John Shrapnel
Known for: Acting
Shrapnel was born in Birmingham, Warwickshire, the son of Mary Lillian Myfanwy (née Edwards) and journalist/author Norman Shrapnel.[1] As a stage actor, he was a member of Laurence Olivier's Royal National Theatre company and the Royal Shakespeare Company and most recently appeared as Sir Oliver Surface in The School for Scandal (directed by Deborah Warner) at the Barbican Centre in 2011. He has also appeared extensively in film and on television in roles in Elizabeth R, Z-Cars, Edward and Mrs. Simpson, 101 Dalmatians, Space: 1999, Inspector Morse, Coogan's Run, Notting Hill and Foyle's War. He presented an episode of the 1983 BBC television travel series Great Little Railways. He gave performances in three entries in the BBC Television Shakespeare plays and as Creon in the BBC's 1984 productions of the Three Theban plays of Sophocles. In America, he has starred in supporting roles as Senator Gaius in Gladiator, Nestor in Troy and Pompey in the second episode of Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. He also played the Jail Warden in the 10th Kingdom, an epic fantasy miniseries. He has the rare achievement of appearing in two episodes of Midsomer Murders as two different characters, in Death in Chorus and Written in Blood. Shrapnel appeared in an episode of Jonathan Creek as Professor Lance Graumann in the episode The Omega Man. He appears in Chemical Wedding alongside Simon Callow, telling the tale of the resurrection of occultist Aleister Crowley. Shrapnel also has experience in the field of BBC radio drama through such characters as Colin Dexter's Inspector Morse and William Gibson's Neuromancer. He is the son-in-law of Deborah Kerr through his 1975 marriage to her younger daughter Francesca Ann Bartley. They have three sons, the actors Lex Shrapnel (b.1979), Tom Shrapnel (b.1981) and the writer Joe Shrapnel (b.1976). They live in Highbury, north London.
Filmography
Series
Midsomer Murders
Max Jennings
1997
Series
Midsomer Murders
Leo Clarke
1997
Film
Troy
Nestor
2004
Film
Gladiator
Gaius
2000
Series
Foyle's War
Raymond Brooks
2002
Series
BBC Play of the Month
Duke of Cornwall
1965
Series
BBC Play of the Month
Viktor Myshlaevsky
1965
Series
Merlin
The Sarrum
2008
Series
Waking the Dead
John Christie
2001
Series
Natural World
Narrator
1983
Series
Screen Two
Rev. Charles Tucker Eland
1985
Series
Screen Two
Heiger
1985
Series
New Tricks
DAC John Felsham
2004
Series
Space: 1999
Jack Tanner
1975
Series
Omnibus
Zborowski
1967
Film
Notting Hill
PR Chief
1999
Series
ITV Playhouse
Schoner
1967
Series
The Inspector Lynley Mysteries
Sergent Mike McCaffrey
2002
Series
Wycliffe
Dr. Sam Malvern
1994
Film
101 Dalmatians
Skinner
1996
Series
BBC2 Play of the Week
McKendrick
1977
Series
BBC2 Play of the Week
Robert
1977
Series
Jonathan Creek
Prof. Lance Graumann
1997
Series
Between the Lines
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dunning
1992
Series
Between the Lines
D.C.C. Dunning
1992
Series
Justice
Roger Anderson
1971
Series
Kavanagh Q.C.
Mr. Justice Griffin
1995
Series
The Chief
Dan Cheyney
1990
Series
The 10th Kingdom
Governor of Prison
2000
Film
The Duchess
General Grey
2008
Series
Private Schulz
German Newsreel Commentator (voice, uncredited)
1981
Film
Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Lord Howard
2007
Film
K-19: The Widowmaker
Admiral Bratyeev
2002
Film
Mirrors
Lorenzo Sapelli
2008
Series
Shakespeare: The Animated Tales
Claudius / The Ghost (voice)
1992
Series
Coogan's Run
Douglas Crown
1995
Series
Elizabeth R
Earl of Sussex
1971
Series
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire
Pompey
2006
Film
The Awakening
Reverend Hugh Purslow
2011
Series
I Am Not an Animal
Narrator (voice)
2004
Film
The Body
Moshe Cohen
2001
Series
The Modern World: Ten Great Writers
Thomas Mann
1988
Film
Schönbrunn - Well of Beauty
Narrator (English Version)
2002
Series
Mr. Palfrey of Westminster
Adrian Vyner
1984
Series
G.B.H.
Dr Jacobs
1991
Film
Fatherland
General Globus
1994
Series
Edward and Mrs Simpson
Major Alexander Hardinge
1978
Series
Plays for Britain
Voice of Leonard Brazil
1976
Series
Vanity Fair
Lord Steyne
1987
Series
Screenplay
Matthias Erzberger
1979
Series
Apparitions
Cardinal Bukovak
2008
Series
Invasion: Earth
Air Marshal Bentley
1998
Film
Alien Autopsy
Michael Kuhn
2006
Film
How to Get Ahead in Advertising
Psychiatrist
1989
Film
Nicholas and Alexandra
Petya
1971
Series
For the Greater Good
Norman May-Boys MP
1991
Series
Armchair Thriller
Vincent Craig
1978
True Tilda
Reverand Glasson
1997
About Face
1989
Series
Predators Killing for a Living
1997
Series
Selling Hitler
Gerd Schülte-Hillen
1991
Series
Blackeyes
Detective Blake
1989
Film
Hennessy
Tipaldi
1975
Film
Mary, Mother of Jesus
Simon
1999
Film
National Theatre Live: Macbeth
Duncan/Seyton/Old Man
2013
Film
Pope Joan
Father James
1972
Film
Theban Plays: Oedipus at Colonus
Creon
1986
Series
The Woman in White
Sir Percival Glyde
1982
Series
Bodyguards
Commander Alan MacIntyre
1997
Film
Theban Plays: Oedipus the King
Creon
1986
Poppyland
George Sims
1985
Film
Personal Services
Lionel
1987
Film
Shadow of the Sword
Archbishop
2005
Film
King Charles III
Archbishop of Canterbury
2017
Film
Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters
General Charette
1999
Series
The Lions Rule
Narrator (voice)
2017
Film
Flayed
Robert
1978
Film
The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka
Iwaszkiewicz
1999
Centrepoint
Claud Wareing
1990
Film
King Lear
Duke of Cornwall
1975
Film
The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story
BKA Police Chief
1990
Series
Sorrell and Son
Thomas Roland
1984
Film
National Theatre Live: Phèdre
Théramène
2009
Film
Two Deaths
Cinca
1996
Film
King Lear
Earl of Kent
1982
Good Girl
Christopher Wimple
1974
Film
England, My England
Samuel Pepys
1995
Film
Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale
Camilo
2015
Film
Run.
St. Peter
2013
Film
Hindenburg: Titanic of the Skies
Himself (Narrator)
2007
Film
Theban Plays: Antigone
Creon
1986
Film
Timon of Athens
Alcibiades
1981
Film
The Burston Rebellion
Rev. Charles Tucker Eland
1985
Film
Hamlet
Claudius/Ghost
2015
Film
Partition
General Flood
1987
Series
Alien Empire
Narrator
1996
Hitting Town
Leonard Brazil (voice)
1976
Film
Edward & Mrs. Simpson
Maj. Alexander Hardinge
1978
Film
Gossip from the Forest
Matthias Erzberger
1979
SS-3: The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich
Narrator
1992
OXI, an Act of Resistance
Creon
2014
Film
The Gentleman Thief
Monty Sinclair
2001
Film
Alone
Hannah
2002
Film
Seven Wonders of Ancient Greece
Narrator
2004
Film
Troilus & Cressida
Hector
1981
Film
King Arthur: His Life and Legends
1995
Film
Horizon: Supermassive Black Holes
Narrator
2000
Film
St. Stephen's: The Living Cathedral
Narrator (English voice)
1997
Film
An Organization of Dreams
Father
2009
Film
Selling Hitler
Gerd Schulte-Hillen
1993
Film
Chemical Wedding
Crowley
2008
Film
Mountain Men: The Ghosts of K2
Narrator
2001
The Ha-Ha
Jamie
1969
Film
Claim
Lex Vandenberg
2002
Film
Hamlet Within
2022
Film
Testimony
Andre Zhdanov
1988
Film
Whistle
Paul
2002
Film
Seven Wonders of Ancient Egypt
Narrator
2004
The Return of the Flying Scotsman
Narrator - (Voice)
2016
Film
The Race for Everest
Narrator
2003
The Three Hostages
Gaudian
1977
Film
Once Upon a Time on the Westway
Billy Palmer
2007
It's Called the Sugar Plum
Wally Zuckerman
1969
Film
Wachau - Valley of Golden Magic
Narrator (English Version)
2005
Film
Seven Wonders of Ancient Rome
Narrator
2004
Wild Women of Viramba
Narrator
2003
Film
Hamlet
Claudius
1992
Film
Building Burma's Death Railway: Moving Half the Mountain
Narrator
2014
Film
Animals of the Ocean Desert
Narrator
2001
Film
Professional Foul
McKendrick
1977
The Tom Machine
1980
The Victim
Vincent Craig
1980
Film
Britain's Nuclear Bomb - The Inside Story
Narrator (Voice)
2017
Film
Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory and Irvine
Self - Narrator
2000
Film
Lion Queen
Narrator (voice)
1998
Film
The Misfit and the Matterhorn
Narrator
2001