Michael Pennington
Michael Vivian Fyfe Pennington ( born June 7, 1943 in Cambridge ) is an English actor, theater director and writer.
Life and career
Already during his studies at Cambridge took over Michael Pennington roles in student theater. An initial engagement with the Royal Shakespeare Company follows a more than forty years still ongoing theater career. A selection of his performances including Angelo ( 1974) and the Duke (1978 ) in Measure for Measure, Mercutio (1976 ) in Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet in Hamlet 1980 for the Royal Shakespeare Company, Edward Damson in Peter Shaffer's Gift of the Gorgon, 1992 / 93 Theatre performances in Germany include a tour to Berlin in the early 1960s with the National Youth Theatre, George Bernard Shaw's heroes in 1975 at the Municipal Theatre Frankfurt. In 1986 he founded together with Michael Bogdanov, the English Shakespeare Company, which from 1986 to 1989, first with the Shakespeare plays Henry IV, Part 1 and 2, and Henry V, and from 1987 throughout Shakespeare's history cycle of Richard II to Richard III under the title The Wars of the Roses went on a world tour. Performances in Germany found in 1987 in Hamburg, in 1988 in West Berlin and in Hamburg in 1989, East Berlin and Frankfurt am Main.
Besides his work as an actor Michael Pennington has also conducted theater directing. So he directed, among others, what do you want for the English Shakespeare Company and A Midsummer Night's Dream for the Open Air Theatre in London's Regent's Park. He is also the author of his own one-person piece Anton Chekhov Anton Chekhov on or with which he performs again and again since 1984. Another solo program about William Shakespeare is named Sweet William.
His film roles include Laertes in Hamlet Tony Richardson's film version (1969) and probably his most famous role, that of Moff Jerjerrod, the commander of the second Death Star in Return of the Jedi.
Michael Pennington has a report about a train journey across Siberia, which he made in 1974, published, Rossya: A Journey through Siberia; written a book about Anton Chekhov, Are You There Crocodile? Inventing Anton Chekhov, which also includes his piece of Anton Chekhov; and monographs on the Shakespeare plays Hamlet, Hamlet: A User's Guide, Twelfth Night, Twelfth Night: A User's Guide, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, A Midsummer Night's Dream: A User's Guide, written.
In April 2004, he held as the second actor - by Harley Granville - Barker in 1925 - the annual Shakespeare lecture of the British Academy. His lecture was entitled Barnadine 's Straw: The Devil in Shakespeare's Detail.