Harry Hadden-Paton

Harry Frederick Gerard Hadden-Paton is a British stage and screen actor born on 10 April 1981 at Westminster Hospital in London. The son of former cavalry officer Nigel Hadden-Paton, head of a landed gentry family of Rossway near Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, and Sarah, daughter of Brigadier Frederick Mellor of Chiddingfold, Surrey, Hadden-Paton has three sisters: Polly, Clementine, and Alice. He is the godson of Sarah Ferguson. He was educated at Eton College and Durham University before training at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 2006.

Following his departure from LAMDA, Hadden-Paton built a substantial career on the British stage. In 2007 he received a commendation in the Ian Charleson Awards for two performances: Romeo and Juliet at the Battersea Arts Centre and the role of John Worthing in The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by Peter Gill. Subsequent stage work included Captain Jack Absolute in The Rivals at the Southwark Playhouse, Hohenzollern in The Prince of Homburg at the Donmar Warehouse, and Harry Villiers in the 2010 world premiere of Posh at the Royal Court Theatre. In 2011 he appeared as Teddy Graham in the Olivier Award-winning revival of Flare Path at the Theatre Royal Haymarket, a production that marked the centenary of its author, Terence Rattigan. Further British stage credits include Michael Palin in the premiere of Steve Thompson's No Naughty Bits at the Hampstead Theatre, Marlow in Jamie Lloyd's production of She Stoops to Conquer at the National Theatre, Alsamero in The Changeling at the Young Vic, and Phillip in the revival of Alexi Kaye Campbell's The Pride at the Trafalgar Studios.

Hadden-Paton made his Broadway debut in 2018 playing Henry Higgins in the Lincoln Center Theater revival of My Fair Lady, a performance that earned him a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical as well as a Grammy Award nomination. He received a Theatre World Award for the role in 2018. He returned to the character of Higgins at the London Coliseum in May 2022. In 2021, Hadden-Paton originated a leading role in the musical Flying Over Sunset, directed by James Lapine at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at Lincoln Center. Delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, the production began previews on 11 November 2021 and officially opened on 13 December 2021. He also appeared on Broadway in The Collaboration between 2018 and 2022.

On television, Hadden-Paton is widely recognized for two prominent roles. From 2014 to 2015 he played Herbert "Bertie" Pelham, 7th Marquess of Hexham, on Downton Abbey, with his character marrying Lady Edith Crawley in the 2015 Christmas special that concluded the series. From 2016 to 2017 he portrayed Martin Charteris across the first two seasons of the Netflix series The Crown. Additional television credits include Midsomer Murders, The Amazing Mrs Pritchard, Hotel Babylon, Silk, Waking the Dead, Drifters, Walter, Wallander, and Grantchester. His film appearances include the Oscar-winning La Vie en Rose (2007), The Deep Blue Sea (2011), The Hollow Crown (2012), and About Time (2013).

Hadden-Paton has been married to actress Rebecca Night since 2010; the two met while performing together in The Importance of Being Earnest. They have three children. In autumn 2019, the couple co-starred in The King's Speech at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater.