Ben Daniels

Infobox actor
name = Ben Daniels


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birthdate = Birth date and age|1964|6|10|df=yes
birthplace = Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, UK
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occupation = Film, stage and television actor
yearsactive = 1987–present
domesticpartner = Ian Gelder
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laurenceolivierawards = Best Supporting Actor (2001)
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awards = Best Supporting Actor, Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Theatre Awards (2001)

Ben Daniels (born 10 June 1964) is a British actor. A graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), he has taken on roles in numerous productions. On television he has appeared in, among other shows, "The Lost Language of Cranes" (1991), "Conspiracy" (2001), "Cutting It" (2002–2005), "Ian Fleming: Bondmaker" (2005), "The Virgin Queen" (2005) and "The State Within" (2006). On the silver screen, Daniels has appeared mostly in supporting roles, including parts in "The Bridge" (1992), "Beautiful Thing" (1996), "I Want You" (1998), "Madeline" (1998) and "Doom" (2005). An exception was the 1997 independent film "Passion in the Desert", based on a short story by novelist Honoré de Balzac.

Daniels has had most success with theatre work. He was nominated for Best Actor at the Evening Standard Awards for "900 Oneonta" (1994), for Best Actor in the M.E.N. Theatre Awards for "Martin Yesterday" (1998), and for Best Supporting Actor in the 15th Laurence Olivier Awards for "Never the Sinner" (1991). He eventually won the latter award at the 25th Laurence Olivier Awards, as well as the Best Supporting Actor award at the 2001 Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Theatre Awards for his performance in the Arthur Miller play "All My Sons". Other theatre credits include "Tales From Hollywood" (2001), "Three Sisters" (2003), "Iphigenia at Aulis" (2004), "The God of Hell" (2005), "The Wild Duck" (2005–2006) and "Thérèse Raquin" (2006). In 2008 Daniels made his Broadway "début" with American actress Laura Linney in a revival of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" ("Dangerous Liaisons"), for which he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play. The results will be announced on 15 June 2008.

Biography

Early life and education

Ben Daniels was born on 10 June 1964cite news|last=Shimmon|first=Katie|title=College days [Ben Daniels] |url=http://education.guardian.co.uk/print/0,3858,5194596-108283,00.html|publisher="The Guardian" ("EducationGuardian")|date=2005-05-17] in Nuneaton in Warwickshire, England.imdb name|0199842|Ben Daniels. Retrieved on 28 December 2007.] His father was an engineer at Rolls-Royce and later a grocer, while his mother owned a children's clothes shop. He has an older and a younger sister. Daniels has recalled: "I was quite a shy child, but quite disruptive as well. I was very sneaky and underhand."cite web|last=Curtis|first=Nick|title=Cutting it on stage|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-11498329-details/Cutting+it+on+stage/article.do|publisher=Thisislondon.co.uk, "Evening Standard"|date=2004-06-17|accessdate=2007-12-28]

According to Daniels, drama lessons at O-levels gave him a voice, and when he attended sixth form studies at Stratford College in Stratford-upon-Avon between 1980 and 1982, doing A-levels in theatre studies and English literature, he attended Royal Shakespeare Company performances avidly. A fellow student recalled that Daniels, whom he knew as Dave, "was very serious about his work, and struck me as incredibly intelligent. ... You got the sense his mind was working; the cogs were ticking over". Daniels subsequently trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) for three years. [cite web|title=Ben Daniels – Augustin|url=http://www.finelinefeatures.com/passion/castbios.html|publisher=Fine Line Features|year=2005|accessdate=2007-12-28]

Professional career

One of Daniels' earliest roles was appearing as Justin Hayward, the lead singer of The Moody Blues, as a teenager in two of the band's music videos, "Your Wildest Dreams" (1986) and "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" (1988). Since then, he has taken on parts in many UK television dramas, such as Robin in "The Lost Language of Cranes" (1991), based on David Leavitt's 1986 book; the Biblical character Jonathan in the 1997 Emmy-nominated TV film "David"; the philandering Finn Bevan in "Cutting It" (2002–2005); and Nicholas Brocklehurst, the British Counsellor for External Affairs at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., in the BBC television mini-series "The State Within" (2006) – the latter role was notable for an unexpected same-sex kiss between Daniels' character and another person. [cite web|last=Urban|first=Robert|title=Ben Daniels is our kind of gay actor|url=http://www.afterelton.com/archive/elton/people/2007/2/bendaniels.html|publisher=AfterElton.com|date=2007-02-15|accessdate=2007-12-28] In 2008 he appeared in "Lark Rise to Candleford", a BBC production based on three semi-autobiographical novels about the English countryside written by Flora Thompson.

Daniel has also played a number of real-life characters: German State Secretary Dr. Josef Bühler in "Conspiracy", 2001 a dramatization of the Wannsee Conference at which the Final Solution was endorsed; the English author and journalist Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond, in "Ian Fleming: Bondmaker" (2005); Sir Francis Walsingham, Queen Elizabeth I's spymaster, in "The Virgin Queen" (2005); and English writer Saki in "Who Killed Mrs De Ropp?" (2007). [cite web|title=Who killed Mrs De Ropp?|url=http://www.tvandsatelliteweek.com/features/Who_Killed_Mrs_De_Ropp_article_117304.html|publisher="TV & Satellite Week"|accessdate=2007-12-28] In addition, he has made guest appearances in a number of British TV drama series, including "Soldier Soldier" (1992), "A Touch of Frost" (1992), "Outside Edge" (1994) and "Spooks" (2005).

Daniels may be most recognizable to American audiences for appearing in the 1996 gay film "Beautiful Thing", written by Jonathan Harvey and based on his play of the same name. Daniels portrayed Tony, boyfriend of Sandra, the protagonist Jamie's mother. In an independent film directed by Lavinia Currier titled "Passion in the Desert" (1997), based on a short story by novelist Honoré de Balzac, Daniels, in one of the few films where he has the lead role, acted as a French soldier named Augustin Robert. His character becomes lost in the desert during Napoleon's invasion of Egypt and develops a strange bond with a leopard he meets. [imdb title|id=0125980|title=Passion in the Desert. Retrieved on 28 December 2007.] "Passion in the Desert", which was nominated for a Golden Seashell award, also featured renowned French actor Michel Piccoli and was filmed in Jordan and in Utah, USA. Other feature films that Daniels has starred in are "The Bridge" (1992), Michael Winterbottom’s "I Want You" (1998); "Madeline" (1998), in which he was cast as the somewhat sinister British tutor Leopold; and "Doom" (2005), loosely based on the computer game of the same name. He was offered roles in the 2000 releases "The Patriot" with Oscar-winning actor/director Mel Gibson, and in "Vertical Limit", but turned them down, stating: "The money was good, but it wasn't for me".cite web|title=Interview with Ben Daniels|url=http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/410965/446930|publisher=Television New Zealand (TVNZ)|year= [?2003] |accessdate=2007-12-28]

In the theatre, Daniels is in his element – he has said "I love doing theatre – it's tough and keeps you on your toes as an actor." [cite web|title=Ben Daniels – Caiaphas|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/programmes/thepassion/actors/bendaniels.shtml|publisher=The Passion, BBC|year=2008|accessdate=2008-05-11] He has appeared on stage in Shakespeare's "All's Well That Ends Well" and "As You Like It" (1999–2000), and appeared as Mercutio in a 1994 TV production of "Romeo and Juliet". Other theatre credits include Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" (1994); "900 Oneonta" (1994), which earned him a nomination for Best Actor at the Evening Standard Awards; "Martin Yesterday" (1998), for which he was nominated as Best Actor in the M.E.N. Theatre Awards; "Naked" (1998) alongside Juliette Binoche; Christopher Hampton's "Tales From Hollywood" (2001); Chekhov's "Three Sisters" (2003); "Iphigenia at Aulis" (2004), Sam Shepard's "The God of Hell" (2005), and Ibsen's "The Wild Duck" (2005–2006). In 2006 Daniels appeared in Émile Zola's "Thérèse Raquin" as Laurent, Thérèse's lover; a reviewer pronounced their performances "riveting".cite news|last=Neill|first=Heather|title=Therese Raquin [review] |url=http://www.thestage.co.uk/reviews/review.php/14890/therese-raquin|publisher="The Stage"|date=2006-11-15] He won the Best Supporting Actor award at the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Theatre Awardscite web|title=Ben Daniels|url=http://www.markhamfroggatt.com/public/controller.php?aktion=actor&id=31&gen=t&work=Theatrical&alpha=A&omega=F&start=0&play=off|publisher=Markham & Froggatt|accessdate=2007-12-28] and the 25th Laurence Olivier Awardscite web|title=Awards database: Ben Daniels|url=http://theenvelope.latimes.com/factsheets/awardsdb/env-awards-db-search,0,7169155.htmlstory?searchtype=person&query=Ben+Daniels|publisher=The Envelope: The Awards Insider, "Los Angeles Times"|accessdate=2007-12-28] cite news|title=Julie Walters wins Olivier|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/entertainment/1185646.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=2001-02-23 cite news|title=Olivier award winners in full|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/entertainment/1186330.stm|publisher=BBC News|date=2001-02-23] in 2001 for his performance in the Arthur Miller play "All My Sons". He was first nominated for the latter award earlier in his career, in 1991, for his performance as Richard Loeb, a real-life murderer of a 14-year-old boy, in another stage play titled "Never the Sinner" at the Playhouse Theatre, but lost to David Bradley. In 2008, Daniels fulfilled a lifetime ambition [cite web|title=Ben Daniels|url=http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/410940/415585|publisher=Television New Zealand (TVNZ)|accessdate=2007-12-28] when he made his Broadway "début" headlining as the Vicomte de Valmont with American actress Laura Linney in a revival of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" ("Dangerous Liaisons").cite web|title=Laura Linney, Ben Daniels to headline Broadway revival of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses"|url=http://www.broadway.com/Gen/Buzz_Story.aspx?ci=557079|publisher=Broadway.com|date=2007-11-27|accessdate=2007-12-28 cite web|title=Les Liaisons Dangereuses: Ben Daniels to star alongside Laura Linney in Roundabout's revival of Christopher Hampton's dark comedy|url=http://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/news/nov07/liaisons27nov07.htm|publisher=New York Theatre Guide|date=2007-11-27|accessdate=2007-12-28 cite web|title=Stars line up for 'Dangereuses' revival|url=http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Entertainment/2007/12/17/stars_line_up_for_dangereuses_revival/2170/|publisher=United Press International (UPI)|date=2007-12-17|accessdate=2007-12-28] Preview performances began on April 11 and the show opened 1 May 2008. [cite web|title=Roundabout Theatre Company: Les Liaisons Dangereuses|url=http://punchin.com/entertainment-blog/roundabout-theatre-company-les-liaisons-dangereuses/|publisher=Entertainment, Cabaret, Broadway, Opera, Ballet & Concerts NYC|date=2007-11-27|accessdate=2007-12-29] Daniels was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his role; the results will be announced on 15 June 2008.cite news|title=Meet the nominees: Who's nominated?|url=http://www.tonyawards.com/en_US/nominees/index.html|publisher=The American Theatre Wing's Tony Awards|date=May 2008|accessdate=2008-05-13]

elected work

Film

Some of the information in this table was obtained from the following sources: cite web|title=Ben Daniels: Filmography|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0199842/|publisher=Internet Movie Database (IMDb)|accessdate=2007-12-28 cite web|title=Ben Daniels|url=http://www.markhamfroggatt.com/public/controller.php?aktion=actor&id=31&gen=t&work=Theatrical&alpha=A&omega=F&start=0&play=off|publisher=Markham & Froggatt|accessdate=2007-12-28

Personal life

Daniels is openly gay – he has remarked "Out? I've never been in" – and lives with stage actor Ian Gelder. [A 2004 article about Daniels states that Ian Gelder was aged 55 years and that they had been partners for more than a decade: cite web|last=Curtis|first=Nick|title=Cutting it on stage|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-11498329-details/Cutting+it+on+stage/article.do|publisher=Thisislondon.co.uk, "Evening Standard"|date=2004-06-17|accessdate=2007-12-28] They began seeing each other during a production of Joe Orton's "Entertaining Mr Sloane". Daniels was already sure of his sexuality in his teens, although he did not discuss the matter with his parents because they did not have a very close emotional relationship. He was "cautious about mentioning it when I left drama school, because Aids was terrifying everyone and there was a huge, homophobic backlash." He decided to be open about being gay at the age of 24 years, while appearing in an all-star benefit performance of Martin Sherman's "Bent". Daniels has said:

In 2007, Daniels was ranked number 79 in the annual Pink List of 100 influential gay and lesbian people in Britain published by "The Independent on Sunday", [cite news|title=The Pink List 2007: The "IoS" annual celebration of the great and the gay|url=http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article2516664.ece|publisher="The Independent on Sunday"|date=2007-05-06] down from number 47 in 2006. [cite web|last=Shoffman|first=Marc|title=Ian McKellen ranked most influential gay man|url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-1863.html|publisher="Pink News"|date=2006-07-03|accessdate=2007-12-28]

In his spare time, he is an amateur painter and Ashtanga yoga devotee.

Notes

References

*cite web|last=Curtis|first=Nick|title=Cutting it on stage|url=http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/theatre/article-11498329-details/Cutting+it+on+stage/article.do|publisher=Thisislondon.co.uk, "Evening Standard"|date=2004-06-17|accessdate=2007-12-28
*imdb name|0199842|Ben Daniels. Retrieved on 28 December 2007.
*cite web|title=Ben Daniels|url=http://www.markhamfroggatt.com/public/controller.php?aktion=actor&id=31&gen=t&work=Theatrical&alpha=A&omega=F&start=0&play=off|publisher=Markham & Froggatt|accessdate=2007-12-28

Further reading

*cite web|title=Ben Daniels (Tony)|url=http://www.sonyclassics.com/beautiful/crew/daniels.html|publisher="Beautiful Thing", Sony Pictures Classics|date=1996-09-06|accessdate=2007-12-28
*cite news|title=Answer the questions! Ben Daniels – 'I'd love to go into space'|url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4159/is_20030727/ai_n12744664|publisher="The Independent on Sunday" (reproduced on Findarticles.com)|date=2003-07-27

External links

* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/people/ben_daniels_person_page.shtml Ben Daniels at bbc.co.uk Drama]
* [http://www.channel4.com/film/reviews/person.jsp?id=25747 Ben Daniels at Film4]
* [http://rainbownetwork.com/UserPortal/Article/Detail.aspx?ID=5654&sid=43 Ben Daniels at GaydarNation]
* [http://www.hellomagazine.com/profiles/ben_daniels/ Ben Daniels at Hello!]
* [http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=21089 Ben Daniels at the Royal National Theatre]
* [http://www.cybercomm.nl/~btfannl/nieuws/BenLog.html "Ben Daniels on IRC, the logfile..." – transcript of an online chat with Ben Daniels from the Official Dutch Beautiful Thing Fanclub]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/cuttingit/ Official website of "Cutting It"]
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/drama/thestatewithin/ Official website of "The State Within"]
* [http://www.dangerousonbroadway.com Official website of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses" on Broadway, 12 April – 6 July 2008]

Persondata
NAME = Daniels, Ben
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = British actor
DATE OF BIRTH = 10 June 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH = Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, United Kingdom
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =