Richard Armitage

Richard Crispin Armitage (born 22 August 1971) is an English film, television, theatre and voice actor. He received notice in the UK with his first leading role as John Thornton in the British television programme North & South (2004). But it was his role as dwarf prince and leader Thorin Oakenshield in Peter Jackson's film trilogy adaptation of The Hobbit that first brought him international recognition. Other notable roles include John Proctor in Yaël Farber’s stage production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible, Francis Dolarhyde in the American TV series Hannibal, Lucas North in the British TV drama Spooks, John Porter in the British TV drama Strike Back, and Guy of Gisborne in the British TV drama Robin Hood. He more recently voiced Trevor Belmont in the Netflix adaptation of Castlevania. After graduating from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), Armitage initially sought theatre work and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC). He turned to film and television roles when he noticed that leading stage roles went to actors with name recognition who could bring in patrons to fill venues. After twelve years away and having earned that name recognition, Armitage returned to the stage in 2014 taking his first leading role in a major production. He played John Proctor in the highly successful and critically acclaimed production of The Crucible at The Old Vic, and earned an Olivier Award nomination for Best Actor. One of Armitage's trademarks is his baritone voice, which he has employed as a voice actor since 2006. While working on the TV series Robin Hood, he was asked to record audiobooks for the first season of that series. Since then, Armitage has recorded many notable audiobooks and has worked as a narrator on many TV and radio shows and adverts.