Ian McNeice

Ian McNeice is an English actor born on 2 October 1950 in Basingstoke, Hampshire. He trained at the Taunton School in Somerset before continuing his studies at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). He subsequently spent two years at the Salisbury Playhouse, after which he devoted several years to theatre work, including a four-year period with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

McNeice's stage career brought him to Broadway in 1981, when he appeared in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby. His television breakthrough came with the role of government agent Harcourt in the 1985 award-winning series Edge of Darkness. He later took on the role of the alcoholic sous chef Gustave LaRoche in the television series Chef!, and portrayed the evil Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in the 2000 miniseries Frank Herbert's Dune, a role he reprised in the 2003 sequel Children of Dune. His television work also includes the Nazi Gerhard Klopfer in the 2001 BBC/HBO film Conspiracy, the Newsreader in the HBO/BBC historical drama Rome from 2005 to 2007, and Mr. Tapling of the British diplomatic service in Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant. He appeared in series 4 episode 4 of Midsomer Murders and the third episode of the second series of Lewis. McNeice is perhaps best known to television audiences for playing Bert Large across all ten series of the comedy-drama Doc Martin.

His portrayal of Winston Churchill spans multiple productions. He first played Churchill in the 2008 premiere of Howard Brenton's play Never So Good, then appeared as Churchill in four episodes of Doctor Who in 2010 and 2011, and returned to the role in the 2012 stage production of The King's Speech. His Doctor Who association began earlier, in 2007, when he guest-starred as the villain Zeus in the Big Finish BBC Digital Radio 7 drama Immortal Beloved.

McNeice's film career includes 84 Charing Cross Road, Day of the Dead, No Escape, From Hell, and The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain. His entry into American films came with the role of Fulton Greenwall in Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls in 1995. Subsequent film appearances include Around the World in 80 Days (2004), the supernatural thriller White Noise (2005), and a cameo as German general Joachim von Kortzfleisch in Valkyrie. He voiced the Vogon character Kwaltz, director of the Vogon Constructor Fleet, in the 2005 film adaptation of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. He also appeared as Potiphar in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, and starred as The Architect in the 2017 independent feature The House of Screaming Death. McNeice was originally cast as Illyrio Mopatis in the HBO pilot of Game of Thrones, but scheduling conflicts resulted in the role being given to Roger Allam.

McNeice married Kate Nicholls, daughter of actor Anthony Nicholls, and the couple lived in Broad Campden in Gloucestershire. He has three children.