John Shrapnel

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

122

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

  • Troy

    Troy

  • New Tricks

    New Tricks

  • Waking the Dead

    Waking the Dead

  • BBC Play of the Month

    BBC Play of the Month

  • BBC Play of the Month

    BBC Play of the Month

  • Omnibus

    Omnibus

  • The Inspector Lynley Mysteries

    The Inspector Lynley Mysteries

  • Space: 1999

    Space: 1999

  • Wycliffe

    Wycliffe

  • Natural World

    Natural World

  • Notting Hill

    Notting Hill

  • Jonathan Creek

    Jonathan Creek

  • Mirrors

    Mirrors

  • 101 Dalmatians

    101 Dalmatians

  • Kavanagh Q.C.

    Kavanagh Q.C.

  • The 10th Kingdom

    The 10th Kingdom

  • Hamlet Within

    Hamlet Within

  • BBC2 Play of the Week

    BBC2 Play of the Week

  • BBC2 Play of the Week

    BBC2 Play of the Week

  • The Duchess

    The Duchess

  • Justice

    Justice

  • Between the Lines

    Between the Lines

  • Between the Lines

    Between the Lines

  • Fatherland

    Fatherland

  • The Body

    The Body

  • Hamlet

    Hamlet

  • K-19: The Widowmaker

    K-19: The Widowmaker

  • Troilus & Cressida

    Troilus & Cressida

  • Alone

    Alone

  • Whistle

    Whistle

  • Testimony

    Testimony

  • Hitting Town

    Hitting Town

  • Shakespeare: The Animated Tales

    Shakespeare: The Animated Tales

  • Elizabeth: The Golden Age

    Elizabeth: The Golden Age

  • The Chief

    The Chief

  • How to Get Ahead in Advertising

    How to Get Ahead in Advertising

  • King Lear

    King Lear

  • Chemical Wedding

    Chemical Wedding

  • Partition

    Partition

  • Shadow of the Sword

    Shadow of the Sword

  • Poppyland

    Poppyland

  • Personal Services

    Personal Services

  • Claim

    Claim

  • Professional Foul

    Professional Foul

  • Two Deaths

    Two Deaths

  • Alien Autopsy

    Alien Autopsy

  • Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire

    Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire

  • Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters

    Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters

  • Hamlet

    Hamlet

  • Run.

    Run.

  • Hamlet

    Hamlet

  • I Am Not an Animal

    I Am Not an Animal

  • The Awakening

    The Awakening

  • Hennessy

    Hennessy

  • Lion Queen

    Lion Queen

  • G.B.H.

    G.B.H.

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

    Building Burma's Death Railway: Moving Half the Mountain

  • Apparitions

    Apparitions

  • Nicholas and Alexandra

    Nicholas and Alexandra

  • Mr. Palfrey of Westminster

    Mr. Palfrey of Westminster

  • The Modern World: Ten Great Writers

    The Modern World: Ten Great Writers

  • Seven Wonders of Ancient Greece

    Seven Wonders of Ancient Greece

  • Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale

    Branagh Theatre Live: The Winter's Tale

  • OXI, an Act of Resistance

    OXI, an Act of Resistance

  • The Gentleman Thief

    The Gentleman Thief

  • Mary, Mother of Jesus

    Mary, Mother of Jesus

  • Edward and Mrs Simpson

    Edward and Mrs Simpson

  • National Theatre Live: Macbeth

    National Theatre Live: Macbeth

  • Elizabeth R

    Elizabeth R

  • The Burston Rebellion

    The Burston Rebellion

  • Hindenburg: Titanic of the Skies

    Hindenburg: Titanic of the Skies

  • An Organization of Dreams

    An Organization of Dreams

  • National Theatre Live: Phèdre

    National Theatre Live: Phèdre

  • Britain's Nuclear Bomb - The Inside Story

    Britain's Nuclear Bomb - The Inside Story

  • Flayed

    Flayed

  • Animals of the Ocean Desert

    Animals of the Ocean Desert

  • Mountain Men: The Ghosts of K2

    Mountain Men: The Ghosts of K2

  • The Ha-Ha

    The Ha-Ha

  • The Woman in White

    The Woman in White

  • Theban Plays: Antigone

    Theban Plays: Antigone

  • Edward & Mrs. Simpson

    Edward & Mrs. Simpson

  • Invasion: Earth

    Invasion: Earth

  • Timon of Athens

    Timon of Athens

  • Vanity Fair

    Vanity Fair

  • Gossip from the Forest

    Gossip from the Forest

  • Schönbrunn - Well of Beauty

    Schönbrunn - Well of Beauty

  • Armchair Thriller

    Armchair Thriller

  • It's Called the Sugar Plum

    It's Called the Sugar Plum

  • About Face

    About Face

  • The Race for Everest

    The Race for Everest

  • Bodyguards

    Bodyguards

  • Theban Plays: Oedipus at Colonus

    Theban Plays: Oedipus at Colonus

  • The Lions Rule

    The Lions Rule

  • The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka

    The Strange Case of Delfina Potocka

  • Theban Plays: Oedipus the King

    Theban Plays: Oedipus the King

  • The Three Hostages

    The Three Hostages

  • St. Stephen's: The Living Cathedral

    St. Stephen's: The Living Cathedral

  • Wachau - Valley of Golden Magic

    Wachau - Valley of Golden Magic

  • SS-3: The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich

    SS-3: The Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich

  • King Charles III

    King Charles III

  • Seven Wonders of Ancient Rome

    Seven Wonders of Ancient Rome

  • Wild Women of Viramba

    Wild Women of Viramba

  • Supermassive Black Holes

    Supermassive Black Holes

  • Centrepoint

    Centrepoint

  • True Tilda

    True Tilda

  • Predators Killing for a Living

    Predators Killing for a Living

  • King Arthur: His Life and Legends

    King Arthur: His Life and Legends

  • The Tom Machine

    The Tom Machine

  • The Return of the Flying Scotsman

    The Return of the Flying Scotsman

  • Pope Joan

    Pope Joan

  • King Lear

    King Lear

  • England, My England

    England, My England

  • Once Upon a Time on the Westway

    Once Upon a Time on the Westway

  • Selling Hitler

    Selling Hitler

  • The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story

    The Tragedy of Flight 103: The Inside Story

  • The Victim

    The Victim

  • Seven Wonders of Ancient Egypt

    Seven Wonders of Ancient Egypt