Jonathan Stephen Firth (born 6 April 1967) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in such British television productions as Middlemarch, Far from the Madding Crowd, and Victoria & Albert.
Early life
Jonathan Firth was born in Brentwood, Essex, England, to David Norman Lewis and Shirley Jean (née Rolles) Firth. His parents were both children of Methodist missionaries in India, who worked as teachers in Nigeria after their marriage.
Upon returning to England the family settled in Winchester, Hampshire, where his father became a history lecturer at King Alfred's College and his mother was a comparative religion lecturer at King Alfred's College, Winchester (now the University of Winchester).
After graduation, he toured with the Royal Shakespeare Company, where he made his debut at the age of twenty-seven as Henry VI (1994). narrated audiobooks, and has also made notable television appearances, such as Linton Heathcliff in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (1992); Fred Vincy in Middlemarch (1994); Lord Byron in Highlander: The Series (1997); Sergeant Troy in Far from the Madding Crowd, for which he received a nomination for best actor; Lord Arthur Goring in An Ideal Husband (2000); and Prince Albert in Victoria & Albert (2001). He portrayed Joshua in the 2000 biblical film, In the Beginning. That same year, Firth appeared in the film Luther, portraying Cardinal Aleander, the papal adviser who sought Luther's excommunication. For his performance, he received the CFT Excellence Award for Best Actor in a Motion Picture. He appeared in The Prince and Me 2: The Royal Wedding (2006), The Prince and Me 3: A Royal Honeymoon (2008) and The Prince and Me 4: The Elephant Adventure (2010).
In 2008, Firth starred as the chef in a short film, The Chef's Letter, played Evan in the radio production of Dame Daphne du Maurier's September Tide,