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IMDbPro

Tom Conti(I)

  • Actor
  • Additional Crew
  • Soundtrack
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Tom Conti in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
After suffering humiliation by the crew Invincible, street dancer Ash looks to gather the best dancers from around the world for a rematch.
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StreetDance 2 (2012)
15 Videos
44 Photos
Preferring contemporary over classical theatre (with nary a Shakespeare stage credit in sight), one of West End theatre's most enduring and popular faces of the past four decades has been that of Tom Conti.

He was born Thomas Antonio Conti on November 22, 1941, in Paisley, Scotland, to a pair of hairdressers. His father, Alfonso, was an Italian immigrant, and his mother, Mary (McGoldrick), was Scottish, though of Irish descent. A student at Hamilton Park Catholic School (for boys), he initially trained for a musical career as a classical pianist but switched gears while attending the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. Conti's acting credits began with the Citizen's Theatre's 1959 production of "The Roving Boy" at age eighteen.

Throughout the 1960s he tried to make ends meet on the Glasgow and English repertory stages but gained little momentum despite some scattered TV appearances in between. Unable to find the break to sustain himself, he considered leaving the arts at one point for a steadier career in medicine. While performing in the 1972 play "The Black and White Minstrels" at the Traverse Theatre for the Edinburgh Festival, however, he was spotted and cast in the TV series Adam Smith (1972), thus beginning a more promising streak of work. He would return to the play in 1974 at the Hampstead Theatre, where he also performed in "Other People" (also 1974) and as the title role of "Don Juan" (1976). An earlier London stage debut in 1973 with the acclaimed Christopher Hampton play "Savages" also helped move things along.

Following a number of successful Engish mini-series roles, particularly his slothful Charles Bovary in Madame Bovary (1975), Jewish novelist Adam Morris in The Glittering Prizes (1976), and ever-conquesting Norman in "The Norman Conquest" trilogy by Alan Ayckbourn, Tom reaped huge career rewards under the theatre lights starring as a paralyzed sculptor in both the London and Broadway mountings of the right-to-die play "Whose Life is it Anyway?" in 1979. Among the reaps were the Tony, Outer Critics Circle, Laurence Olivier, and Variety Club Awards; among the rewards was a 1980s film career in starring roles. Despite losing out on recreating his "Whose Life..." role on film (Richard Dreyfuss was granted that opportunity in 1981), Tom absolutely wowed American audiences with his scene-stealing work in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983) and Reuben, Reuben (1983). He was given the National Board of Review award for his participation in both films, and earned a "leading actor" Oscar nomination for the latter in which he played an alcoholic Scottish writer. To date, he has not received another Oscar nomination or, arguably, been handed comparative film roles since.

Continuing in American films with the lesser-received American Dreamer (1984) and Saving Grace (1986), he failed to nab what seemed quite inevitable -- Hollywood screen stardom. He did, however, venture off to find other film projects to star or co-star in over the years -- both here and abroad. These have included Shirley Valentine (1989) opposite Pauline Collins, Someone Else's America (1995), Out of Control (1998), Paid (2006), O Jerusalem (2006), Blind Revenge (2009) with Daryl Hannah, a gender-bending version of The Tempest (2010) (as Gonzalo), City Slacker (2012), Paddington 2 (2017) and the sci-fi horror yarn Peripheral (2018).

Not one to frequent pubs himself, he nevertheless earned glowing reviews disappearing into the lives of two notorious celebrity tipplers -- columnist Jeffrey Bernard in "Jeffrey Bernard Is Unwell" (1990, 2000, 2006) and bon vivant actor John Barrymore in "One Helluva Life" (2002) -- in separate one-man stage shows. A writer as well, the versatile Conti published the thriller novel "The Doctor" in 2004. He has long been married to Scottish actress Kara Wilson (since 1967), who has appeared with him on stage ("Present Laughter" and "The Last of the Red Hot Lovers", both of which he also directed) as well as TV and film. Daughter Nina is an actress and ventriloquist. The couple maintain residence in London.
BornNovember 22, 1941
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BornNovember 22, 1941
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See rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Nominated for 1 Oscar

Photos44

Tom Conti in The Duellists (1977)
Tom Conti in Saving Grace (1986)
Takeshi Kitano and Tom Conti in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
Takeshi Kitano, Tom Conti, and Ryuichi Sakamoto in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
Takeshi Kitano and Tom Conti in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
Tom Conti in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Tom Conti in Paddington 2 (2017)
Tom Conti in DNA (2004)
David Bowie and Tom Conti in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
Tom Conti in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
David Bowie and Tom Conti in Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
Tom Conti and George Sampson in StreetDance 2 (2012)

Known for

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)
Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence
7.2
  • Lawrence
  • 1983
Tom Conti in Reuben, Reuben (1983)
Reuben, Reuben
6.8
  • Gowan McGland
  • 1983
Jennifer Aniston and Clive Owen in Derailed (2005)
Derailed
6.6
  • Eliot Firth
  • 2005
Tom Conti in The Glittering Prizes (1976)
The Glittering Prizes
8.4
TV Mini Series
  • Adam Morris

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • Oppenheimer
    • Post-production
  • Neil Dudgeon and John Nettles in Midsomer Murders (1997)
    Midsomer Murders
  • Tom Conti, Richard Bazley, Elaine M. Ellis, Neil Bason, Adrian Chivers, Vivien Taylor, John E. Fry, and Connor Wulfric in Censure (2022)
    Censure
  • Caroline Catz and Martin Clunes in Doc Martin (2004)
    Doc Martin
  • Peripheral (2018)
    Peripheral
  • Mirette (2018)
    Mirette
  • Paddington 2 (2017)
    Paddington 2
  • Murder on the Orient Express (2017)
    Murder on the Orient Express
  • Thunderball: The Radio Play (2016)
    Thunderball: The Radio Play
    • (voice)
  • City Slacker (2012)
    City Slacker
  • Sally Phillips and Darren Strange in Parents (2012)
    Parents
  • Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Matthew Modine, Anne Hathaway, Marion Cotillard, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt in The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
    The Dark Knight Rises
  • Danny Dyer, Denise Van Outen, and Sarah Harding in Run for Your Wife (2012)
    Run for Your Wife
  • Sofia Boutella and Falk Hentschel in StreetDance 2 (2012)
    StreetDance 2
  • Rekindle (2011)
    Rekindle
  • Stephanie Leonidas and Reece Ritchie in Atlantis: End of a World, Birth of a Legend (2011)
    Atlantis: End of a World, Birth of a Legend

Additional Crew

  • Ashly Burch in Life Is Strange: Before the Storm (2017)
    Life Is Strange: Before the Storm

Soundtrack

  • The Angel and the Soldier Boy (1989)
    The Angel and the Soldier Boy
    • ("The Angel And The Soldier Boy")
  • The Norman Conquests (1977)
    The Norman Conquests
    • (uncredited)

Videos16

"Miranda"
Clip 0:47
"Miranda"
"Caliban"
Clip 1:00
"Caliban"
The Duellists
Clip 2:12
The Duellists
StreetDance 2
Clip 1:47
StreetDance 2
StreetDance 2
Clip 1:47
StreetDance 2
Trailer
Trailer 1:52
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:35
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:35
Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:06
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:25
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:42
Trailer
Teaser
Trailer 1:00
Teaser

Personal details

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    • November 22, 1941
    • Paisley, Scotland, UK
    • Kara WilsonJuly 2, 1967 - present (1 child)
  • Other works
    Narrated "Peter Pan" on audiotape
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Interviews
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Father of Nina Conti.
  • Quotes
    A film set is just a never-ending hell.

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