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Jeremy Swift
Swift in 2023
Born	Jeremy Paul Swift (1960-06-27) 27 June 1960 (age 64) Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England
Alma mater	Guildford School of Acting
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1981–present
Spouse	Mary Roscoe
Children	2

Jeremy Paul Swift (born 27 June 1960) is an English actor. He studied drama at Guildford School of Acting from 1978 to 1981 and worked almost exclusively in theatre throughout the 1980s, working with companies such as Deborah Warner's Kick Theatre company and comedy performance-art group The People Show. During this period he also appeared in numerous television commercials. In the 1990s, he acted at the National Theatre alongside David Tennant and Richard Wilson in Phyllida Lloyd's production of What the Butler Saw.

Swift has acted in films such as Robert Altman's murder mystery Gosford Park (2001), Michael Apted's historical drama Amazing Grace (2006), and the family adventure film Mary Poppins Returns (2018). He also appeared in Vanity Fair (1998), Foyle's War (2013-2015), Downton Abbey (2013-2015), The Durrells (2016), and National Treasure (2016). In 2021, he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance in Ted Lasso for his portrayal of Leslie Higgins.

Life and career

Swift was born in Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham. Both his parents were music teachers. In the 2000s, Swift appeared in Gosford Park playing the footman Arthur, and Roman Polanski's Oliver Twist as Mr. Bumble. For BBC3, he played Barry in the cult hit The Smoking Room and had a theatrical hit with Abigail's Party, the last production at the old Hampstead Theatre and their longest running West End transfer.

In 2009, he played the lead in the true story of art forger Shaun Greenhalgh in The Antiques' Rogue Show for BBC2 with Liz Smith and Peter Vaughn, The Deacon in a film adaptation of Anton Chekhov's short story The Duel and featured in Canoe Man, a 2010 TV drama based on the John Darwin disappearance case.

He starred in the independent British feature film Downhill, which is a comedy about four men attempting Alfred Wainwright's Coast to Coast Walk which was released in 2014 and co-stars Ned Dennehy, Karl Theobald and Richard Lumsden. The film was directed by James Rouse and the screenplay was written by Torben Betts.

Swift is also a composer and his work includes the score for Werewolves: The Dark Survivors (Wide-eyed Entertainment) for the Discovery channel and ITV global.

On ITV, Swift played Septimus Spratt, the butler of the Dowager Countess, in Downton Abbey for three seasons and has been seen as Dennis, manservant to Countess Mavrodaki (Leslie Caron) in Episodes 3-6 of The Durrells. He also played election agent Glenvil Harris in the last two series of Foyle's War. He played Gooding in Mary Poppins Returns, which was released in 2018.

In 2020, he played the role of Leslie Higgins in Apple TV+'s show, Ted Lasso, for which he received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 2021.

Personal life

Swift is married to actress Mary Roscoe (who plays his wife, Julie Higgins, on Ted Lasso), whom he met while working on a play. They have two adopted children. He is a skilled jazz musician and, as Higgins, plays the double bass in an episode of Ted Lasso.

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

1. Sandford, Christopher (24 November 2009). Polanski: A Biography. Macmillan. pp. 344–. ISBN 978-0-230-61176-4. Retrieved 30 June 2011.
2. Jeremy Swift brings his music — and his wife — to ‘Ted Lasso’, by Lesley O'Toole, LA Times, August 10, 2021, Retrieved Feb.22, 2024
3. "The Antiques Rogue Show". IMDb.
4. Robertson, Chris (13 July 2021). "Emmys 2021: The Crown and The Mandalorian lead nominations with 24 nods - as British talent shines". Sky News. Sky.
5. Robertson, Chris (13 July 2021). "Emmy Awards 2021: The full list of nominations - with The Crown, Pose, Lovecraft County and Black-ish dominating". Sky News. Sky.
6. Jeremy Swift brings his music — and his wife — to ‘Ted Lasso’, by Lesley O'Toole, LA Times, August 10, 2021, Retrieved Feb.22, 2024
7. "Olivier Winners 2013". Olivier Awards. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
8. "SAG Awards: 'Ma Rainey's Black Bottom,' 'Minari' Top Film Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
9. Davis, Clayton (7 March 2021). "Critics Choice Awards 2021 Full Winners: Chloe Zhao's 'Nomadland' Continues Its Reign on Awards Season". Variety. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
10. "HCA TV Awards Nominations: 'Ted Lasso' Leads Programs For Inaugural Honors; NBC, HBO & Netflix Lead Nets". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Media Corporation. 9 July 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
11. Lewis, Hilary; Coates, Tyler (12 January 2022). "SAG Awards: 'House of Gucci,' 'The Power of the Dog' Lead Film Nominations". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
12. "Nominations Announced for the 30th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards®" (Press release). Screen Actors Guild. 10 January 2024. Retrieved 10 January 2024.

External links

• Jeremy Swift at IMDb

• 1960 births
• Living people
• English male stage actors
• English male television actors
• English male voice actors
• Male actors from County Durham
• Actors from Stockton-on-Tees
• 20th-century English male actors
• 21st-century English male actors
• English male film actors
• Alumni of the Guildford School of Acting