Michael Kitchen

Michael Kitchen
Kitchen in Foyle's War series 7, 2013
Born	Michael Roy Kitchen (1948-10-31) October 31, 1948 Leicester, England
Occupations	Actor television producer
Years active	1966–present

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.

Michael Roy Kitchen was born in Leicester, to parents Arthur and Betty Kitchen.¹ He attended the City of Leicester Boys' Grammar School,¹ where he appeared on stage in a production of Cymbeline.¹

He is the firstborn son. His brother, Jeffrey, was born three years later in 1951. He grew up at 102 Wilberforce Rd, west of the current De Montfort campus. He was a senior scout in the 57th Leicester Scout group.² At age 15, he was selected to attend several weeks' training at the National Youth Theatre.³ After school, he completed a year at the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry.⁴

An opportunity arose when Leicester City Council offered him a grant to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London.¹ He gratefully accepted, and graduated in 1969 with an Acting (RADA Diploma).⁵

Kitchen's film career started in 1971 with an appearance in the film Unman, Wittering and Zigo (1971),⁶ and the Hammer film Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972).⁶

His early TV appearances include roles in Man at the Top (episode 4 "The Prime of Life", 1970),⁷ Play for Today (Hell's Angels by David Agnew, 1971),⁷ Thriller (1976),⁷ The Brontes of Haworth (1973,⁷ in which he played Branwell Brontë), Tales of the Unexpected⁷ and Beasts.⁷ He played the role of Martin in the original 1976 production of Dennis Potter's Brimstone and Treacle,⁷ Peter in Stephen Poliakoff's Caught on a Train,⁷ Edmund in the BBC Television Shakespeare production of King Lear,⁷ the Antipholi in the same series' production of The Comedy of Errors, Private Bamforth in the 1979 BBC television play of The Long and the Short and the Tall.⁷ Also in 1979 Kitchen appeared in an episode ("Runner") of the hard-hitting police drama The Professionals.⁸ He played the role of Duffy, a renegade former member of an organised crime network.⁹

His other roles at this time include Larner in the film Breaking Glass (1980),⁷ Rochus Misch in The Bunker (1981),⁶ Berkeley Cole in the film Out of Africa (1985),⁶ the King in To Play the King (1993), a performance for which he was nominated for a BAFTA,⁶ an English land agent during the Irish Famine in The Hanging Gale (1995), for which he won a Golden FIPA award in 1996, and a recurring role as Bill Tanner in the Bond films GoldenEye (1995)⁶ and The World Is Not Enough (1999).⁷

His later films include The Russia House (1990),⁷ Fools of Fortune (1990),⁷ Enchanted April (1992),⁷ The Trial (1993),⁶ Fatherland (1994),⁷ Doomsday Gun (1994),⁷ The Hanging Gale (1995),⁷ Kidnapped (1995),⁷ Mrs Dalloway (1997), The Railway Children (2000),⁶ Proof of Life (2000),⁷ Lorna Doone (2001)⁶ and My Week with Marilyn (2011).¹⁰

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;¹¹ he was also a producer for the show, which comprised nine series.⁷ His other noted appearances include The Buccaneers as Sir Helmsley Thwaite (1995), Dandelion Dead (1994), A Royal Scandal (1996),⁷ The Last Contract (Sista Kontraktet, 1998)⁷ a Swedish film about the assassination of Prime Minister Olof Palme, Paul Abbott's Alibi in 2003,⁷ Andrew Davies' dramatisation of Falling in 2005,⁷ ITV's three-part drama series Mobile (2007)⁷ and Channel 4's phone hacking comedy telemovie Hacks (2012).¹²¹³

Kitchen has guest-starred in roles in other popular British television shows such as Minder,⁶ Chancer, Inspector Morse,⁶ A Touch of Frost,⁶ Between the Lines,⁷ Pie in the Sky⁷ and Dalziel and Pascoe.⁶ He played Richard Crane in Reckless⁷ and John Farrow in the mockumentary The Life of Rock with Brian Pern.⁷

Kitchen is also a noted theatre actor. His roles have ranged from Ptolemy in Caesar and Cleopatra at the Belgrade Theatre in 1966, to Will in Howard Brenton's Magnificence at the Royal Court in 1973, to William Hogarth in Nick Dear's The Art of Success in 1986–87.¹⁴¹⁵

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.¹⁶ In 1981 he played Melchior, the manservant of Zangler, in Tom Stoppard's play On the Razzle.¹⁷ In 1984 he played the cabin steward Dvornicheck in Stoppard's play Rough Crossing.¹⁸¹⁹