Sir Derek Jacobi

I love Derek!

So bummed they're not doing another season of "Last Tango in Halifax." Are they doing any more seasons of "Vicious"?

nor to the performances or Sireena's sister Venus McKellen

I love him and Alan Bates as the gay butlers in 'Gosford Park.'

I don't care how old he is. I'd do him.

Sir Derek's defining role was Claudius on TV (as you noted, OP), much more affecting than just about any single movie could have been. Throw in his Cadfael and nod politely at "Vicious" and that's his great fame. And he was very good in BREAKING THE CODE.

As for the insufferably lazy and foul "Last Tango in Halifax," he's the best thing in it. But it's utter crap.

But he can't do everything. I saw him do Prospero in THE TEMPEST and, while he tried very hard, it was very bad.

Absolutely fantastic - and fabulous- actor. Love him to bits on stage and screen. If he had been kept on as The Master in the Dr Who reboot, I might have watched more of it. I haven’t seen his Prospero, but I suppose nobody is perfect. His Lear, back in 2010, ranks as the very best I have ever seen.

He's brilliantly funny in an episode of Frasier, as an old stage actor Frasier and Niles saw and loved many years before and who they personally bring back to the stage at their own expense and with much publicity, only to find out that he's absolutely rubbish.

By all accounts, he's a lovely man in private, though I read his autobiography was quite catty. Incidentally, he has been given two knighthoods: one British and one Danish. He's also great as Francis Bacon in LOVE IS THE DEVIL. He was in a short film a few years ago where he played another gay character who befriends a young man, but I can't find it online.

r1 I don't think they are going to be making any more episodes of VICIOUS, sadly. I've only seen one episode of LAST TANGO IN HALIFAX and I must say I was very impressed with the script and the acting and I've always intended to start from the beginning.

[quote]He was in a short film a few years ago where he played another gay character who befriends a young man, but I can't find it online.

I found the film. It's called SIDNEY TURTLEBAUM, from 2008...

His Claudius in Brannaugh's "Hamlet" is the best Claudius I have ever seen.

His Francis Bacon had good taste in tops in, "Love Is The Devil"

[quote] Are they doing any more seasons of "Vicious"?

No. Apparently because PBS in America didn't want to pay for any additional episodes, so they decided it didn't make financial sense. I get the feeling the show wasn't the hit in the UK it was in the US.

Vicious was my guilty secret. I don’t generally like that sort of one-room sitcom, I thought Iwan Rheon was awful, and the plots were generally cliched and contrived. But McKellen, Jacobi and de la Tour seemed to have so much fun doing it, I couldn’t help but enjoy it as well.

Disagree 100% with R5. I saw Jacobi as Prospero at the RSC in the early 80's and he's the best one I've seen (and I've seen a lot of Prosperos). Interesting note: a very young Mark Rylance played Ariel.

The first time I really appreciated Jacobi was in the BBC HAMLET with Patrick Stewart (Claudius, and he was younger than Jacobi) and Claire Bloom (fab Gertrude). Jacobi is still the most engrossing Hamlet I've seen. His BBC RICHARD II is excellent too.

Also loved him on stage as Alan Turing and Cyrano, though when they got around to doing BREAKING THE CODE for TV it was heavily cut and Jacobi was clearly too old to do the part onscreen.

What set him apart - particularly in the late 70's and 80's - was that he was a more openly and honestly emotional actor as opposed to many other Brits who were more like talented technicians. I always preferred him to McKellan, who struck me as a bit of a showboater early in his career.

I thought VICIOUS was awful and didn't serve Jacobi well, though McKellan managed to squeeze some laughs out of it.

Who knows how his last name is correctly pronounced? I grew up saying "JACK-oby," but I remember, vaguely, reading somewhere a few years ago that it's really pronounced the way you'd probably think it is, "Ja-CO-by." Has anyone heard him say it himself?

Oh! I love him! Have the DVD set of "I, Claudius" and periodically watch it just for him.

I follow his husband's (Richard Clifford) Twitter page. It always has at least one thing on it that is funny as hell.

I liked him in the movie "Dead Again" with Kenneth Branagh and Emma Thompson. It was probably the 2nd thing I had seen him in after "I, Claudius".

Most didn't notice him as the assistant detective in the original "Day of the Jackal".

I remember really liking him in Dead Again; there's a film I haven't seen in years. He's also brilliant as Claudius in the Brannagh Hamlet. He and Kenneth seem to play well together. I wonder why they couldn't find him a Harry Potter role. He might have made a great Dumbledore.

"Who knows how his last name is correctly pronounced? I grew up saying "JACK-oby,"

That's the correct pronunciation.

It's pronounced SHOO-KER-BEE-AY!

I thought Iwan Rheon was wonderful in Vicious. And Lord God in Heaven did he fill out those tight shirts and snug jeans perfectly. He didn't play the straight man virtually, he played it literally. The 3 principles had to have a foil and Rheon was it.

He is always the best actor in a scene. I doubt anyone could play Cladius as well as he did- even today. And I agree about Hamlet's ghost being one of his best performance.

Magnificent teats.

The two central pictures in this montage are both promotionals, but I don't know the films the other shots are from (other than I, CLAUDIUS). Can anyone identify them, please?

Someone I knew used to do catering for back stage in theatres. I asked him who was the most unpleasant person he had encountered.

Jacobi.

For the record, Ray Winstone and Phil Daniels were the nicest.

[quote]The 3 principles had to have a foil

Oh, dear.

I loved that Branagh had Jacobi stutter in [italic]Dead Again[/italic]. I cracked up in the theater.

His BBC Richard II is a master class in Shakespearean acting.

R26 - here are some answers:

Top Left: RICHARD II (BBC) Top Middle: Not sure Top Right: BREAKING THE CODE Bottom Left: I, CLAUDIUS Bottom Middle: Not sure Bottom Right: DR. WHO

R27, every actor has less-than-ideal moments. I met Jacobi backstage before he was to go into rehearsal and he couldn't have been nicer.

First saw him as Cassio in Olivier's "Othello" film. Three times on Broadway ("The Suicide", "Much Ado", "Breaking the Code"). Wonderful performances all.

His eye lift(s) make him look queenier than old Quentin Crisp.

Men: stop getting unconvincing plastic surgery!

R30, I came here to post just that -- Jacobi's Richard II is the best ever. The DVDs of the production are hard to find, but worth the hunt. Here's a clip.

(And that's 'Another World's' Charles Keating in the scene with him.)

Source, R21?

FORVO is your friend.

One of my favorite-silly-fan possessions is a photo from VICIOUS signed by Derek Jacobi and Ian McKellen. Whatever they are as people, they (and many other of the British theater queens and camp followers) are self-aware and apparently completely sensible of their high-hat, condescending, grand manners.

Youtube is your friend...

Thank you, R38. That's the kind of source I was looking for--from the horse's mouth. It negates an article I read several years ago that said everyone was pronouncing it wrong and that Jacobi himself said it was the other way. Unless Ian got it wrong and Derek didn't bother correcting him, which seems doubtful.