Bill Nighy For a while, English actor Bill Nighy was the type of actor that many people recognize, but don't necessarily know by name. More recently, however, the BAFTA award and Golden Globe-winning bloke has garnered attention, recognition, and acclaim for more memorable roles, including his slightly over-the-top role as singer Billy Mack in Love Actually, his role as Viktor in both Underworld films, and as Davy Jones in Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest. Nighy was born in Caterham, Surrey, England, on December 12, 1949, and enjoyed a career in theater and television before his big-screen debut appearance in 1981’s WW2-spy, romantic thriller Eye of the Needle, starring Donald Sutherland, in which Nighy played Squadron Leader Blenkinsop.
Throughout his career, Nighy has enjoyed starring roles and appearances on many a radio and television drama, including as Sam in the BBC radio production of The Lord of the Rings in 1981, The Men’s Room in 1991, and the thriller, State of Play in 2003. On the big screen, Nighy was selected for the role of Viktor, the Vampire Elder in Underworld in 2003, which starred Kate Beckinsale and Scott Speedman—a role which he reprised in 2006’s Underworld: Evolution. Also in 2003, Nighy played washed-up singer Billy Mack in the hit romantic comedy Love Actually, co-starring Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Emma Thompson, Liam Neeson, Keira Knightley, Alan Rickman, and Laura Linney, a role for which he won the BAFTA Film Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2005, Nighy appeared in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Galaxy as Slartibartfast, alongside such cast members as Bill Bailey, Anna Chancellor, Warwick Davis, Mos Def, Zooey Deschanel, Su Elliot, Stephen Fry, John Malkovich, Rickman, and Sam Rockwell. The following year, Nighy starred in the made-for-TV film Gideon’s Daughter opposite Miranda Richardson; a role for which he recently snagged a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series for Motion Picture Made for Television.
He also portrayed villain Davy Jones in 2006’s Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, alongside Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, and Geoffrey Rush. Again in May 2007 Bill made his return in the well received movie, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ At World's End, which also starred Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow, Kiera Knightley as Elizabeth and Keith Richards. With his naturally rugged looks he was the ideal ‘father’ to Johnny’s Jack. Nighy is in a long-term relationship with his partner, British stage actress Diana Quick, whom he calls his wife in public, and with whom he has a daughter, actress Mary Nighy, born in 1984, who recently played a French princess in the 2006 biopic Marie Antoinette, starring Kirsten Dunst. YUDDY |
