Joseph Marcell

Joseph Marcell is a Saint Lucian-born British actor born on 18 August 1948. He relocated to the United Kingdom at the age of nine and was raised in Peckham, South London. He trained in speech and dance at the Central School of Speech and Drama and currently resides in Banstead, Surrey.

Marcell's stage career has spanned decades and encompassed work with some of Britain's most prominent theatrical institutions. As a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he performed in productions of Othello, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Peter Pan, playing Nibs in the RSC's 1982 production at the Barbican. He serves on the board of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London, where he appeared in a nationwide production of Much Ado About Nothing and performed the title role in King Lear. In January 2016, he played Solly Two Kings in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean at the Tricycle Theatre in London, and in May 2016 he portrayed Gonzalo in The Tempest at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. He also appeared as Lord Lorton in Lady Windermere's Fan at the Vaudeville Theatre, London, in 2018, and began rehearsals for the title role in Titus Andronicus with the La Grande Shakespeare Company in La Grande, Oregon, in July 2017.

On Broadway, Marcell performed between 1974 and 2010, with credits including the play Sherlock Holmes and A Free Man of Color. His work in film and television in Britain has complemented his extensive stage career.

Marcell is perhaps most widely recognized for his television role as Geoffrey Butler, the butler on the NBC sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He held that role from the show's premiere in September 1990 through its conclusion in May 1996.