Ray Bradbury: Fahrenheit 451
    https://archive.org/details/RayBradbury_Fahrenheit451
  18. Desperate Romantics
    https://doi.org/10.1080%2F14714780903509847
  19. Let Me Play the Lion Too: How to be an Actor
    https://books.google.com/books?id=WVLqBQAAQBAJ
  20. King Lear in Brooklyn
    https://books.google.com/books?id=CzU2DwAAQBAJ
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