Jack Davenport

Davenport, the son of actor Nigel Davenport and actress Maria Aitken,{{cite news | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2004/06_june/16/coupling_davenport.shtml | publisher=BBC | access-date=2009-05-13 | title=Coupling is back! – Biography – Jack Davenport (Steve) | date=16 June 2004 }} was born in Wimbledon, London,Who's Who 2014 and lived in Ibiza, Spain, for the first seven years of his life. His uncle is writer and former Conservative MP Jonathan Aitken, his maternal grandmother was socialite Penelope Aitken, his maternal grandfather was politician William Aitken, and one of his maternal great-grandfathers was John Maffey, 1st Baron Rugby.{{cite web|url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800312869/bio|title=Jack Davenport Biography – Yahoo! Movies}} Through his uncle Jonathan Aitken's marriage to Elizabeth Rees-Williams, Davenport is a step-cousin of Damian, Jared, and Jamie Harris, her sons from her marriage to Richard Harris.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

His parents divorced when he was seven, at which point he was sent to the independent Dragon School in Oxford, as his parents did not want him to become involved in the divorce proceedings. He then went on to attend Cheltenham College, a boarding independent school for boys (now co-educational), in the spa town of Cheltenham in Gloucestershire, followed by the British American Drama Academy in London.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

Davenport took a gap year after attending Cheltenham College. A director from Theatr Clwyd in Wales was impressed by his performance in a summer drama course and asked Davenport to work for him. He performed bit parts in Hamlet, where he became friends with Rhys Ifans.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} The following year, he began attending the University of East Anglia (UEA), concentrating in film studies and English literature. He dabbled in acting again during his time at UEA, but considered becoming a member of a film crew rather than acting.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

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After Davenport's graduation, his mother advised him to write to John Cleese requesting work on the set of his upcoming film, Fierce Creatures, so that he could gain experience behind the camera. Cleese instead sent Davenport's letter to the casting department, and he was subsequently cast in his first onscreen role as a trainee zookeeper. After the production of Fierce Creatures was completed, Davenport found an agent who secured him an audition for the role of Miles Stewart in the BBC television drama series This Life.

Since then Davenport has played roles in many successful films and TV series, including The Talented Mr. Ripley, Coupling and Ultraviolet, as well as the box office hit Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and its sequels, Dead Man's Chest and At World's End.

During his career Davenport has also performed voice-overs, having narrated the audio versions of John Buchan's The Thirty-Nine Steps and recorded parts in Anthony Burgess's A Clockwork Orange. He also provides the voice over for the British MasterCard advertisements (the American being done by Billy Crudup).

In 2006, he featured in the ITV1 drama The Incredible Journey of Mary Bryant and in 2009 starred in the film The Boat That Rocked.

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In 2007 Davenport was cast in Swingtown, a period and relationship drama for CBS about the impact of sexual and social liberation in 1970s American suburban households, with story arcs involving open marriages and key parties. The series was cancelled after one season.

In 2008, Davenport was cast in the ABC pilot FlashForward, which was based on a Robert J. Sawyer novel. In the series, Davenport played the character of Lloyd Simcoe, a physicist allegedly responsible for a worldwide blackout, which causes the whole world to see the future. The show was cancelled after a single season.

In February 2011, Davenport was cast in the NBC musical drama pilot Smash.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2011/02/jack-davenport-to-co-star-in-nbcs-smash-106053/|title=Jack Davenport To Co-Star in NBC's 'Smash'|first=Nellie|last=Andreeva|date=13 February 2011}} It ran for two seasons and became a cult favorite on streaming services.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2011/05/nbc-picks-up-whitney-cummings-comedy-pilot-to-series-more-coming-130840/|title=UPDATE: NBC Picks Up Whitney Cummings & Emily Spivey Pilots, 'Smash' & 'Prime Suspect'|first=Nellie|last=Andreeva|date=11 May 2011}} The first season of the series follows a group of people putting on a Marilyn Monroe musical on Broadway. Davenport plays the musical's director. The second season expands as the various cast members branch out into other productions; Davenport's character, Derek Wills, quits the Broadway production of Bombshell to pursue a small off-Broadway musical and take it to Broadway with his protégé, Karen Cartwright (Katharine McPhee). The season ends with the two shows competing at the Tonys.

Davenport starred as the replacement singer in the video for Snow Patrol's single "Called Out in the Dark", released on YouTube on 17 August 2011, alongside Tara Summers and Gary Lightbody.{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GwTXwJg6_VE&ob=av2e|title=Snow Patrol – Called Out in the Dark|last=SnowPatrolVEVO|date=17 August 2011|via=YouTube}}

2018 saw Davenport's Broadway debut playing the Earl of Warwick in a revival of George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan starring Condola Rashad.

Davenport is married to actress Michelle Gomez. On 28 February 2023, Gomez announced on Instagram that she, Davenport, and their son had become naturalised American citizens.{{Cite web |title=Michelle on Instagram: "It's official! #usa" |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CpQCEX9ui88/ |access-date=2023-03-03 |website=Instagram |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Michelle on Instagram: "This wee lassie fae Scotland can't quite believe I'm going to bed tonight a US citizen. From the Federal plaza @uscis to @balthazarny to @thegarden @nyknicks with a quick Hopper @whitneymuseum on the way it's a day I shall never forget but the highlight by far was my son Harry leading the room of 42 countries in the pledge of allegiance. My mind is well and truly blown. Good night NYC I love you!! I finally have the same status as my son. I'm finally home. #godblessamerica" |url=https://www.instagram.com/p/CpRcTDCNI1o/ |access-date=2023-03-03 |website=Instagram |language=en}}

• Alistair Cooke's American Journey (2006) (BBC Radio 4)
• Jack Davenport reads The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall

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Category:Living people

Category:Actors from the London Borough of Merton

Category:Aitken family

Category:People educated at The Dragon School

Category:People educated at Cheltenham College

Category:Alumni of the University of East Anglia

Category:English male film actors

Category:English male stage actors

Category:English male television actors

Category:English people of Scottish descent

Category:English people of Canadian descent

Category:20th-century English male actors

Category:21st-century English male actors

Category:Alumni of the British American Drama Academy

Category:People from Wimbledon, London

Category:1973 births