Sir Derek George Jacobi CBE (/ˈdʒækəbi/; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor and stage director.

A "forceful, commanding stage presence", Jacobi has enjoyed a successful stage career, appearing in such stage productions as Hamlet, Uncle Vanya, and Oedipus the King. He has twice been awarded a Laurence Olivier Award, first for his performance of the eponymous hero in Cyrano de Bergerac in 1983 and the second for his Malvolio in Twelfth Night in 2009. He also received a Tony Award for his performance in Much Ado About Nothing in 1984 and a Primetime Emmy Award in 1988 for The Tenth Man. His stage work includes playing Octavius Caesar, Edward II, Richard III and Thomas Becket.

In addition to being a founder member of the Royal National Theatre and winning several prestigious theatre awards, Jacobi has also enjoyed a successful television career, starring in the critically praised adaptation of Robert Graves's I, Claudius (1976), for which he won a BAFTA; in the titular role in the medieval drama series Cadfael (1994-1998), as Stanley Baldwin in The Gathering Storm (2002) and as Alan Buttershaw in Last Tango in Halifax (2012-present).

Though principally a stage actor, Jacobi has appeared in a number of films, including The Day of the Jackal (1973), Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), Gladiator (2000), Gosford Park (2001), The Riddle (2007), The King's Speech (2010), My Week with Marilyn (2011), and Cinderella (2015).

He holds a British knighthood and has been appointed a Knight First Class of the Order of the Dannebrog.

Biography

Jacobi is openly gay. In March 2006, four months after civil partnerships were introduced in the United Kingdom, Jacobi registered his civil partnership with Richard Clifford. They live in Primrose Hill, north London. He was a Grand Marshal of the 46th New York City Gay Pride March in 2015.

Best films