With Danish and British knighthoods under his belt and the blessing of Sir Laurence Olivier himself, Derek Jacobi’s place among English theater greats is assured. After joining the National Theater Company, the University of Cambridge grad made his movie debut in a filmed version of Othello (1965). Derek went on to win Olivier Awards for Cyrano de Bergerac (1983) and Twelfth Night (2009). In between, he could be seen in the BBC’s Roman-set miniseries I, Claudius (1976). In fact, his titular performance won a BAFTA! The esteemed actor also picked up an Emmy for his 2001 guest spot on the NBC sitcom Frasier. In addition to conquering the stage (Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, The Tempest, Uncle Vanya) and TV (The Borgias, The Crown, Doctor Who, The Gathering Storm, Last Tango in Halifax, Vicious), the busy Brit lent his talents to many movies. He received SAG awards for his ensemble work in Robert Altman’s Oscar-nominated thriller Gosford Park (2001) and Tom Hooper’s Oscar-winning biopic The King’s Speech (2010). Jacobi also popped up in Ridley Scott’s Academy Award-winning flick Gladiator (2000) alongside Russell Crowe and Oliver Reed. His professional partnership with Kenneth Branagh paid off with parts in Henry V (1989), Dead Again (1991), Hamlet (1996) and Cinderella (2015). Yet it was his shirtless turn in John Maybury’s Love Is the Devil: Study for a Portrait of Francis Bacon (1998) that really turned us on — especially when Daniel Craig bends an underwear-clad Jacobi over for a burning buggering. All’s Well That Ends Swell!
