Samuel West

Samuel West
Samuel West at the London Film Festival screening of Hyde Park on Hudson, October 2012
Born	Samuel Alexander Joseph West (1966-06-19) 19 June 1966 (age 50) London, England
Nationality	British
Occupation	Actor and director
Years active	1975–present
Partner(s)	Laura Wade
Children	1
Parent(s)	Timothy West Prunella Scales

Samuel Alexander Joseph West, also known as Sam West (born 19 June 1966), is an English actor and director. He is best known for his role in the film Howards End and his work on stage (including the award-winning play Enron).

West was born in London, the elder son of actors Prunella Scales and Timothy West and the grandson of the late actor Lockwood West. He was educated at Alleyn's School and Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, where he studied English Literature and was president of the Experimental Theatre Club.

West works as an actor in a variety of dramatic media including theatre, film, television and radio. He has made a career as a director on stage and radio. He has narrated many television documentaries, including the acclaimed series The Nazis: A Warning from History. He often appears as reciter with orchestras (see below) and performed at the Last Night of the Proms in 2002.

West made his London stage debut in February 1989 at the Orange Tree Theatre, playing Michael in Cocteau's Les Parents Terribles, of which critic John Thaxter wrote: "He invests the role with a warmth and validity that silences sniggers that could so easily greet a lesser performance of this difficult role, and he lets us share the tumbling emotions of a juvenile torn between romantic first love and filial duty." Since then, West has appeared frequently on stage; he played Valentine in the first ever production of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia at the National Theatre in 1993 and later spent two seasons with the Royal Shakespeare Company playing the title roles in Richard II and Hamlet, both directed by Steven Pimlott.