 Blond, doe-eyed and boyishly handsome, Anthony Andrews worked steadily on stage and in television for two decades before achieving international fame as dissolute aristocrat Sebastian Flyte in Brideshead Revisited (ITV, 1981). However, despite several memorable performances, a film career never materialised. Having initially considered going into the military, Andrews entered the theatre as a stagehand at the Chichester Festival Theatre. He later became a member of the New Shakespeare Company, and made his West End debut opposite John Gielgud in Alan Bennett's 'Forty Years On' (1968). His first television appearance was in Dennis Potter's Wednesday Play 'The Beast with Two Backs' (BBC, tx 20/11/1968), and he later took the lead in a BBC adaptation of Sir Walter Scott's The Adventures of Nigel (1974). However, it was as dashing WWII bomb disposal expert Brian Ash in Danger UXB (ITV, 1979) that he came to the attention of Brideshead's producers, who initially wanted him for the role of Charles Ryder. Andrews, however, proved to be perfect casting as Sebastian, skilfully essaying the character's decline from dilettante Oxford undergraduate to broken alcoholic. His performance won him a BAFTA and a Golden Globe, but despite high-profile roles in The Scarlet Pimpernel (US, 1982) and Sparkling Cyanide (US, 1983), his international career failed to ignite in the manner of Brideshead's co-star Jeremy Irons. Although television work in the 1990s and 2000s was sporadic he has continued to work regularly on the stage, winning acclaim for his 2003 performance as Henry Higgins in 'My Fair Lady'. Richard Hewett
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FILM & TV CREDITS
