John Wood

John Wood (5 July 1930 – 6 August 2011) was an English stage and screen actor known for his distinguished career in both classical and contemporary theater. He was born on July 5, 1930, in Derbyshire, England. Wood gained prominence as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he performed in numerous Shakespearean productions. Wood's notable stage roles include performances in "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead," "The Rivals," and "Travesties," among many others. He also appeared in various productions on Broadway, earning critical acclaim for his performances in plays such as "Amadeus" and "The Winslow Boy." In addition to his stage work, John Wood had a presence in film and television. He starred in movies like "WarGames" (1983) and "Chocolat" (2000). His television credits include appearances in series such as "The Avengers," "Inspector Morse," and "Midsomer Murders." John Wood was highly regarded for his exceptional acting talent, particularly his ability to portray complex characters with depth and nuance. He received several awards throughout his career, including a Tony Award for his performance in "Travesties" and a Laurence Olivier Award for his work in "The Philanthropist." Sadly, John Wood passed away on August 6, 2011, in England, leaving behind a legacy of remarkable performances in the world of theater and film.

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An Ideal Husband (1999)

Sir Robert Chiltern is a successful government minister, well-off and with a loving wife. All this is threatened when Mrs Cheveley appears in London with damning evidence of a past misdeed. Sir Robert turns for help to his friend Lord Goring, an apparently idle ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Oliver Parker
CAST:  Cate Blanchett  •  Minnie Driver  •  Rupert Everett  •  Julianne Moore

Sir Robert Chiltern is a successful government minister, well-off and with a loving wife. All this is threatened when Mrs Cheveley appears in London with damning evidence of a past misdeed. Sir Robert turns for help to his friend Lord Goring, an apparently idle ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Oliver Parker
CAST:  Cate Blanchett  •  Minnie Driver  •  Rupert Everett  •  Julianne Moore

Chocolat (2000)

CharmingRomanticCuteBeautiful

A mother and daughter move to a small French town where they open a chocolate shop. The town, religious and morally strict, is against them, as they represent free-thinking and indulgence. When a group of Boat Gypsies float down the river, the prejudice of the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Lasse Hallström
CAST:  Juliette Binoche  •  Alfred Molina  •  Johnny Depp  •  Carrie-Anne Moss

A mother and daughter move to a small French town where they open a chocolate shop. The town, religious and morally strict, is against them, as they represent free-thinking and indulgence. When a group of Boat Gypsies float down the river, the prejudice of the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Lasse Hallström
CAST:  Juliette Binoche  •  Alfred Molina  •  Johnny Depp  •  Carrie-Anne Moss

Heartburn (1986)

Rachel is a food writer at a New York magazine who meets Washington columnist Mark at a wedding and ends up falling in love with him despite her reservations about marriage. They buy a house, have a daughter, and Rachel thinks they are living happily ever after ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mike Nichols
CAST:  Meryl Streep  •  Jack Nicholson  •  Jeff Daniels  •  Maureen Stapleton

Rachel is a food writer at a New York magazine who meets Washington columnist Mark at a wedding and ends up falling in love with him despite her reservations about marriage. They buy a house, have a daughter, and Rachel thinks they are living happily ever after ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Mike Nichols
CAST:  Meryl Streep  •  Jack Nicholson  •  Jeff Daniels  •  Maureen Stapleton

Imagining Argentina (2003)

Set during the unsettling disappearances in Buenos Aires during the dictatorship of the 1970s, the film involves theater director Carlos Rueda and his wife Cecilia. Shortly after Cecilia writes an editorial commentary questioning the mysterious abductions, she is ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Christopher Hampton
CAST:  Antonio Banderas  •  Emma Thompson  •  Leticia Dolera  •  Maria Canals-Barrera

Set during the unsettling disappearances in Buenos Aires during the dictatorship of the 1970s, the film involves theater director Carlos Rueda and his wife Cecilia. Shortly after Cecilia writes an editorial commentary questioning the mysterious abductions, she is ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Christopher Hampton
CAST:  Antonio Banderas  •  Emma Thompson  •  Leticia Dolera  •  Maria Canals-Barrera

Jane Eyre (1996)

Jane Eyre is an orphan cast out as a young girl by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and sent to be raised in a harsh charity school for girls. There she learns to be come a teacher and eventually seeks employment outside the school. Her advertisement is answered by the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Franco Zeffirelli
CAST:  Anna Paquin  •  Charlotte Gainsbourg  •  William Hurt  •  Joan Plowright

Jane Eyre is an orphan cast out as a young girl by her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and sent to be raised in a harsh charity school for girls. There she learns to be come a teacher and eventually seeks employment outside the school. Her advertisement is answered by the ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Franco Zeffirelli
CAST:  Anna Paquin  •  Charlotte Gainsbourg  •  William Hurt  •  Joan Plowright

Ladyhawke (1985)

EpicRomanticClassicAdventurous

Captain Etienne Navarre is a man on whose shoulders lies a cruel curse. Punished for loving each other, Navarre must become a wolf by night whilst his lover, Lady Isabeau, takes the form of a hawk by day. Together, with the thief Philippe Gaston, they must try to ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Richard Donner
CAST:  Matthew Broderick  •  Rutger Hauer  •  Michelle Pfeiffer  •  Alfred Molina

Captain Etienne Navarre is a man on whose shoulders lies a cruel curse. Punished for loving each other, Navarre must become a wolf by night whilst his lover, Lady Isabeau, takes the form of a hawk by day. Together, with the thief Philippe Gaston, they must try to ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Richard Donner
CAST:  Matthew Broderick  •  Rutger Hauer  •  Michelle Pfeiffer  •  Alfred Molina

Nicholas and Alexandra (1971)

Tsar Nicholas II, the inept last monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people, is overthrown and exiled to Siberia with his family.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Franklin J. Schaffner
CAST:  Michael Jayston  •  Janet Suzman  •  Roderic Noble  •  Ania Marson

Tsar Nicholas II, the inept last monarch of Russia, insensitive to the needs of his people, is overthrown and exiled to Siberia with his family.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Franklin J. Schaffner
CAST:  Michael Jayston  •  Janet Suzman  •  Roderic Noble  •  Ania Marson

Orlando (1992)

ComplexFantasticalWeird

England, 1600. Queen Elizabeth I promises Orlando, a young nobleman obsessed with poetry, that she will grant him land and fortune if he agrees to satisfy a very particular request.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sally Potter
CAST:  Tilda Swinton  •  Quentin Crisp  •  Jimmy Somerville  •  John Wood

England, 1600. Queen Elizabeth I promises Orlando, a young nobleman obsessed with poetry, that she will grant him land and fortune if he agrees to satisfy a very particular request.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Sally Potter
CAST:  Tilda Swinton  •  Quentin Crisp  •  Jimmy Somerville  •  John Wood

Rasputin (1996)

Into an era seething with war and revolution, a man comes with an incredible power to heal a nation...or destroy it. Based on the true story of one of the most powerful and mysterious figures in Russian history.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Uli Edel
CAST:  Alan Rickman  •  Greta Scacchi  •  Ian McKellen  •  David Warner

Into an era seething with war and revolution, a man comes with an incredible power to heal a nation...or destroy it. Based on the true story of one of the most powerful and mysterious figures in Russian history.  (more)

DIRECTION:  Uli Edel
CAST:  Alan Rickman  •  Greta Scacchi  •  Ian McKellen  •  David Warner

Richard III (1995)

A murderous lust for the British throne sees Richard III descend into madness. Though the setting is transposed to the 1930s, England is torn by civil war, split between the rivaling houses of York and Lancaster. Richard aspires to a fascist dictatorship, but must ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Richard Loncraine
CAST:  Ian McKellen  •  Annette Bening  •  Jim Broadbent  •  Kristin Scott Thomas

A murderous lust for the British throne sees Richard III descend into madness. Though the setting is transposed to the 1930s, England is torn by civil war, split between the rivaling houses of York and Lancaster. Richard aspires to a fascist dictatorship, but must ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Richard Loncraine
CAST:  Ian McKellen  •  Annette Bening  •  Jim Broadbent  •  Kristin Scott Thomas

Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)

Billy Pilgrim, a veteran of the Second World War, finds himself mysteriously detached from time, so that he is able to travel, without being able to help it, from the days of his childhood to those of his peculiar life on a distant planet called Tralfamadore, ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  George Roy Hill
CAST:  Michael Sacks  •  Ron Leibman  •  Eugene Roche  •  Sharon Gans

Billy Pilgrim, a veteran of the Second World War, finds himself mysteriously detached from time, so that he is able to travel, without being able to help it, from the days of his childhood to those of his peculiar life on a distant planet called Tralfamadore, ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  George Roy Hill
CAST:  Michael Sacks  •  Ron Leibman  •  Eugene Roche  •  Sharon Gans

The Body (2001)

An ancient skeleton has been discovered in Jerusalem in a rich man's tomb. Colouration of the wrist and leg bones indicates the cause of death was crucifiction. other signs, include a gold coin bearing the marks of Pontius Pilate and faint markings around the skull ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jonas McCord
CAST:  Antonio Banderas  •  Olivia Williams  •  Jason Flemyng  •  John Shrapnel

An ancient skeleton has been discovered in Jerusalem in a rich man's tomb. Colouration of the wrist and leg bones indicates the cause of death was crucifiction. other signs, include a gold coin bearing the marks of Pontius Pilate and faint markings around the skull ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jonas McCord
CAST:  Antonio Banderas  •  Olivia Williams  •  Jason Flemyng  •  John Shrapnel

The Madness of King George (1994)

DarkDramaticEmotionalInsightful

Aging King George III of England is exhibiting signs of madness, a problem little understood in 1788. As the monarch alternates between bouts of confusion and near-violent outbursts of temper, his hapless doctors attempt the ineffectual cures of the day. Meanwhile, ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Nicholas Hytner
CAST:  Nigel Hawthorne  •  Helen Mirren  •  Ian Holm  •  Rupert Graves

Aging King George III of England is exhibiting signs of madness, a problem little understood in 1788. As the monarch alternates between bouts of confusion and near-violent outbursts of temper, his hapless doctors attempt the ineffectual cures of the day. Meanwhile, ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Nicholas Hytner
CAST:  Nigel Hawthorne  •  Helen Mirren  •  Ian Holm  •  Rupert Graves

The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985)

CharmingCleverEmotionalEnjoyable

Cecilia is a waitress in New Jersey, living a dreary life during the Great Depression. Her only escape from her mundane reality is the movie theatre. After losing her job, Cecilia goes to see 'The Purple Rose of Cairo' in hopes of raising her spirits, where she ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Woody Allen
CAST:  Mia Farrow  •  Jeff Daniels  •  Danny Aiello  •  Irving Metzman

Cecilia is a waitress in New Jersey, living a dreary life during the Great Depression. Her only escape from her mundane reality is the movie theatre. After losing her job, Cecilia goes to see 'The Purple Rose of Cairo' in hopes of raising her spirits, where she ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Woody Allen
CAST:  Mia Farrow  •  Jeff Daniels  •  Danny Aiello  •  Irving Metzman

The White Countess (2005)

In 1930s Shanghai, 'The White Countess' is both Sofia—a fallen member of the Russian aristocracy—and a nightclub created by a blind American diplomat, who asks Sofia to be the centerpiece of the world he wants to create.  (more)

DIRECTION:  James Ivory
CAST:  Ralph Fiennes  •  Natasha Richardson  •  Hiroyuki Sanada  •  Lynn Redgrave

In 1930s Shanghai, 'The White Countess' is both Sofia—a fallen member of the Russian aristocracy—and a nightclub created by a blind American diplomat, who asks Sofia to be the centerpiece of the world he wants to create.  (more)

DIRECTION:  James Ivory
CAST:  Ralph Fiennes  •  Natasha Richardson  •  Hiroyuki Sanada  •  Lynn Redgrave

WarGames (1983)

SuspensefulAction-packed

High School student David Lightman has a talent for hacking. But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Defense Department's war computer and initiates a confrontation of global proportions. Together ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  John Badham
CAST:  Matthew Broderick  •  Dabney Coleman  •  Ally Sheedy  •  John Wood

High School student David Lightman has a talent for hacking. But while trying to hack into a computer system to play unreleased video games, he unwittingly taps into the Defense Department's war computer and initiates a confrontation of global proportions. Together ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  John Badham
CAST:  Matthew Broderick  •  Dabney Coleman  •  Ally Sheedy  •  John Wood

Lady Jane (1986)

The death of King Henry VIII throws his kingdom into chaos because of succession disputes. His weak son, Edward, is on his deathbed. Anxious to keep England true to the Reformation, a scheming minister John Dudley marries off his son, Guildford to Lady Jane Grey, ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Trevor Nunn
CAST:  Helena Bonham Carter  •  Cary Elwes  •  John Wood  •  Patrick Stewart

The death of King Henry VIII throws his kingdom into chaos because of succession disputes. His weak son, Edward, is on his deathbed. Anxious to keep England true to the Reformation, a scheming minister John Dudley marries off his son, Guildford to Lady Jane Grey, ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Trevor Nunn
CAST:  Helena Bonham Carter  •  Cary Elwes  •  John Wood  •  Patrick Stewart

Citizen X (1995)

Based on the true story of a Russian serial killer who, over many years, claimed victim to over 50 people. His victims were mostly under the age of 17. In what was then a communists state, the police investigations were hampered by bureaucracy, incompetence and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Chris Gerolmo
CAST:  Stephen Rea  •  Donald Sutherland  •  Max von Sydow  •  Jeffrey DeMunn

Based on the true story of a Russian serial killer who, over many years, claimed victim to over 50 people. His victims were mostly under the age of 17. In what was then a communists state, the police investigations were hampered by bureaucracy, incompetence and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Chris Gerolmo
CAST:  Stephen Rea  •  Donald Sutherland  •  Max von Sydow  •  Jeffrey DeMunn

The Avengers (1998)

British Ministry agent John Steed, under direction from "Mother", investigates a diabolical plot by arch-villain Sir August de Wynter to rule the world with his weather control machine. Steed investigates the beautiful Doctor Mrs. Emma Peel, the only suspect, but ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jeremiah S. Chechik
CAST:  Ralph Fiennes  •  Uma Thurman  •  Sean Connery  •  Patrick Macnee

British Ministry agent John Steed, under direction from "Mother", investigates a diabolical plot by arch-villain Sir August de Wynter to rule the world with his weather control machine. Steed investigates the beautiful Doctor Mrs. Emma Peel, the only suspect, but ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Jeremiah S. Chechik
CAST:  Ralph Fiennes  •  Uma Thurman  •  Sean Connery  •  Patrick Macnee

Metroland (1997)

After ten years absence Toni, Chris's best friend, suddenly reappears in London to bring chaos and doubt into Chris's calm, tranquil, slightly boring, predictable life. Chris starts to remember his carefree youth as a photographer in Paris when he lived with and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Philip Saville
CAST:  Christian Bale  •  Emily Watson  •  Lee Ross  •  Elsa Zylberstein

After ten years absence Toni, Chris's best friend, suddenly reappears in London to bring chaos and doubt into Chris's calm, tranquil, slightly boring, predictable life. Chris starts to remember his carefree youth as a photographer in Paris when he lived with and ...  (more)

DIRECTION:  Philip Saville
CAST:  Christian Bale  •  Emily Watson  •  Lee Ross  •  Elsa Zylberstein
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