Biography of Timothy Dalton

Timothy Leonard Dalton Leggett , known by the stage name Timothy Dalton, is a British actor. He was the fourth actor to portray fictional secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, where he starred in The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill . He has also appeared in the films Flash Gordon , The Rocketeer , Looney Tunes: Back in Action , Hot Fuzz , and The Tourist . On television, Dalton has played Mr. Rochester in Jane Eyre , Rhett Butler in Scarlett , Rassilon in Doctor Who , Sir Malcolm Murray on Penny Dreadful , and the Chief on Doom Patrol . Dalton was born in Colwyn Bay, Wales, to an English father, Peter Dalton Leggett, who was a captain in the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War and was an advertising executive at the time of his son's birth; and an American mother, Dorothy Scholes, of Italian and Irish descent. Before Timothy's fourth birthday, the family moved back to England to Belper in Derbyshire. While in Belper, he attended the Herbert Strutt Grammar School. As a teenager, he was a member of the Air Training Corps at LXX Squadron. He decided to become an actor at 16 after seeing a production of Macbeth and got a role in a production of the play at The Old Vic. He left school in 1962 at 16 to enrol in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and tour with the National Youth Theatre. Dalton did not complete his RADA studies, leaving the academy in 1966 to join the ensemble of the Birmingham Repertory Theatre. He had ambitions of being an actor, which pleased his father; "It pleased everybody on my father's side of the family. My mother and her side, however, were worried. None of them felt acting was a secure profession for a young man." Dalton quickly moved to television, working mainly with the BBC, and in 1968 made his film debut as Philip II of France in The Lion in Winter. This was the first of several period dramas, which included a remake of Wuthering Heights in 1970 in which he portrayed Heathcliff, and the Civil War drama Cromwell as Cavalier commander Prince Rupert. After a few more films, Dalton took a break in 1971 to concentrate on the theatre, performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company and other troupes throughout the world. In 1975, Dalton and Vivien Merchant headed the cast of a revival of NoÃ«l Coward's The Vortex. With two exceptions, the films Mary, Queen of Scots and Permission to Kill , he remained a theatre actor until 1978. That year he starred in Sextette as the husband of 85-year-old Mae West, hailing his return to cinema and the beginning of his American career. While in the United States, Dalton worked mainly in television, although he starred in several films. During this time, he played Prince Barin in the science fiction film Flash Gordon and played Mr. Rochester in a BBC serial of Jane Eyre . Dalton starred alongside Jonathan Pryce in the film The Doctor and the Devils . Dalton co-starred with Joan Collins in the miniseries, Sins . He was also replaced in two films in which he'd been signed to appear. He was offered the role of real-life British Prime Minister William Lamb in the film Lady Caroline Lamb. The filmmakers replaced him with Jon Finch at the last moment; Dalton sued for breach of contract and won an out-of-court settlement. In 1985, Dalton was set to play Don Alfonso de la TorrÃ© in Roman Polanski's film Pirates. The two men did not get along, so Polanski replaced Dalton with Damien Thomas.