Alun Armstrong (actor)

Alun Armstrong
Armstrong in January 2012
Born	Alan Armstrong (1946-07-17) 17 July 1946 (age 70) Annfield Plain, County Durham, England
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1971–present
Spouse(s)	Sue Armstrong
Children	3, including Joe

Alan "Alun" Armstrong (born 17 July 1946) is an English actor. Armstrong grew up in County Durham in North East England. He first became interested in acting through Shakespeare productions at his grammar school. Since his career began in the early 1970s, he has played, in his words, "the full spectrum of characters from the grotesque to musicals... I always play very colourful characters, often a bit crazy, despotic, psychotic".

His numerous credits include several different Charles Dickens adaptations and the eccentric ex-detective Brian Lane in New Tricks. Armstrong is also an accomplished stage actor who spent nine years with the Royal Shakespeare Company. He originated the role of Thénardier in the London production of Les Misérables and he won an Olivier Award for playing the title role in Sweeney Todd.

Born Alan Armstrong in Annfield Plain, County Durham, his father was a coal miner and both his parents were Methodist lay preachers. He attended Annfield Plain Junior School and then went on to Consett Grammar School, where a teacher inspired him to try acting. In the lower sixth, he played Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew – a role he would later perform with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

He took part in the National Youth Theatre summer school in 1964, but his background and his northern accent made him feel out of place. Armstrong auditioned for RADA but was not accepted. He instead studied fine art at Newcastle University. He found the course pretentious and felt that he did not fit in, and he was expelled after two years because he stopped attending classes.