Nicol Williamson
| Nicol Williamson | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Thomas Nicol Williamson 14 September 1936 Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, Scotland |
| Died | 16 December 2011 (aged 75) Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Cause of death | Esophageal cancer |
| Years active | 1960–1997 |
| Spouse(s) | Jill Townsend (m. 1971–1977; divorced); 1 son |
Nicol Williamson (14 September 1936 – 16 December 2011) was a British actor once described by John Osborne as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando". He was also described by Samuel Beckett as "touched by genius" and viewed by many critics as "the Hamlet of his generation" during the late 1960s.
Thomas Nicol Williamson was born in 1936 (he would later claim 1938 in Who's Who) in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, the son of a factory owner. His family later moved south to England, and Williamson was educated at the Central Grammar School for Boys, Birmingham. He left school at 16 to begin work in his father's factory and later attended the Birmingham School of Speech & Drama. He recalled his time there as "a disaster" and claimed "it was nothing more than a finishing school for the daughters of local businessmen".
After his national service as a gunner in the Airborne Division, Williamson made his professional debut with the Dundee Repertory Theatre in 1960 and the following year appeared with the Arts Theatre in Cambridge. In 1962 he made his London debut as Flute in Tony Richardson's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream at the Royal Court Theatre. His first major success came in 1964 with John Osborne's Inadmissible Evidence for which he was nominated for a Tony Award when it transferred to Broadway in 1965. 1964 also saw him appearing as Vladimir in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the Royal Court Theatre. In 1968, he starred in the film version. Williamson's Hamlet for Tony Richardson at the Roundhouse caused a sensation and was later transferred to New York and made into a film, with a cast including Anthony Hopkins and Marianne Faithfull. Faithfull later stated in her autobiography Faithfull that she and Williamson had had an affair while filming Hamlet.
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