‘WILLIAM & CATHERINE: A ROYAL ROMANCE’
CAST BIOS
DAN AMBOYER (HRH Prince William) – Actor Dan Amboyer was born in Detroit and earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the prestigious Carnegie Mellon University, after graduating from boarding arts high school Interlochen Arts Academy. His New York theater credits include Amy Freed’s Restoration Comedy, Aeneas in Dido, Queen of Carthage, Theseus in These Seven Sicknesses, The Great Unknown, Bash’d, Jesus in For the Love of Christ, the title role in The Play About the Naked Guy for Emerging Artists, Rinne Groff’s Orange Lemon Egg Canary at PS122 and Orlando in As You Like It at the HERE Arts Center.
Amboyer’s regional theater credits include Tom Rockwell in the premiere of The Eclectic Society for Philadelphia's Walnut Street Theatre, Augustin Meaulnes in the premiere of Le Grand Meaulnes for Pittsburgh's Quantum Theatre, Kenickie in Grease for St. Louis' The Muny, Lank in Crazy for You for Boston's North Shore Music Theatre, Henry IV, Doctor Faustus, Romeo & Juliet, Camelot and My Fair Lady for Utah Shakespeare Festival.
On television, Amboyer has recently starred as George White on "Body of Proof." Amboyer has also appeared on "Law & Order" and "All My Children."
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ALICE ST. CLAIR (Catherine Middleton) – This is Alice St. Clair’s first professional acting job. Growing up, St. Clair spent time in her family’s homes in Berkshire, United Kingdom and Rosslyn in Scotland. St. Clair attended a boarding school called Heathfield and then at age 16 moved to a school called Bedales, which had a strong focus on studies in the arts.
Later St. Clair moved to Los Angeles and after a stint working for Academy Award® winning producer Akiva Goldsman, decided to move to New York where she received a scholarship to New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. This provided St. Clair with the acting education that has lead directly to her newly-launched career.
St. Clair continues to live in New York, but visits England often where her parents, brothers and sister currently reside. ###
JANE ALEXANDER (HM Queen Elizabeth II) – A four-time Oscar® nominee for the films “Testament,” “Kramer vs. Kramer,” “All The President’s Men” and “The Great White Hope,” Jane Alexander has appeared in over 55 screen roles, including “Brubaker,” “The Cider House Rules,” “Sunshine State,” “Feast of Love” and “Terminator Salvation.” Alexander has narrated dozens of books and voiceovers and is a screenwriter and producer as well as an actress.
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On television, Alexander won Emmy® Awards for “Playing For Time” and “Warm Springs” and a Television Critics Circle Award for her portrayal of Eleanor Roosevelt in “Eleanor And Franklin: The White House Years.” Other nominations and awards include those for her roles in “Calamity Jane,” “Malice In Wonderland” and “A Marriage: O’Keeffe and Stieglitz,” which she also produced for PBS. Alexander co-starred in the HBO series “Tell Me You Love Me.”
Alexander’s distinguished stage career has taken her from Broadway to London’s West End, and in regional theaters from Atlanta to Los Angeles. She has performed in more than 100 plays, among them her Tony® winning role in The Great White Hope and Tony® nominated roles in The Sisters Rosensweig, Find Your Way Home and Bob Randall’s 6 RMS RIV VU.
Alexander has been honored with numerous awards, including the Obie, Drama League, Drama Desk and Theatre World awards, just to mention a few. She was inducted into the Theatre Hall of Fame in 1994. She was most recently seen on stage in Chasing Manet, The Breath Of Life and A Moon To Dance By and completed filming of the movie “Dreamhouse.”
In 1994, President Clinton appointed Alexander as the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Senate unanimously confirmed her. She held the position for four years successfully battling to save the agency from elimination. Her book Command Performance: An Actress In The Theatre Of Politics documents her tenure. Alexander continues her public service as a Commissioner of Parks for the Taconic Region of New York.
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VICTOR GARBER (HRH Prince Charles) – Victor Garber is one of the most respected and talented actors of his generation. With six Emmy® and four Tony® nominations to his credit, he has been seen in some of the most memorable works of film, television and stage.
Most recently, Garber portrayed San Francisco mayor George Moscone in Gus Van Sant’s Academy Award®–nominated film “Milk.” Additional film credits include “The First Wives Club,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Legally Blonde” and the Academy Award®-winning film, “Titanic.”
For his work on television, Garber has been nominated for six Emmy® Awards, including three for the ABC drama “Alias,” two for comedic guest-star roles on “Frasier” and “Will & Grace” and a nomination for his portrayal of Sid Luft in the television movie “Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows.”
He most recently guest-starred on “Nurse Jackie” and “Glee” and starred in ABC’s “Eli Stone.” Other credits include Fox’s “Justice,” “Laughter on the 23rd Floor,” “Meredith Willson’s The Music Man,” ABC’s Musical version of “Annie” and The Wonderful World of Disney film “Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella.” Garber also appeared in the miniseries “Dieppe” and the TV movie “First Circle.”
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Garber has earned four Tony® nominations for his work in Damn Yankees, Lend Me a Tenor, Deathtrap and Little Me. He performed in the workshop of Sondheim’s Wiseguys and in the Tony Award®–winning play Art.
His stage credits also include the original Broadway productions of Arcadia, The Devil’s Disciple, Noises Off and Sweeney Todd. Additionally, Garber garnered rave reviews in Sondheim’s Follies for City Center Encores! and most recently, Present Laughter, directed by Nicholas Martin at the Huntington Theatre. The latter production moved to Broadway in January 2010.
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JEAN SMART (HRH Camilla Parker Bowles) – A versatile and gifted actress, Jean Smart continues to exhibit her extraordinary talents in theater, television and film. Since completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the University of Washington, Smart’s career has launched into worldwide critical acclaim. Before coming to Los Angeles she made her Broadway debut in Piaf and originated the role of Lil in Last Summer at Bluefish Cove off-Broadway, for which she received a Drama Desk nomination.
In the 2010-2011 television season, Smart did double duty with recurring roles as both the Governor of Hawaii in the re-imagined version of “Hawaii 5-0” for CBS and as a love interest for William Shattner on “*%# My Dad Says” also for CBS. Other recent works include the independent film “Barry Munday” starring Patrick Wilson and Judy Greer. She most recently joined Katherine Heigl, Josh Lucas, Josh Duhamel and Christina Hendricks in the Warner Brothers feature film, “Life As We Know It” as Helen, Heigl’s character’s mother. Smart also recently played Michael Cera’s mother in Miguel Arteta’s comedy “Youth in Revolt,” which hit theatres in early 2010.
In addition, Smart has been seen in the Emmy® Award winning comedy series, “Samantha Who?” with Christina Applegate, for which she just earned her third Emmy® Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy.
In 2006, Smart received her fourth Emmy® nomination, this time for her role as the troubled and medicated First Lady Martha Logan on the Fox drama “24.” That same year the show won the Emmy® for Best Drama, and received a Golden Globe nomination and a Screen Actor’s Guild nomination for Ensemble Cast.
In 2001, Smart won her second Emmy® for her guest-starring role on “Frasier” and was nominated for Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her recurring role on “The District.” In 2000 Smart received recognition in theater, film and television when she earned an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her critically acclaimed performance in the Miramax feature film “Guinevere” opposite Sarah Polley, was awarded her first Emmy® for her hilarious recurring role on “Frasier” and was nominated for a Tony® for Best Actress in a Play for her starring role on Broadway opposite Nathan Lane in The Man Who Came To Dinner.
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Smart has also starred in the HBO drama series “Maximum Security” and the popular sitcom “Designing Women.” Several TV series and television films followed, including “Overkill,” the critically acclaimed story of serial killer Aileen Wuornos, “High Society,” in which she played neurotic novelist Ellie Walker opposite Mary McDonnell (an Americanized version of the British phenomenon “Absolutely Fabulous”), Peter Tolan’s comedy “Style and Substance,” “In-Laws” opposite Dennis Farina and “Center of the Universe” opposite John Goodman. In 2003 Smart starred with husband Richard Gilliland in the Hallmark Channel Original Movie, “Audrey’s Rain.”
Smart’s recent film credits include Curtis Hanson’s “Lucky You” opposite Eric Bana and Robert Duvall, “Hero Wanted” starring Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Ray Liotta, “Garden State” for first-time director and writer Zach Braff opposite Braff, Natalie Portman and Peter Sarsgaard, “Mistress” with Danny Aiello and Robert DeNiro, “Flashpoint” with Kris Kristofferson, “Bringing Down the House” with Steve Martin and Queen Latifa, “The Kid” with Bruce Willis, “Sweet Home Alabama” with Reese Witherspoon and “I ♥ Huckabees.”
Smart currently resides in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.
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LESLEY HARCOURT (HRH Princess Diana) – Scottish actress Lesley Harcourt is a recognizable face on several of the UK’s top television shows, most notably, “Taggart,” for ITV, in which she played two roles between 2003 and 2005. Her other small screen credits include roles on TV series “The Young Persons Guide to Becoming a Rockstar,” “Doctors” and “Casualty” and in the made-for-TV movies “Split Second” and “Life Support.”
Harcourt has also appeared on stage in productions of Aladdin, including a 2006 UK tour, Jack & the Beanstalk, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Joking Apart for the Northcott Theatre and Blithe Spirit for Vienna’s English Theatre.
On film, Harcourt has appeared in the Palm Springs Film Festival 1999 Special Jury Prize winning feature “My Daughter’s Face,” as well as “Late Night Shopping,” “The House of Mirth” with Dan Aykroyd and Gillian Anderson, and “Pasty Faces.”
Harcourt’s most recent role includes a lead in the 2010 short, “Our Father.”
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MARK PENFOLD (HRH Prince Philip) – Mark Penfold studied Spanish and French at Oxford University before opting for a life in the theater. He trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and then spent many years working in repertory theater all over Britain, with a long spell working with experimental theater groups in the 1970s.
Penfold played parts ranging from Rubek in Ibsen's rarely performed play When We Dead Awaken to Enoch Powell rising from a coffin to deliver his infamous Rivers of Blood speech. He
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worked for some time with the Oxford Playhouse Company and toured South America playing Cannon Throbbing in Alan Bennett's Habeas Corpus. In London, his best work has been at the Tricycle Theatre performing in many of their renowned Tribunal Plays.
On television, Penfold spent six years playing the senior pathologist in “Wire in the Blood.” He has just completed work on his first Bollywood film and recently played a risqué judge in “Secret Diary of a Call Girl” with Billie Piper.
Other credits include roles on various television series and movies, including “The Bill,” “Wing and a Prayer,” “Casualty,” “Crime Traveller,” “Annie’s Bar,” “Between the Lines,” “Alleyn Mysteries,” “Screen Two,” “Tattle Tale,” “Lovejoy,” “Boon” and, most recently, “Holby City.”
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STANLEY ELDRIDGE (HRH Prince Harry) – Nineteen-year-old Stanley Eldridge has acted throughout his education from primary school to college, performing in multiple plays including Macbeth and Death of a Salesman. His other theatre credits include Nicholas Nickleby and Equus. His role as Alan Strang in the latter won him a Best Young Performer award. Most recently, Edridge appeared in a West End fringe show, Seduction, an all male adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler’s La Ronde.
Eldridge also writes plays and poetry in addition to leading workshops for drama students in his spare time.
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KAZIA PELKA (Carole Middleton) – British actress Kazia Pelka trained at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, where she won the Wilfred Foulis Prize in 1984. Her extensive theater work has included stage roles ranging from classic to contemporary, including performances in Annie, Twelfth Night, The Wizard of Oz, Importance of Being Ernest, Anna Karenina and Sons of York.
Pelka is perhaps best known for her role on the long-running British soap opera series, “Family Affairs.” Her portrayal of Chrissy Costello from 2003 until the show’s conclusion in 2005 earned her a nomination and a win for Best Dramatic Performance at the British Soap Awards in 2004 and 2005, respectively. Other screen credits include series regular roles on “The Bill” and “Brookside,” and parts on “Doctors,” “Holby City,” “Coronation Street,” “Heartbeat,” “How We Used to Live,” “Casualty XXII,” “Inspector Lewis” and, most recently, “New Tricks” For BBC1. Pelka has also appeared in the TV movie, “Dirty Dozen.”
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MICHAEL LUMSDEN (Michael Middleton) – Actor Michael Lumsden studied German and French at Cambridge University and trained at Webber Douglas. His television career includes
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roles on “House Of Anubis,” “Wire In The Blood,” “My Good Friend,” “The Bill,” “Casualty,” “Pig Heart Boy,” “If…Women Ruled The World,” “Holby City,” “Doctors,” “Family Affairs,” “Bernard’s Watch,” “London Bridge,” “Brookside,” “Grown Ups,” “Ghostbusters Of East Finchley,” “Crocodile Shoes,” “Health and Efficiency,” “The Buddha Of Suburbia,” “Firm Friends 2,” “Watching,” “The Piglet Files,” “Victoria Wood Playhouse,” “Wish Me Luck,” “Floodtide” and “Sherlock Holmes.”
Lumsden’s theater credits include parts as Nicholas in Entertaining Angels, Edward Timbrell in Mary Broome, Richard Llewellyn in The Years Between and Richard Wichello in Mary Goes First. Lumsden has also performed in 3-1-6, The Real Thing, How the Other Half Loves, All Things Considered, Othello, Doctor Faustus, Pravda, Macbeth, Twelfth Night and A Man For All Seasons, among many others at various professional theatres around the UK. Lumsden also had various roles in the documentary play Miner Dig the Coal at the Victoria Theatre.
For the last 12 years, he has played Ambridge Vet Alistair Lloyd in BBC Radio’s “The Archers” and can often be heard narrating TV documentaries.
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