Bill Nighy
Biography
William Francis Nighy (born 12 December 1949) is an English actor. Known for his work on screen and stage, he has received numerous awards, including two BAFTA Awards, a Golden Globe Award and nominations for an Academy Award and a Tony Award. Nighy started his career with the Everyman Theatre, Liverpool and made his London debut with the Royal National Theatre starting with The Illuminatus! in 1977. There he gained acclaim for his roles in David Hare's Pravda in 1985, Harold Pinter's Betrayal in 1991, Tom Stoppard's Arcadia in 1993, and Anton Chekov's The Seagull in 1994. He received a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor nomination for his performance in Blue/Orange in 2001. He made his Broadway debut in Hare's The Vertical Hour in 2006, and returned in the 2015 revival of Hare's Skylight earning a Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play nomination. Early film roles include in the comedies Still Crazy (1998), and Blow Dry (1999) before his breakout role in Love Actually (2003) which earned him a BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actor. He soon gained recognition portraying Davy Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series (2006-2007), and Viktor in the Underworld film series (2003-2009). Other films include Shaun of the Dead (2004), The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2005), The Constant Gardener (2005), Notes on a Scandal (2006), Hot Fuzz (2007), Valkyrie (2008), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1 (2010), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2012), About Time (2013), Emma (2020), and Living (2022), the last of these earning him his first career Academy Award nomination. Nighy has gained acclaim for his roles in television earning a British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his performance in BBC One series State of Play (2003), and a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor for the BBC film Gideon's Daughter (2007). He's also known for his roles in HBO's The Girl in the Café (2006) and PBS's Page Eight (2012).
Known For
Davy Jones
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
Viktor
Underworld
Davy Jones
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Billy Mack
Love Actually
Richard Hart
Notes on a Scandal
Below Deck: An Interactive History Of Pirates
Ray Simms
Still Crazy
Phillip
Shaun of the Dead
Viktor
Underworld: Evolution
Friedrich Olbricht
Valkyrie
Professor Craven (voice)
10 Lives
Sir Bernard Pellegrin
The Constant Gardener
Mr. Johnson
Guest House Paradiso
Met Chief Inspector
Hot Fuzz
Ronald Marsh
Thirteen at Dinner
Slartibartfast
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Whitey (voice)
Flushed Away
Al
The Little Drummer Girl
Viktor
Underworld: Rise of the Lycans
Rufus Scrimgeour
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Self
Anatomy of a Global Thriller: Behind the Scenes of The Constant Gardener
Robin
Enduring Love
Alan Blunt
Stormbreaker
Lawrence
The Girl in the Café
Alexander Keyes
Glorious 39
Roger
Lucky Break
Edward Gardner
FairyTale: A True Story
Victor Maynard
Wild Target
Rattlesnake Jake (voice)
Rango
Dylan (voice)
The Magic Roundabout
Dr. Elefun / Robotsky (voice)
Astro Boy
Matthias
Total Recall
Ray Robertson
Blow Dry
James Mortmain
I Capture the Castle
Jeremy Saville
True Blue
Quentin
The Boat That Rocked
Lord Sandwich
Longitude
Grandsanta (voice)
Arthur Christmas
Self / Rattlesnake Jake
Real Creatures of Dirt
Leonard Saber
G-Force
Tiger Brown
Mack the Knife
General Fallon
Jack the Giant Slayer
Johnny Worricker
Page Eight
Earl of Clincham
The Young Visiters
Oliver Latham
Unnatural Causes
Douglas Ainslie
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Hephaestus
Wrath of the Titans
Richard Madsen
Chalet Girl
Dan
Lawless Heart
Gideon Warner
Gideon's Daughter
Martin Barton
The Phantom of the Opera
Helmut Hoffmann
Hitler's SS: Portrait in Evil
Naberius
I, Frankenstein
The Network (voice)
The World's End
Dad
About Time
Cardinal Lawrence
The First Omen
Tristan
Indian Summer
Cliff
Pride
Patrick Steptoe
Joy
Officer
Little Lord Fauntleroy
Johnny Worricker
Turks & Caicos
Johnny Worricker
Salting the Battlefield
Connor Mullan
Easter 2016
Douglas Ainslie
The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Bob
Role Play
Conrad (voice)
Gracie & Pedro: Pets to the Rescue
Tom Sergeant
National Theatre Live: Skylight
Self - Narrator (voice)
Christmas Magic at Kew Gardens
Roger Maitland
The Maitlands
Self
Conclusive: We Made Hot Fuzz
ENT Doctor
Curse of the Pink Panther
Darkling
Longneck (voice)
The Wild Robot
500 Miles
Socrates (voice)
Norm of the North
Ambrose Hilliard / Uncle Frank
Their Finest
Self
The Laughter & Secrets of Love Actually: 20 Years Later – A Diane Sawyer Special
Julian
Being Human
Sergeant Wilson
Dad's Army
Arnold Percy
Slapper
Bennett (voice)
Spectre of the Bear
Lighthouse Bill (voice)
That Christmas
Bloody's Consciousness (voice)
Bloody Fury
Narrator
Life Beyond the Box: Norman Stanley Fletcher
Phil Parish
Ready When You Are, Mr McGill
Maxwell's Fan 22
Burst
Self - 'Flushed Away' and 'Arthur Christmas'
A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman
John Tracey
Don't Leave Me This Way
Hugh Marriner
Absolute Hell
& Sons
John Tracey
A Masculine Ending
The Professor
Astonish Me
Colin Street
Fox
John Kildare
The Limehouse Golem
Spoken Quotations (voice)
London: The Modern Babylon
William
Dreams of Leaving
Mr. Brundish
La librería
Billy Mack
Red Nose Day Actually
Narrator
We Love Cigarettes
Howard Nash
Antonia and Jane
Self
Inside 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'
Howard Clifford
Pokémon Detective Pikachu
Timofey
The Kindness of Strangers
Edward
Hope Gap
Self - Narrator (voice)
Great White Shark
Alan
Sometimes Always Never
Graham Greene (voice)
Dangerous Edge: A Life of Graham Greene
Mr. Woodhouse
Emma.
Robert "Bob" Hayes
Minamata
Sinclair (voice)
StarDog and TurboCat
The Hungry Corpse
The Hungry Corpse
Squadron Leader Blenkinsop
Eye of the Needle
Katherine's Co-worker (uncredited)
La Mort en direct
Bill
Soldiers Talking, Cleanly
Williams
Living
Dave
Under the Skin
Self
Katherine Jenkins Christmas Spectacular
Uncle Louis Gryffoyn
AKA
Spencer
Buckley's Chance
Player in Everyman Theatre Company, Liverpool
Occupy!
Self - Narrator (voice)
Lotus: A New Dawn
Mal
The Beautiful Game
Self
Don't Crash: The Documentary of the Making of the Movie of the Book of the Radio Series of 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'
Deasy
Deasey (Desperate)
Bruno
Standing in for Henry
The Bass Player
Untitled Jason Statham Action-Thriller
Self - Narrator
Peter Ustinov: The Parkinson Interviews
Hooker Duck Host (voice)
Welcome to Paradise
(voice)
Heart of Darkness
Man
Pink Sky at Night
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
131
Gender
Male
Birthday
1949-12-12
Place of Birth
Caterham, Surrey, England, UK
Also Known As
William Francis Nighy