Nigel Havers
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Nigel Allan Havers (born 6 November 1949), styled The Honourable Nigel Havers, is an English actor, known mainly for his television work in the 1970s and 1980s. Havers' father Sir Michael Havers was a barrister, known for successfully defending Mick Jagger and Keith Richards on drug charges in 1967 and being chief-prosecutor of Peter Sutcliffe in 1981. His brother Philip Havers QC pursued a career in the legal profession.
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[edit] Acting Life and Romance
Havers' first acting job was in the radio series Mrs Dale's Diary and he subsequently went onto working for the Prospect Theatre Company initially 'carrying a spear and making cups of tea' as he puts it in his autobiography. From an early age Havers had an eye for the ladies and he describes his experiences with an early leading lady, Maxine Audley thus: "I was in her dressing room doing whatever she asked me to, and I mean anything and everything. One afternoon I sauntered into her dressing room, still in my officer's kit, only to find a similarly clad new member of the cast rehearsing what I had perfected over the past few months. My time was up. She blew me a kiss and I slid away. Actually, I was rather relieved, I needed a rest".
After his theatre work, Havers slid into a period of acting unemployment, during which time he worked for a wine merchant. He was rescued from this by an advertisement in Private Eye which led to a stint nude-modelling for the photographer Tuppy Owens. He ended this career when his girlfriend, who later became his first wife, Carolyn Cox, suggested they move in together in 1974. In 1975 Havers' career began to pick up with an appearance in Upstairs, Downstairs (though his affection for leading lady Lesley-Anne Down went unreciprocated).
His first film appearance was a small part in Pope Joan (1972), but his first major success came with the leading role in a BBC dramatisation of Nicholas Nickleby (1977), closely followed by another BBC drama serial, A Horseman Riding By. By the time he appeared in Chariots of Fire (1981), he was a familiar face on television. Despite appearing in such films as A Passage to India (1984) and Empire of the Sun (1987) he never made a name for himself as a film star, but has continued in a succession of starring roles on television. He co-starred for several years in the 1980s BBC sitcom Don't Wait Up alongside Tony Britton.
Havers appeared as Captain Hook in the pantomime "Peter Pan" at the Wycombe Swan, High Wycombe, from December 2006 to mid-January 2007.
Nigel Havers' autobiography, Playing with Fire, was published in October 2006.
[edit] Family and private life
The elder son of Michael Havers (later Baron Havers), a former Lord Chancellor, he was born in London and educated at the Arts Educational School. His paternal aunt, the Baroness Butler-Sloss, was the first woman to be elevated to the Court of Appeal and subsequently the first woman appointed to head the Family Division of the High Court. His grandfather Sir Cecil Havers was also a High Court judge.
In the mid-eighties Havers began an affair with Polly Williams, the sister of his friend, the actor Simon Williams. News broke as he was appearing in TV series The Charmer and consolidated his public reputation as somewhat of a cad. Havers has written of the depression he experienced trying to choose between his marriage and their young daughter Kate, born in 1977, and his mistress. During this time he consulted a psychiatrist at the Devonshire Hospital in London. Things were resolved in his mind when he took a part in the TV film Naked Under Capricorn which was filmed in Alice Springs, Australia. He describes in his autobiography wrangling a herd of cattle and catching sight of a figure in the distance who turned out to be Williams. The following year they were married. Polly Williams died of cancer in 2004.
[edit] Controversy
Havers achieved notoriety in 2004 for attacking cyclists. The article, in the Daily Mail, while couched as a critique of cyclists who refuse to obey the rules of the road, soon moves to stereotyping all cyclists as "maniacs" who routinely break the law:
- "[T]oday's pedal-pushers... appear to think they are above the law... [and are a] new army of Lycra-clad maniacs... I am heartily sick of the lot of them."[1]
Havers unsubtly tried to defend himself:
- "I was asked what annoys me most. I said cyclists, because they are all bastards, and since then it just hasn’t stopped". [2]
These comments provoked outrage in various online cycling fora such as Cycling Plus[3]
Havers is also critical of anthropogenic global warming.
[edit] Credits
[edit] Television
- Little Britain (2004)
- Manchild (2002-2003)
- The Gentleman Thief (2001)
- Dangerfield (1997-1999)
- A Perfect Hero (1991)
- Sleepers (1991)
- The Charmer (1987)
- A Little Princess (1986)
- Don't Wait Up (1984)
- Birth of the Beatles (1979)
- Pennies From Heaven (1978)
- A Horseman Riding By (1977)
- Nicholas Nickleby (1977) - title role
[edit] Cinema
- Farewell to the King (1989)
- Empire of the Sun (1987)
- A Passage to India (1984)
- Chariots of Fire (1981)
- Pope Joan (1972)
[edit] Audio books
- Tales from Watership Down (Richard Adams) (1996)
[edit] Notes
- ^ "On yer bikes!", Daily Mail, June 13, 2006
- ^ "Me and my motors", The Times, June 25, 2006
- ^ Cycling Plus, which surprised no-one, as they are a touchy lot.
