Rupert Graves


Rupert S. Graves is an English film, television, and theatre actor. He is known for his roles in A Room with a View, Maurice, The Madness of King George and The Forsyte Saga. Since 2010 he has starred as DI Lestrade in the BBC television series Sherlock.

Early life

Graves was born in Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, England, to Mary Lousilla Graves, a travel coordinator, and Richard Harding Graves, a music teacher and musician.

Education

Graves was educated at Wyvern Community School, a state comprehensive school in his home town of Weston-super-Mare, which he left at the age of 15. The school has since closed and re-opened as the Hans Price Academy.

Career

Graves's first job after leaving school was as a circus clown. He has appeared in more than 25 films and more than 35 television productions. He has also appeared on stage.
Graves first came to prominence in costume-drama adaptations of E. M. Forster's novels A Room with a View and Maurice, before going on to appear in films including A Handful of Dust, the Oscar nominated The Madness of King George, Different for Girls, and Intimate Relations.
Graves's role in Intimate Relations won him the Best Actor award at the 1996 Montreal World Film Festival. He was also acclaimed for his portrayal of Young Jolyon Forsyte in the television miniseries The Forsyte Saga.

Personal life

In 1987 in his hometown of Weston-super-Mare, Graves met Yvonne, a stained glass artist, in a café. They lived together in Stoke Newington, and he helped her raise her two daughters, who were 10 and 14 years old when the relationship began. Graves and Yvonne were together for 13 years.
In September 2000, shortly after Graves's relationship with Yvonne ended, he met Australian-born production coordinator Suzanne Lewis at the opening-night party for The Caretaker, a play he was appearing in at the time with Michael Gambon. They married, and have five children together.

Filmography

Film

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1978Return of the SaintPrefectEpisode: "Yesterday's Hero"
1979The Famous FiveYan2 episodes
1981Vice VersaTipping6 episodes
1982All for LoveEpisode: "Mona"
1983St. Ursula's in DangerTeddy
1983Good and Bad at GamesGuthrie
1984PucciniTonio
1987Fortunes of WarSimon Boulderstone3 episodes
1991A Private AffairMilton
1992Inspector MorseBillyEpisode: "Happy Families"
1993Screen OneNeilEpisode: "Royal Celebration"
1994Doomsday GunJones
1994Open FireDavid Martin
1995HarryDominic CollierSeries 2, Episode 6
19961914-19183 episodes
1996The Tenant of Wildfell HallArthur Huntingdon3 episodes
1999The Blonde BombshellDennis Hamilton
1999CleopatraOctavian
2000Take a Girl Like YouPatrick StandishTV movie
2002The Forsyte SagaYoung Jolyon Forsyte
2003Young Jolyon Forsyte4 episodes
2003George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham4 episodes
2004PrideLinusVoice only
2005SpooksWilliam SampsonSeries 4, Episode 2
2005A Waste of ShameWilliam Shakespeare
2006Son of the DragonThe Lord of the North
2007To Be FirstDr. Christiaan Barnard
2007Clapham JunctionRobin Cape
2007The Dinner PartyRoger
2008Ashes to AshesDanny MooreSeries 1, Episode 1
2008Waking the DeadColonel John Garrett2 episodes
2008Midnight ManDaniel Cosgrave3 episodes
2008God on TrialMordechai
2008Marple: A Pocket Full of RyeLance Fortescue
2009The Good Times Are Killing MeLexy
2009-2011Garrow's LawSir Arthur Hill12 episodes
2010WallanderAlfred HarderbergEpisode: "The Man Who Smiled"
2010LewisAlec PickmanEpisode: "Falling Darkness"
2010John SmithEpisode: "Defence"
2010Single FatherStuart3 episodes
2010New TricksAdrian LeveneEpisode: "Fashion Victim"
2010-presentSherlockD.I. Lestrade13 episodes
2011Case SensitiveMark Bretherick2 episodes
2011Scott & BaileyNick Savage5 episodes
2011Death in ParadiseJames LavenderSeries 1 episode 1
2012Putin, Russia & The WestNarrator4 episodes
2012Terror at Sea: The Sinking of the ConcordiaNarrator
2012The Hunt for bin LadenNarrator
2012Air Force One Is DownArkady Dragutin2 Episodes
2012Doctor WhoRiddellSeries 7, Episode 2: "Dinosaurs on a Spaceship"
2012Secret StateFelix Durrell4 Episodes
2013The White QueenLord Stanley6 episodes
2014Turks & CaicosStirling Rogers
2014Salting the BattlefieldStirling Rogers
2014The Crimson FieldMaj. Edward CrecyEpisode 2
2014Last Tango in HalifaxGarySeries 3
2015Valentine's KissNicholas Whiteley
2016The Nightmare Worlds of H. G. Wells: The MothHapley
2016The FamilyJohn Warren
201712 MonkeysSebastianSeries 3, Episode 8
2018KryptonTer-ElEpisode: "Pilot"

Theatre work

In addition to his screen work, Graves has also won acclaim for his stage acting, including roles on the American stage in Broadway-theatre productions in New York City, New York, of the plays Closer and The Elephant Man.
Graves's notable London theatre credits includes his performance as Presley Stray in the original production of Philip Ridley's The Pitchfork Disney at the Bush Theatre, west London, which won him Best Actor at the 1991 Charrington London Fringe Awards; Martin Sherman's A Madhouse in Goa opposite Vanessa Redgrave; and as Eddie in the Peter Hall Company's production of David Rabe's Hurlyburly at the Old Vic and Queen's Theatre, for which he was nominated for the 1998 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor.
YearTitleRoleNotes
1983The Killing Of Mr. Toad by David GoodersonAlistair Graham, Mr. ToadThe King's Head Theatre, London, director David Gooderson
1983, 1984Sufficient Carbohydrate by Dennis PotterClayton VosperHampstead Theatre and Albery Theatre, London, director Nancy Meckler
1985Torch Song Trilogy by Harvey FiersteinAlanAlbery Theatre, London, director Robert Allan Ackerman
1986Amadeus by Peter ShafferWolfgang Amadeus MozartTheatr Clwyd, director Simon Callow
1987The Importance Of Being Earnest by Oscar WildeAlgernon MoncrieffCrucible Theatre, Sheffield, director Clare Venables
1986-7Candida by George Bernard ShawMarchbanksThe King's Head Theatre, London, director Frank Hauser
1988'Tis Pity She's a Whore by John Ford GiovanniRoyal National Theatre, London, director Alan Ayckbourn
1989The History Of Tom Jones by Henry Fielding, adapted by Andrew WickesTom JonesWatford Palace Theatre, director Matthew Francis
1989A Madhouse In Goa by Martin ShermanDavid, Barnaby GraceLyric Theatre and Apollo Theatre, London, director Robert Allan Ackerman
1991The Pitchfork Disney by Philip RidleyPresley StrayBush Theatre, London, director Matthew Lloyd
1992A Midsummer Night's Dream by William ShakespeareLysanderRoyal National Theatre, London, director Robert Lepage
1994Toyer by Gardner McKayPeter MatsonRedgrave Theatre, Farnham, director Wyn Jones
1995Design for Living by Noël CowardOttoGielgud Theatre, London, director Sean Mathias
1996Les Enfants du Paradis by Jacques Prévert, adapted by Simon CallowBaptisteBarbican Centre, London, director Simon Callow
1997, 1998Hurlyburly by David RabeEddiePeter Hall Company at the Old Vic and Queen's Theatre, London, director Wilson Milam
1998The Iceman Cometh by Eugene O'NeillDon ParritAlmeida Theatre, London, director Howard Davies
1999Closer by Patrick MarberDanMusic Box Theater, Broadway, director Patrick Marber
2000, 2000–01The Caretaker by Harold PinterMickYvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, and Comedy Theatre, London, director Patrick Marber
2001Speak Truth To Power : Voices From Beyond The Dark by Ariel DorfmanThird VoicePlayhouse Theatre, London, director Gari Jones
2002The Elephant Man by Bernard PomeranceDr. Frederick TrevesRoyale Theatre, Broadway, director Sean Mathias
2003A Woman of No Importance by Oscar WildeLord IllingworthTheatre Royal Haymarket, London, director Adrian Noble
2004Dumb Show by Joe PenhallGregRoyal Court Theatre, London, director Terry Johnson
2006The Exonerated by Jessica Blank and Erik JensenKerryRiverside Studios, London, director Bob Balaban
2018Pinter Five - The Room/Victoria Station/Family Voices by Harold PinterBert Hudd/Driver/Voice ThreeHarold Pinter Theatre, London, director Patrick Marber
and primary archive sources.