Thomas Nicol Williamson (14 September 1936 – 16 December 2011) was a British actor. He was described as "the greatest actor since Marlon Brando" and "touched by genius" by John Osborne and Samuel Beckett, respectively.
Early life, family and education Thomas Nicol Williamson was born on 14 September 1936"Nicol Williamson". The Herald (26 January 2012). Retrieved 30 September 2020. in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, Scotland, the son of Hugh Williamson, operator of an aluminium manufacturing plant and former hairdresser's assistant, and Mary Brown Hill, née Storrie. When he was 18 months old, his family moved to Birmingham, England. Williamson was sent back to Hamilton to live with his grandparents during World War II due to Birmingham's susceptibility to bombing, but he returned when the war ended.
He 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".
Career Acting 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 the following year. In spring 1981, he and original director Anthony Page revived the play for a six-week engagement at the Roundabout Theatre (23rd Street) in New York, fifteen years after the original Broadway run.
Also in 1964, he appeared as Vladimir in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot at the Royal Court. He starred in the film version in 1968. Williamson's Hamlet for Tony Richardson at the Roundhouse caused a sensation; it 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 an affair while filming Hamlet.
His most celebrated film role was as Merlin the magician in the King Arthur epic Excalibur in 1981. Director John Boorman cast him opposite Helen Mirren as Morgana over the protests of both actors; the two had previously appeared together on stage in Macbeth, with disastrous results, and they disliked each other intensely. It was Boorman's hope that the very real animosity that they had towards each other would generate more tension between them on screen. Williamson gained recognition from a much wider fanbase for his performance as Merlin. A review of Excalibur in The Times in 1981 states: "The actors are led by Williamson's witty, perceptive Merlin, missed every time he's off the screen." According to Mirren, she and Williamson, free from the problems with Macbeth, "wound up becoming very good friends" during Excalibur.
Some of his other notable cinematic performances include as a troubled Irish soldier in the 1968 Jack Gold film The Bofors Gun; in 1975 as an intelligence officer in apartheid South Africa in The Wilby Conspiracy (starring Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine); as Sherlock Holmes in the 1976 Herbert Ross film The Seven-Per-Cent Solution; and as Little John in the 1976 Richard Lester film Robin and Marian. Additionally, he portrayed an MI6 bureaucrat in The Human Factor (1979) (adapted from a novel by Graham Greene); an alcoholic attorney in I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can (1982); a colonel in the Cincinnati Gestapo in the Neil Simon comedy The Cheap Detective; Lord Louis Mountbatten in Lord Mountbatten - The Last Viceroy (1985); the dual roles of Dr. Worley/The Nome King in Return to Oz (1985); Father Morning in The Exorcist III (1990); Badger in the 1996 movie adaptation of Kenneth Grahame's Wind in the Willows; and as Cogliostro in the 1997 movie adaptation of Todd McFarlane's comic book Spawn.
In 1978, Williamson portrayed a murderous behaviour expert in the Columbo episode "How to Dial a Murder". His character was one of the few suspects who attempted to kill Columbo.
Additional work Following a late-night chat show appearance in which he showcased his singing talents, Williamson released an album of songs in 1971 on the CBS label (S 64045). The album contained songs such as "Didn't We", "It's Impossible" and "Help Me Make It Through the Night".
In 1974, Williamson recorded an abridged reading of The Hobbit for Argo Records, authorisation for the abridgement having been provided by J.R.R. Tolkien's publisher. The recording was produced by Harley Usill.The Hobbit, read by Nicol Williamson. 4-record boxed set, Argo Records, 1974, ZPL 1196/9 According to his official website, Williamson re-edited the original script himself, removing many occurrences of "he said", "she said", and so on, as he felt that an over-reliance on descriptive narrative would not give the desired effect; he performed each character in a distinctive voice.
In 1994, Williamson wrote a play for solo actor on the life of actor John Barrymore. Jack, a Night on the Town with John Barrymore was produced at the Criterion Theatre in London.
Williamson made a major contribution to the documentary John Osborne and the Gift of Friendship, recalling episodes from his long professional relationship with Osborne. Recorded excerpts of his award-winning stage performance in Inadmissible Evidence also feature in the video.
Personality Williamson was known for throwing tantrums and engaging in other antics on stage. During the Philadelphia tryout of Inadmissible Evidence, a play in which he delivered a performance that would win him a Tony Award nomination in 1965, he punched the also-mercurial producer David Merrick. In 1968, he apologised to the audience for his performance one night while playing Hamlet and then walked off the stage, announcing he was retiring. In the early 1970s, Williamson left The Dick Cavett Show prior to a scheduled appearance, leaving the host and guest Nora Ephron to fill the remaining time. In 1976, he slapped actor Jim Litten during the curtain call for the Broadway musical Rex. According to actor Stacy Keach, Williamson was fired from the lead role in The Ninth Configuration (1980) for ripping out a telephone from the wall of his hotel suite in Budapest, and tossing it through a plate glass window. In 1991, he hit co-star Evan Handler on the backside with a sword during a Broadway performance of I Hate Hamlet. This notoriously resulted in Handler walking out of the theater and an understudy taking over his role mid-performance.
Personal life In 1971, Williamson married actress Jill Townsend, who had played his daughter in the Broadway production of Inadmissible Evidence. They had a son, Luke (born 1973), but divorced in 1977.
Despite concerns over his health in the 1970s, Williamson admitted drinking heavily and claimed to smoke 80 cigarettes a day. In an episode of The David Frost Show in the 1960s, during a discussion about death, which also involved poet John Betjeman, Williamson revealed that he was very much afraid of dying, saying that "I think of death constantly, throughout the day" and that "I don't think there is anything after this, except complete oblivion."
Williamson died on 16 December 2011 in Amsterdam, aged 75, two years after being diagnosed with esophageal cancer. In accord with Williamson's wishes, the news of his death was released a month later, as he did not want a fuss made over his death.
Acting credits Film Year Title Role Notes 1956 The Iron Petticoat Man lighting Major Lockwood's distorted cigarette Uncredited 1963 The Six-Sided Triangle The Lover Short film 1968 The Bofors Gun O'Rourke Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role Inadmissible Evidence Bill Maitland 1969 The Reckoning Michael Marler Laughter in the Dark Sir Edward More Won — Prize San Sebastián for Best Actor Hamlet Prince Hamlet 1972 The Jerusalem File Professor Lang The Monk The Duke of Talamur 1975 The Wilby Conspiracy Major Horn 1976 Robin and Marian Little John The Seven-Per-Cent Solution Sherlock Holmes 1977 The Goodbye Girl Oliver Fry (uncredited Hollywood producer/director) 1978 The Cheap Detective Colonel Schlissel 1979 The Human Factor Maurice Castle 1981 Excalibur Merlin Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor Venom Commander William Bulloch 1982 I'm Dancing as Fast as I Can Derek Bauer 1985 Return to Oz Dr. Worley/Nome King 1987 Black Widow William McCrory Passion Flower Albert Coskin TV film 1990 The Exorcist III Father Morning 1993 The Hour of the Pig Seigneur Jehan d'Auferre 1996 The Wind in the Willows Mr. Badger 1997 Spawn Cogliostro
Television Year Title Role Notes 1963 ITV Play of the Week Count Pierre Besukhov Episode: "War and Peace" Z-Cars Jack Clark Episode: "By the Book" Teletale Dr. Murke Episode: "Dr. Murke's Collection of Silences" 1965 Six Unknown role Episode: "The Day of Ragnarok" The Wednesday Play Robin Fletcher Episode: "Horror of Darkness" 1968 Of Mice and Men Lennie TV film (Video) 1971 Thirty-Minute Theatre Jim Fitch Episode: "Terrible Jim Fitch" 1972 The Gangster Show: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui Arturo Ui TV filmNominated — British Academy Television Award for Best Actor 1974 Late Night Drama President Nixon Episode: "I Know What I Meant"1978 Columbo Dr. Eric Mason Episode: "How to Dial a Murder" The Word Maertin de Vroome TV mini-series 1983 Macbeth Macbeth BBC Television Shakespeare; videotaped TV drama 1984 Sakharov Malyarov TV film 1985 Christopher Columbus King Ferdinand TV mini-series 1986 Lord Mountbatten: The Last Viceroy Lord Louis Mountbatten TV serial 1990 Chillers Stephen McCullough Episode: "A Curious Suicide"
Theatre Year Title Role Notes1962A Midsummer Night's DreamFrancis FluteEnglish Stage Company, Royal Court Theatre, LondonNil CarborundumS A C Albert MeakinRoyal Shakespeare Company, New Arts Theatre, LondonThe Lower DepthsSatinWomen Beware WomenLeantio1962-3Kelly's EyePerformerRoyal Court Theatre1964-6Inadmissible EvidenceBill MaitlandEnglish Stage Company, Royal Court Theatre, London, Wyndham’s Theatre, London, Belasco Theatre, New York and Shubert Theatre, New York.1965A Cuckoo in the NestPeter WykehamRoyal Court Theatre 1965 Homage to T. S. Eliot Performer Original London Production 1968 Plaza Suite Jesse Kiplinger, Roy Hubley, Sam Nash Broadway 1969 Hamlet Hamlet Free Theatre, The Roundhouse Theatre, London1973CoriolanusCoriolanusRoyal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, London Uncle Vanya Ivan Petrovich Voynitsky BroadwayMidwinter SpringDevised by/PerformerRoyal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, London 1974-5Twelfth NightMalvolioRoyal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon Macbeth Macbeth1974Uncle VanyaDirector / Ivan Petrovich Voynitsky1975The Actors Are Come Hither…Buzz, BuzzPerformerRoyal Shakespeare Company, Aldwych Theatre, London 1976 Rex King Henry VIII Original Broadway Production 1982 Macbeth Macbeth Broadway Revival 1984 The Real Thing Henry Broadway 1991 I Hate Hamlet John Barrymore Broadway 1994-6 Jack: A Night on the Town with John Barrymore John Barrymore Criterion Theatre, London, Broadway 2001 King Lear King Lear Clwyd Theatr Cymru
Awards and nominations Nicol Williamson was nominated for three BAFTA Awards, a Saturn Award, two Tony Awards,Nicol Williamson Tony Awards Info. BroadwayWorld.com. Retrieved 15 December 2011. and won the Silver Shell for the Best Actor from the San Sebastián International Film Festival in 1969 for his performance in Laughter in the Dark.
BAFTA Awards
| 1969 | The Bofors Gun | Best Actor in a Leading Role
| 1970 | Inadmissible Evidence | Best Actor in a Leading Role
| 1973 | The Gangster Show: The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui