John Shrapnel

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

124

Gender

Male

Birthday

1942-04-27

Day of death

2020-02-14 (77 years old)

Place of Birth

Birmingham, England, UK

John Shrapnel

Biography

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.

Known For

  • Midsomer Murders

    Midsomer Murders

  • Midsomer Murders

    Midsomer Murders

  • Foyle's War

    Foyle's War

  • Merlin

    Merlin

  • Gladiator

    Gladiator

  • Waking the Dead

    Waking the Dead

  • Troy

    Troy

  • The Inspector Lynley Mysteries

    The Inspector Lynley Mysteries

  • BBC Play of the Month

    BBC Play of the Month

  • BBC Play of the Month

    BBC Play of the Month

  • Natural World

    Natural World

  • The Duchess

    The Duchess

  • New Tricks

    New Tricks

  • Omnibus

    Omnibus

  • Space: 1999

    Space: 1999

  • Jonathan Creek

    Jonathan Creek

  • Wycliffe

    Wycliffe

  • Screen Two

    Screen Two

  • Notting Hill

    Notting Hill

  • Alone

    Alone

  • BBC2 Play of the Week

    BBC2 Play of the Week

  • BBC2 Play of the Week

    BBC2 Play of the Week

  • Partition

    Partition

  • Theban Plays: Antigone

    Theban Plays: Antigone

  • 101 Dalmatians

    101 Dalmatians

  • Fatherland

    Fatherland

  • Elizabeth: The Golden Age

    Elizabeth: The Golden Age

  • Hitting Town

    Hitting Town

  • Two Deaths

    Two Deaths

  • King Lear

    King Lear

  • Chemical Wedding

    Chemical Wedding

  • Poppyland

    Poppyland

  • Hennessy

    Hennessy

  • An Organization of Dreams

    An Organization of Dreams

  • The Body

    The Body

  • Shakespeare: The Animated Tales

    Shakespeare: The Animated Tales

  • Justice

    Justice

  • Theban Plays: Oedipus at Colonus

    Theban Plays: Oedipus at Colonus

  • Run.

    Run.

  • The 10th Kingdom

    The 10th Kingdom

  • Kavanagh Q.C.

    Kavanagh Q.C.

  • The Modern World: Ten Great Writers

    The Modern World: Ten Great Writers

  • Alien Autopsy

    Alien Autopsy

  • National Theatre Live: Phèdre

    National Theatre Live: Phèdre

  • Between the Lines

    Between the Lines

  • Between the Lines

    Between the Lines

  • Shadow of the Sword

    Shadow of the Sword

  • Hamlet

    Hamlet

  • Claim

    Claim

  • Hamlet

    Hamlet

  • Edward & Mrs. Simpson

    Edward & Mrs. Simpson

  • Supermassive Black Holes

    Supermassive Black Holes

  • Mirrors

    Mirrors

  • K-19: The Widowmaker

    K-19: The Widowmaker

  • Wachau - Valley of Golden Magic

    Wachau - Valley of Golden Magic

  • Mr. Palfrey of Westminster

    Mr. Palfrey of Westminster

  • Flayed

    Flayed

  • Lion Queen

    Lion Queen

  • The Awakening

    The Awakening

  • King Arthur: His Life and Legends

    King Arthur: His Life and Legends

  • Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire

    Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire

  • Troilus & Cressida

    Troilus & Cressida

  • Predators Killing for a Living

    Predators Killing for a Living

  • The Chief

    The Chief

  • I Am Not an Animal

    I Am Not an Animal

  • Testimony

    Testimony

  • The Ha-Ha

    The Ha-Ha

  • Elizabeth R

    Elizabeth R

  • Apparitions

    Apparitions

  • Schönbrunn - Well of Beauty

    Schönbrunn - Well of Beauty

  • G.B.H.

    G.B.H.

  • Edward and Mrs Simpson

    Edward and Mrs Simpson

  • Wild Women of Viramba

    Wild Women of Viramba

  • Armchair Thriller

    Armchair Thriller

  • The Return of the Flying Scotsman

    The Return of the Flying Scotsman

  • Theban Plays: Oedipus the King

    Theban Plays: Oedipus the King

  • SS-3: The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich

    SS-3: The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich

  • Private Schulz

    Private Schulz

  • Bodyguards

    Bodyguards

  • Invasion: Earth

    Invasion: Earth

  • Vanity Fair

    Vanity Fair

  • Whistle

    Whistle

  • How to Get Ahead in Advertising

    How to Get Ahead in Advertising

  • Nicholas and Alexandra

    Nicholas and Alexandra

  • About Face

    About Face

  • Pope Joan

    Pope Joan

  • The Woman in White

    The Woman in White

  • Personal Services

    Personal Services

  • King Charles III

    King Charles III

  • England, My England

    England, My England

  • Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale

    Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale

  • Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters

    Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters

  • True Tilda

    True Tilda

  • Mary, Mother of Jesus

    Mary, Mother of Jesus

  • The Burston Rebellion

    The Burston Rebellion

  • Gossip from the Forest

    Gossip from the Forest

  • The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story

    The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story

  • Centrepoint

    Centrepoint

  • Selling Hitler

    Selling Hitler

  • National Theatre Live: Macbeth

    National Theatre Live: Macbeth

  • OXI, an Act of Resistance

    OXI, an Act of Resistance

  • Hamlet Within

    Hamlet Within

  • King Lear

    King Lear

  • Once Upon a Time on the Westway

    Once Upon a Time on the Westway

  • The Three Hostages

    The Three Hostages

  • The Lions Rule

    The Lions Rule

  • The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka

    The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka

  • Hindenburg: Titanic of the Skies

    Hindenburg: Titanic of the Skies

  • Good Girl

    Good Girl

  • Animals of the Ocean Desert

    Animals of the Ocean Desert

  • Timon of Athens

    Timon of Athens

  • Seven Wonders of Ancient Egypt

    Seven Wonders of Ancient Egypt

  • Professional Foul

    Professional Foul

  • The Gentleman Thief

    The Gentleman Thief

  • St. Stephen's: The Living Cathedral

    St. Stephen's: The Living Cathedral

  • The Tom Machine

    The Tom Machine

  • The Race for Everest

    The Race for Everest

  • Seven Wonders of Ancient Greece

    Seven Wonders of Ancient Greece

  • Britain's Nuclear Bomb - The Inside Story

    Britain's Nuclear Bomb - The Inside Story

  • Building Burma's Death Railway: Moving Half the Mountain

    Building Burma's Death Railway: Moving Half the Mountain

  • Mountain Men: The Ghosts of K2

    Mountain Men: The Ghosts of K2

  • It's Called the Sugar Plum

    It's Called the Sugar Plum

  • The Victim

    The Victim

  • Seven Wonders of Ancient Rome

    Seven Wonders of Ancient Rome