Factory Birds
The Fair Maid of the West
The Family Reunion
Lynn Farleigh
George Farquhar
David Farr
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Nicholas Farrell
Mia Farrow
Fashion
Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Faust
Ray Fearon
Michael Feast
Jules Feiffer
Emma Fielding
Joseph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Geraldine Fitzgerald
Peter Flannery
James Fleet
Susan Fleetwood
John Fletcher
Flight
The Fool
Footfalls
John Ford
Oliver Ford Davies
The Forest
Emilia Fox
Philip Franks
Paul Freeman
Geoffrey Freshwater
Max Frisch
Frozen Assets
Christopher Fry
Athol Fugard
James Fleet has found success playing variations on a single character type, which is not to say that his talent is limited. It is simply that he plays bumbling drips better (which is to say, less tediously and with greater wit and feeling) than almost anyone else. His performances in Richard Curtis's Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) and The Vicar of Dibley (BBC, since 1994) are the best examples.
He grew up in Aberdeenshire and studied engineering at Aberdeen Polytechnic before winning a place at the Royal Scottish Academy in Glasgow.
He was a member of the RSC from 1981 to 89. Characters called Feeble, Slightly and Trier feature among his RSC credits: Flute in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Ron Daniels, RST, 1981, Barbican, 1982); Somerton in The Witch of Edmonton (Barry Kyle, TOP, 1981, Pit, 1982); Servant/Club Member in Money (Bill Alexander, TOP, 1981, Pit, 1982); Peto/Feeble in Henry IV (Trevor Nunn, Barbican, 1982); Subtleman, succeeding Roger Allam, in The Twin Rivals (John Caird, Pit, 1982); Slightly in Peter Pan (Nunn/Caird, Barbican, 1982); Willie—and meeting his future wife, Jane Booker—in The Time of Your Life (Howard Davies, TOP, 1983, Pit, 1984); Amble/Creditor in A New Way to Pay Old Debts (Adrian Noble, TOP, 1983, Pit, 1984); Joshua in The Dillen (Kyle, TOP, 1983); Peregrine in Volpone (Alexander, TOP, 1983, Pit, 1984); Walter Kent in Waste (John Barton, Pit, 1985, Lyric, 1985); Trier in Hyde Park (Kyle, Swan, 1987, Pit, 1988); Lodowick in The Jew of Malta (Kyle, Swan, 1987, Barbican, 1988); Hortensio in The Taming of the Shrew (Jonathan Miller, RST, 1987, Barbican, 1988); and Captain Thompson in The Churchill Play (Kyle, Barbican, 1988).
Since establishing a place in Curtisland, Fleet's career has been enjoyably inevitable: The Grotesque (1995); John Dashwood in Sense and Sensibility (Ang Lee, 1995); Moll Flanders (ITV, 1996); the PM in Crossing the Floor (Guy Jenkin, BBC, 1996); A Dance to the Music of Time (Channel Four, 1997); Spark (BBC, 1997); Cows (TV, 1997); Frenchman's Creek (ITV, 1998); Milk (1999); Kevin and Perry Go Large (1999); Chambers (BBC, 2000); Charlotte Gray (Gilliam Armstrong, 2001); Fields of Gold (BBC, 2002); Two Men Went to War (2002); Blackball (Mel Smith, 2003); Promoted to Glory (ITV, 2003).
His infrequent returns to the stage have been well-chosen: Christian in Tim Firth's Neville's Island (Jeremy Sams, Nottingham Playhouse, 1994); Charles Smithers in Simon Gray's The Late Middle Classes (Harold Pinter, Palace, Watford, 1999); Art (Matthew Warchus, Wyndham's, 2000); and Kulygin in Three Sisters (Michael Blakemore, Playhouse, 2003).
Education: Aberdeen Polytechnic; Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
RSC: Joined 1981
Seasons: 1981 (Strat.)-82/83 (Lond.); 1983 (Strat.)-84/85 (Lond.); 1987 (Strat.)-88 (Lond.)
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