Anton Lesser

Anton Lesser (born 14 February 1952) is a British actor. He is known for his roles as Qyburn in the HBO series Game of Thrones, Thomas More in Wolf Hall, Harold Macmillan in The Crown, Clement Attlee in A United Kingdom, Chief Superintendent Bright in Endeavour, and Major Partagaz in Star Wars: Andor. An associate of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he has performed numerous Shakespearean roles on stage and television. Early life Born in Birmingham, Anton Lesser attended Moseley Grammar School and the University of Liverpool, where he read architecture. He then went to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and on graduation in 1977 he was awarded the Bancroft Gold Medal as the most promising actor of his year. He is of Jewish background. Career As an associate artist with the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), Lesser played many of Shakespeare's great roles. In the BBC Television Shakespeare productions he was Troilus (Troilus and Cressida), Edgar (King Lear), and Feste (Twelfth Night). On stage, he has portrayed Romeo, Hamlet, Brutus, Petruchio, Richard III, and others. Lesser is a frequent radio contributor and played the title role in the BBC Radio adaptations of the first five Marcus Didius Falco mysteries by Lindsey Davis. He has also recorded many audiobooks, including much of the work of Charles Dickens. His recording of Great Expectations won him a Talkie Award. Other books range from John Milton's Paradise Lost, Homer and Rumi to contemporary novels by Robert Harris (Fatherland) and Philip Pullman. For two months in 2013, Lesser was a regular cast member playing Robin Carrow in Ambridge Extra, a BBC Radio 4 Extra spin-off from the BBC Radio 4 drama The Archers.