Cast & creator
Simon Russell Beale
Best known for House of the Dragon, American Experience, Spooks
Sir Simon Russell Beale CBE (born January 12, 1961) is an English actor. He is known for his appearances in film, television and theatre, and work on radio, on audiobooks and as a narrator. For his services to drama, he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace in 2019. He has spent much of his theatre career working in productions for both the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre. He has received ten Laurence Olivier Award nominations, winning three awards for his performances in Volpone (1996), Candide (2000), and Uncle Vanya (2003). For his work on the Broadway stage he has received a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination for his performance as George in the Tom Stoppard play Jumpers in 2004. For his role as Henry Lehman in The Lehman Trilogy, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and was nominated for an Olivier Award. Beale has been described by The Independent as "the greatest stage actor of his generation". Beale made his film debut in Sally Potter's period drama Orlando (1992). He continued acting in films such as Persuasion (1995), Hamlet (1996), My Week with Marilyn (2011), The Deep Blue Sea (2011), Into the Woods (2014), and Mary Queen of Scots (2018). In 2017, he starred in Armando Iannucci's dark comedy The Death of Stalin playing Lavrentiy Beria for which he received the British Independent Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. He has also appeared in the television projects The Young Visiters (2003), Dunkirk (2004), and as Falstaff in the BBC made-for-television films Henry IV, Part I and Part II (2012). He was part of the main cast of Showtime's Penny Dreadful.
Also known as: 사이몬 러셀 빌, Simon Russell-Beale, Simon Russell Beale CBE
58
film credits
18
television credits
76
1985–2026 · acting roles
7.1
average across scored titles
Signature credits
Known for
Across film & television
Filmography (76)
Showing 76 of 76 credits
House of the Dragon
Ser Simon Strong
2022
American Experience
John Adams (voice)
1988
Spooks
William Towers
2002Spooks
Home Secretary
2002
Thor: Love and Thunder
Dionysus
2022
Penny Dreadful
Ferdinand Lyle
2014
De Gaulle: Résistance
Winston Churchill
2026
The Legend of Tarzan
Mr. Frum
2016
The Hollow Crown
Falstaff
2012
Mary Queen of Scots
Robert Beale
2018
Remembers…
Self
2022
The Magic Faraway Tree
Know All
2026
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
Sir Hector Moreland
2025
Mary & George
Sir George Villiers
2024
The Death of Stalin
Lavrenti Beria
2017
Into the Woods
Baker's Father
2014
The Outfit
Roy Boyle
2022
Operation Mincemeat
Winston Churchill
2022
Vanity Fair
John Sedley
2018
The Choral
Sir Edward Elgar
2025
A Very Peculiar Practice
Mark Stibbs
1986
De Gaulle: Liberté
Winston Churchill
2026
Operation Finale
David Ben-Gurion
2018
My Week with Marilyn
Cotes-Preedy
2011
A Dance to the Music of Time
Widmerpool
1997
Alice in Wonderland
King Cedric of Hearts
1999
The Deep Blue Sea
Sir William Collyer
2011
Douglas Is Cancelled
Bently
2024
Simon Schama's Shakespeare
2012
Radioactive
Professor Lippmann
2020
Persuasion
Charles Musgrove
1995
My Cousin Rachel
Couch
2017
Dunkirk
Winston Churchill
2004
Firebrand
Stephen Gardiner
2024Downtown Lagos
Heron
1992
Hamlet
Second Gravedigger
1996
An Ideal Husband
Sir Edward
1999
Orlando
Earl of Moray
1992
Benediction
Robbie Ross
2021
The Gathering
Luke Fraser
2003
Muse of Fire
Self
2013
Shakespeare Live! From the RSC
Richard II
2016
National Theatre Live: 50 Years on Stage
Hamlet
2013The Mushroom Picker
Anthony
1993
National Theatre Live: King Lear
Lear, King of Britain
2014
Royal Opera House: Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
The Duchess / Introduced by
2011
Blackadder: Back & Forth
Wellington
1999
National Theatre Live: The Tragedy of King Richard the Second
Richard II
2019
BBC Proms: Sondheim's 80th Birthday
Himself - Performer
2010
National Theatre Live: The Lehman Trilogy
Henry Lehman
2019
Museo
Frank Graves
2018
National Theatre Live: London Assurance
Sir Harcourt Courtly
2010
Symphony
2011
RSC Live: The Tempest
Prospero
2017
Home! Home!
Narrator (voice)
2024
National Theatre Live: Collaborators
Joseph Stalin
2011
This Is Your Five Minute Call
Malcolm
Prima Facie
2026
The Young Visiters
Prince of Wales
2003Time and the Conways
Party Guest
1985
Lava Land - Glowing Hawaii
Narrator
2013
Cunk on Shakespeare
Self - Actor
2016
Legacy
Hookey
2013
The Mysterious Mr Webster
Self - Interviewee
2014
A Christmas Carol
Scrooge's voice (voice)
2020
Deep Water
Donald Crowhurst (voice)
2006
National Theatre Live: Timon of Athens
Timon
2012
A Musical Nativity with John Rutter
2011
Shakespeare's Sonnets
2012
Sacred Music: God's Composer
Presenter
2011
The Temptation of Franz Schubert
Franz Schubert
1997
Sacred Music: A Christmas History
Presenter
2010
Monteverdi in Mantua - The Genius of the Vespers
presenter
2015
The Hour
Himself
2020
An Easter Celebration
presenter
2008
Sacred Music
Presenter
2008