Michael Roy Kitchen (born 31 October 1948) is an English actor and television producer, best known for his starring role as Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle in the ITV drama Foyle's War, which ran for nine series between 2002 and 2015. He also played the role of Bill Tanner in two James Bond films opposite Pierce Brosnan, and that of John Farrow in BBC Four's comedy series Brian Pern.
Early life
Michael Roy Kitchen was born in Leicester, to parents Arthur and Betty Kitchen. He attended the City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School, At age 15, he was selected to attend several weeks' training at the National Youth Theatre. After school, he completed a year at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry.
An opportunity arose when Leicester City Council offered him a grant to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.
Career
Television and film
Kitchen's film career started in 1971 with an appearance in the film Unman, Wittering and Zigo (1971), and the Hammer film Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972). He played the role of Duffy, a renegade former member of an organised crime network.
His other roles at this time include Larner in the film Breaking Glass (1980),
His later films include The Russia House (1990),
Between 2002 and 2015, he starred in the award-winning ITV mystery-drama Foyle's War as the lead character Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle; he was also a producer for the show, which comprised nine series.
Kitchen has guest-starred in roles in other popular British television shows such as Minder,
He played Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet for the RSC at Stratford and was a member of the National Theatre Company and the Young Vic, where he played Iago in Othello. In 1974 he appeared at Laurence Olivier's National Theatre in the play Spring Awakening opposite Peter Firth, Jenny Agutter, Beryl Reid and Cyril Cusack. Later he appeared opposite Sir Ralph Richardson and Sir John Gielgud in Harold Pinter's No Man's Land, directed by Peter Hall. In 1981 he played Melchior, the manservant of Zangler, in Tom Stoppard's play On the Razzle. In 1984 he played the cabin steward Dvornicheck in Stoppard's play Rough Crossing.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1971
| Unman, Wittering and Zigo
| Bungabine
| Drama
|-
| 1972
| Dracula A.D. 1972
| Greg
| Horror
|-
|1980
| Breaking Glass
| Larner
| Drama, Musical
|-
| 1985
| Out of Africa
| Berkeley
| Romantic drama
|-
| 1989
| Dykket
| Bricks
| Thriller
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1990
| Fools of Fortune
| Mr Quinton
| Rom-Com
|-
| The Russia House
| Clive
| Thriller
|-
| 1992
| Enchanted April
| George Briggs
| Drama
|-
| 1995
| GoldenEye
| Bill Tanner
| Thriller
|-
| 1997
| Mrs Dalloway
| Peter Walsh
| Romantic drama
|-
| 1998
| The Last Contract ("Sista Kontraktet")
| John Gales alias Ray Lambert
| Thriller (Swedish)
|-
| 1999
| The World Is Not Enough
| Bill Tanner
| Action adventure
|-
| rowspan="2" | 2000
| New Year's Day
| Robin
| Drama
|-
| Proof of Life
| Ian Havery
| Thriller
|-
| 2011
| My Week with Marilyn
| Hugh Perceval
| Biopic drama
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
| 1970
| Thirty-Minute Theatre
| Waller
| Episode: "Is That Your Body, Boy?"
|-
| rowspan="2"|1971
| Man at the Top
| Trevor
| Episode: "The Prime of Life"
|-
| Z-Cars
| Royal Hall
| 2 episodes
|-
| rowspan="2"|1972
| ITV Sunday Night Theatre
|
| Episode: "The Web"
|-
| New Scotland Yard
| Peter Coppard
| Episode: "Hoax"
|-
| rowspan="4" |1973
| Late Night Theatre
| Paul
| Episode: "Susan"
|-
| Orson Welles Great Mysteries
| Herbert White
| Episode: The Monkey's Paw
|-
| Love Story
| Roy
| Episode: "Audrey had a Little Lamb"
|-
| Marked Personal
| Simon
| 2 episodes
|-
| rowspan="3" |1974
|Jackanory Playhouse
|King Thrushbeard
|Episode: "King Thrushbeard and the Proud Princess"
|-
| Fall of Eagles
| Leon Trotsky
| rowspan="2" |2 episodes
|-
| Thriller
| Ian/George Newton
|-
| rowspan="2" |1975
|Savages
|Carlos Esquerdo
|TV film
|-
| Churchill's People
| John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester
| Episode: "A Bill of Morality"
|-
|1976
| Play for Today
| Martin
|Episode: Brimstone and Treacle
|-
| 1979
| The Professionals
| Duffy
| Episode: "Runner"
|-
|1979-1980
|BBC2 Playhouse
|Rose S.J./Peter
|2 episodes, including Caught on a Train
|-
| rowspan="2" |1981
|The Bunker
|Rochus Misch
|TV film
|-
| Tales of the Unexpected
| Arthur
| Episode: "The Best of Everything"
|-
| rowspan="2" |1984
| Weekend Playhouse
| Ed
| Episode: "As Man and Wife"
|-
| Freud
| Ernst von Fleischi-Marxow
| 3 episodes
|-
| rowspan="3" |1989
| Minder
| Maltese Tony
| Episode: "Fiddler on the Hoof"
|-
| Theatre Night
| David
| Episode: "Benefactors"
|-
| Screen One
| Bill English
| Episode: "Home Run
|-
| rowspan="2"|1991
| Chancer
| Roman
| 2 episodes
|-
| Mozart on Tour
| Reader of Mozart's letters
| 13 episodes
|-
| rowspan="3"|1992
| Boon
| Donald Blake
| Episode: "Shot in the Dark"
|-
| Lovejoy
| David Herbert
| Episode: "Kids"
|-
| Inspector Morse
| Russell Clark
| Episode: "The Death of the Self"
|-
| rowspan="4" |1993
| The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
| Lloyd George
| Episode: "Paris, May 1919"
|-
|Screen Two
|Block
|Episode: The Trial
|-
| The Good Guys
| Graham Croxley
| Episode: "Old School Ties"
|-
| To Play the King
| The King
| 4 episodes
|-
| rowspan="4" |1994
|Fatherland
|Max Jäger
|TV film
|-
| Shakespeare: The Animated Tales
| Polixenes/ Narrator
| 2 episodes
|-
| Dandelion Dead
| Major Herbert Rowse Armstrong
| 4 episodes
|-
| Pie in the Sky
| Dudley Hooperman
| Episode: "The Best of Both Worlds"
|-
|1995
| The Hanging Gale
| Captain William Townsend
| 4 episodes
|-
| 1996
| A Touch of Frost
| Jonathan Meyerbridge
| Episode: "The Things We Do for Love"
|-
| rowspan="3"|1997
| Harry Enfield and Chums
| David the Director
| 1 episode
|-
| Reckless
| Richard Crane
| rowspan="2" | Miniseries
|-
| Sunnyside Farm
| Letchworth
|-
| 1998
| Dalziel and Pascoe
| Philip Swain
| Episode: "Bones and Silence"
|-
| 1999
| Oliver Twist
| Mr Brownlow
| Miniseries
|-
| 1999–2002
| Always and Everyone
| Jack Turner
| 18 episodes
|-
|2000
| The Railway Children
| Father
| TV film
|-
| 2000–2006
| Faking It
| Narrator
| 7 seasons
|-
| rowspan="1"|2001
| Second Sight
| Lord Bruce Roddam
| Episode: "Parasomnia"
|-
| 2002–2015
| Foyle's War
| Christopher Foyle
| 28 episodes
|-
| 2007
| Mobile
| David West
| Episode: "The Soldier"
|-
| 2012
| White Heat
| Jack (Present Day)
| "Episode": The Sea of Trees
|-
| 2014
| The Life of Rock with Brian Pern
| John Farrow
| 8 episodes
|-
| 2016
| The Collection
| Frederic Lemaire
| Episode: "The Scent"
|-
| 2017
| Brian Pern
| John Farrow
|}
References
External links
- Michael Kitchen BFI
- Michael Kitchen Messageboard