Aden Gillett

John Aden Gillett was born on 12 January 1958 in Aden, Yemen, the city from which he took his first name. He attended Elizabeth College in Guernsey before going on to train at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he received the Tree Prize, the Sir Emile Littler Prize, the Vanbrugh Prize, and the Radio Prize.

Gillett made his Broadway debut in 1994 in An Inspector Calls at the Royale Theatre, earning the Theatre World Award for Best Newcomer on Broadway for that performance. His stage work has extended across a wide range of classical and contemporary productions. He appeared with the Peter Hall Company at the Theatre Royal Bath in productions including Antony and Cleopatra and As You Like It, and performed at the Old Vic in The Tempest. His stage credits also include Noël Coward's Blithe Spirit and Private Lives, George Bernard Shaw's Man and Superman and The Doctor's Dilemma, Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, and Mr. Banks in a production of Mary Poppins. In December 2018 through January 2019, he played Scrooge in the RSC's production of A Christmas Carol at Stratford-upon-Avon.

On television, Gillett is perhaps best known for his role as Jack Maddox in the BBC series The House of Eliott. His other television appearances include Robin Hood in Ivanhoe, Peter Townsend in The Queen's Sister, Charles Garner in series 2, episode 8 of Lovejoy, first broadcast on 24 February 1991, and Harry Enfield's Television Programme. His film work includes The Winslow Boy, The Borrowers, and the 2003 film Pollyanna, in which he played Dr. Chiltern. In 2004, he narrated a Discovery Channel documentary titled Who Betrayed Anne Frank, which examined evidence gathered by author Carol Ann Lee regarding the individual who disclosed the Frank family's location to the Gestapo.

Gillett was married to actress Sara Stewart, and they have two children.