
Oliver Cotton
Department: Acting
Biography
After training at the Drama Centre London, he has worked extensively at the Royal National Theatre playing in many productions including The Royal Hunt of the Sun, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, Oedipus, In His Own Write, Hamlet, Tamburlaine, No Man's Land, The Passion, Despatches, Half Life, The World Turned Upside Down, Julius Caesar, The Madras House, The Man With the Flower in His Mouth, Tales from the Vienna Woods, The Crucible, Piano, Troilus and Cressida, Money, Summerfolk, The Villain's Opera, Life x 3. At the Royal Court Theatre, he has appeared in The Local Stigmatic, The Duchess of Malfi, Man is Man, The Enoch Show, Erronenous Zones, The Tutor by Brecht, Lear and Bingo by Edward Bond and Piano/Forte by Terry Johnson. He was a founder member of Joint Stock appearing in their inaugural production The Speakers by Heathcote Williams. At The Royal Shakespeare Company he has played in The Marrying of Ann Leete, Henry VI, Edward IV, Richard III, The Plain Dealer, Some Americans Abroad by Richard Nelson, Brand by Ibsen. His West End appearances include The Homecoming by Harold Pinter, Children of a Lesser God by Mark Medoff, Benefactors by Michael Frayn (in whose Liberty Hall he also appeared in at the Greenwich Theatre), An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde, Life x 3 by Yasmina Reza, and Brand by Ibsen. He has also played the title role in King Lear at the Southwark Playhouse and Malvolio in Shakespeare's Globe's all-male production of Twelfth Night. His many TV appearances have included The Borgias (Cesare Borgia), David Copperfield, The Year of the French, The Play on One, Redemption, Poirot, The Camomile Lawn, Westbeach, Zorro, Sharpe's Battle, Rhodes, All Quiet on the Preston Front, Innocents, Judge John Deed, Inspector Lynley, Waking the Dead, M.I.T.: Murder Investigation Team, Beastly Games, Sensitive Skin, Midsomer Murders, Hotel Babylon. His films include Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush, The Day Christ Died, Firefox, Oliver Twist, The Sicilian, Eleni, Hiding Out, Christopher Columbus, Son of the Pink Panther, The Innocent Sleep, Phoenix Blue, The Opium War, Beowulf, Baby Blue, The Dancer Upstairs, Shanghai Knights, The Bone Collector, Raindogs, Colour Me Kubrick.
Known For

Joseph
1995

Baby Blue
2001

Beowulf
1999

Shanghai Knights
2003

Gangs of Tooting Broadway
2013

Son of the Pink Panther
1993

Raindogs
—

Oliver Twist
1982

The Last Duel
2021

Out of the Ashes
2003

North v South
2015

Henry IV, Part 2 - Live at Shakespeare's Globe
2012

Margaret
2009

Sovereign's Company
1970

The Dark Knight Rises
2012

Pope Joan
2009

Henry IV, Part 1 - Live at Shakespeare's Globe
2012

The Dancer Upstairs
2002

The Innocent Sleep
1996

The Sicilian
1987

Caesar and Claretta
1975

Redemption
1991

Attila the Hun
2008

Pylon
2017

Eleni
1985

Colour Me Kubrick
2005

Firefox
1982

The Day Christ Died
1980

Henry VIII
1979

Hiding Out
1987

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush
1968

Sharpe's Battle
1995

Wonder Woman 1984
2020

The Party
1988

When the Actors Come
1978

Christopher Columbus: The Discovery
1992

Clancy Sigal: Hollywood Blacklist to 'A' List
2023

Tales of the Underworld
2026

Space: 1999
1975

Midsomer Murders
1997

Hotel Babylon
2006

Bergerac
1981

Heartbeat
1992

Dalziel & Pascoe
1996

Murder Investigation Team
2003

Space Precinct
1994

Robin of Sherwood
1984

Callan
1967

Lovejoy
1986

Hannay
1988

(All Quiet on the) Preston Front
1994

The Camomile Lawn
1992

Waking the Dead
2001

Money
2010

New Tricks
2004

The Musketeers
2014

Ripper Street
2012

The Borgias
1981

Public Eye
1965

Killing Eve
2018

The Play on One
1988

Strange Report
1969

BBC Play of the Month
1965

BBC2 Play of the Week
1977

Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965

David Copperfield
1986

Harry
1993

The Adventures of Don Quick
1970

Churchill's People
1974