Oliver Cotton is a renowned actor, playwright, and writer with a distinguished career spanning multiple decades. Born in London to Norman Cotton and Ester, a Danish wife, he began his acting journey at the Drama Centre in King's Cross.
Cotton's theatrical debut took place in 1965 at Stage 73 in New York, followed by numerous productions at the National Theatre during Laurence Olivier's tenure as artistic director. He has appeared in various notable roles, including Hamlet, Julius Caesar, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Much Ado About Nothing, and As You Like It.
He has also worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company, playing the Earl of Suffolk in Henry VI and the Duke of Buckingham in Edward IV and Richard III. One of his personal favorite roles was that of Jack Cade in Henry VI.
As a self-confessed history buff and avid traveler, Cotton has portrayed many historical or literary personas on screen. He tends to be cast as aristocrats, government officials, politicians, barristers, and military men due to his dignified comportment and gravitas.
Some of his notable television roles include Cesare Borgia in The Borgias, Fagin's confederate Monks in Oliver Twist, Mr. Murdstone in David Copperfield, Lord Owen of Clun in Robin Hood, Joseph Chamberlain in Rhodes, and Alexandre D'Artagnan in The Musketeers.
He has made numerous guest appearances in popular British TV shows across various genres, ranging from Space: 1999 to Z Cars, Killing Eve, and Dalziel and Pascoe.
On the big screen, Cotton has played characters such as Jack the Ripper in Shanghai Knights, Danish king Hrothgar in Beowulf, an Air Force General in The Dark Knight Rises, the scheming Arsenius in Pope Joan, and the fierce French warrior knight Jean de Carrouges III in The Last Duel.
In addition to his acting career, Cotton has worked as a writer and associate producer on the historical sports drama miniseries The English Game and has authored several plays, including The Enoch Show, Scrabble, Wet Weather Cover, Man Falling Down, and Daytona.
Cotton has described the difference between acting and writing by saying, "Writing's like breathing in. Acting's like breathing out. One's the effort and the other's the action - ultimately inter-dependent but different in their process - something that only matters if you do both."
