
Oliver Cotton
Acting
Born 1944-06-20 · London, England, UK
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

The Dark Knight Rises
2012 · Movie

Wonder Woman 1984
2020 · Movie

The Last Duel
2021 · Movie

Joseph
1995 · Movie

Shanghai Knights
2003 · Movie

Firefox
1982 · Movie

Pope Joan
2009 · Movie

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

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

Oliver Twist
1982 · Movie

Sharpe's Battle
1995 · Movie

Henry VIII
1979 · Movie

Raindogs
— · Movie

The Sicilian
1987 · Movie

Son of the Pink Panther
1993 · Movie

Redemption
1991 · Movie

Sovereign's Company
1970 · Movie

Margaret
2009 · Movie

Hiding Out
1987 · Movie

The Day Christ Died
1980 · Movie

Colour Me Kubrick
2005 · Movie

Eleni
1985 · Movie

Out of the Ashes
2003 · Movie

Beowulf
1999 · Movie

The Dancer Upstairs
2002 · Movie

Attila the Hun
2008 · Movie

Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush
1968 · Movie

Baby Blue
2001 · Movie

Christopher Columbus: The Discovery
1992 · Movie

Gangs of Tooting Broadway
2013 · Movie

The Innocent Sleep
1996 · Movie

North v South
2015 · Movie

Caesar and Claretta
1975 · Movie

The Party
1988 · Movie

When the Actors Come
1978 · Movie

Tales of the Underworld
2026 · Movie

Pylon
2017 · Movie