James Broadbent born 24 May is an English actor. A graduate of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art in , he came to prominence as a character actor for his many roles in film and television.
James Broadbent [ 1 ] was born on 24 May in Holton cum Beckering , [ 2 ] in Lincolnshire , the second son of Doreen "Dee" Findlay, a sculptor, and Roy Laverick Broadbent, an artist, sculptor, interior designer and furniture maker.
Broadbent was educated at Leighton Park School , a Quaker school in Reading , [ 5 ] and briefly attended art college before transferring to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
He graduated in Broadbent's early stagework included a number of productions for The National Theatre of Brent as the downtrodden assistant Wallace to Patrick Barlow 's self-important actor-manager character Desmond Olivier Dingle.
Broadbent and Barlow played many male and female character roles in comically less-than-epic tellings of historical and religious stories, such as The Complete Guide to Sex , The Greatest Story Ever Told , Revolution!! These were hits at the Edinburgh Fringe, in London, and on tour. In , he had two roles, first as Vroomfondel who may, or may not be, a philosopher and then as Shooty a gratuitously violent policeman, who writes novel in crayon in the Primary Phase of the groundbreaking radio series The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.
