Hugh Bonneville

Hugh Richard Bonneville Williams (born 10 November 1963), known professionally as Hugh Bonneville, is a British stage, television and film actor. He is best known for playing Robert Crawley in the ITV period drama series Downton Abbey from 2010 until 2015, and has been nominated for BAFTA, Emmy and Golden Globe awards. 2Early life and education Bonneville was born in Paddington, in west London, to a mother who was a nurse and a urological surgeon father. He was educated at Dulwich College Preparatory School and at Sherborne School, an independent school in Dorset. Following secondary education, Bonneville read theology at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, and studied acting at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He left Cambridge with a 2:2 in theology and has since said that he tended to do more acting than academic work. Bonneville is also an alumnus of the National Youth Theatre. 2Career Bonneville's first professional stage appearance was at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park. In 1987, he joined the National Theatre where he appeared in several plays, then the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1991, where he played Laertes to Kenneth Branagh's Hamlet (1992–1993). He played Valentine in The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Bergetto in 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Kastril and later Surly in The Alchemis