ACTOR
Alun Armstrong
14 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (14)
- #001
In 1994 (for the 1993 season), he was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance as Sweeney Todd at the Royal National Theatre.
- #002
In the television series New Tricks (2003), he portrayed Susan Jameson, who plays his wife on screen despite being married to lead actor James Bolam in real life.
- #003
Alun Armstrong appeared in seven different adaptations of Charles Dickens novels: The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby (1982), Oliver Twist (1999), David Copperfield (1999), Bleak House (2005), Oliver Twist (2005), Little Dorrit (2008), and The Mystery of Edwin Drood (2012).
- #004
Both his mother and father were preachers, and his father also worked as a winding engineer at a local coal mine.
- #005
In September 2014, the town of Stanley near his hometown of Annfield Plain renamed its Civic Hall theatre the Alun Armstrong Theatre. He had played guitar on stage when he was 16 years old.
- #006
He attended Consett Grammar School in County Durham.
- #007
He believes that his English teacher, who staged a Shakespeare play every year, set him on the path to acting by teaching him how to read Shakespearean poetry and the fundamentals of performing arts. When the National Youth Theatre came to the North East for the first time to recruit children, the teacher managed to get Alun involved.
- #008
He spent a year acting in Sheffield, where he was seen in the play "Get Carter" by a Time Out critic who wrote a highly positive review for both him and the production, which won the Play of the Year award.
- #009
His father was a coal mine winding engineer.
- #010
He appeared in two versions of "Oliver Twist" (Oliver Twist (1999) and Oliver Twist (2005)), playing a different role in each.
- #011
His theatre performances include The Tempest and The Crucible (playing John Proctor) for the RSC, with the latter being a tour; Passion at the National Theatre; Happy Returns in the West End and on tour; Mothers' Day at the Royal Court; As You Like It at Nottingham Playhouse; and Nicholas Nickleby at the Plymouth Theatre in New York.
- #012
After leaving school, he went to London to join the National Youth Theatre but returned home because he did not like London, instead attending Newcastle University to study fine arts. He later joined the Cambridge Arts Theatre as a stagehand before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company.
- #013
Durham University awarded him an honorary doctorate in November 2004.
- #014
In Lifeforce (1985), he was among the possible candidates for the roles of Roger Derebridge, Kelly, and Lamson.
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