Paul Freeman (actor)

Freeman was born in Barnet, Hertfordshire, on 18 January 1943. He is married to Maggie Scott, who was his co-star in the 1980 film The Dogs of War.[2] They have one daughter, Lucy.[2] Freeman was previously married to actress Judy Matheson.

Paul and Maggie Scott are both co-founders of the charity UK Friends of Healing Focus (UKHF),[3] which works in partnership with Uganda NGO, Healing Focus Orphanage Centre.[4]

He began his career in advertising and teaching, and landed small roles in the theatre, appearing in productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Hamlet. He had starring roles in the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and later co-founded the Joint Stock Theatre Company in 1974, along with director Max Stafford-Clark.[1]

Freeman made his television debut in 1978 in the serial Will Shakespeare (1978). He also acted in the docudrama Death of a Princess, a film about the execution of Misha'al bint Fahd al Saud of Saudi Arabia. Freeman began his feature film career in 1980 when he appeared in The Long Good Friday and The Dogs of War. In 1981, he starred in the TV show Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years.

In the same year, Steven Spielberg and George Lucas chose Freeman to play archaeologist René Belloq, the archrival to Indiana Jones, in the adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark opposite Harrison Ford. The film led to Freeman becoming typecast in villainous roles, especially Nazis.[5] He played the conniving wine baron Gustav Riebmann in the fourth season of Falcon Crest, airing in 1984–1985.

Paul Freeman starred as Martin Daniels in the series Yesterday's Dreams in 1987.

In 1988, he played Professor Moriarty in comedy film Without a Clue, which starred Michael Caine as a mini-brained Sherlock Holmes and Ben Kingsley as Watson, who is secretly the real crime-solving genius. In 1995, Freeman was cast as the villain Ivan Ooze in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie.[1]

Freeman guest-starred in television shows such as Monarch of the Glen, ER, Falcon Crest and The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. He also played in several mini-series, including Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story (1989) and The Final Cut (1995). In 2004, Freeman played Angus, Bobby Jones' caddie, in Bobby Jones: A Stroke of Genius. During 2006 and 2007, he starred in the drama New Street Law. Also in 2007, he played Rev. Philip Shooter of Sandford in Hot Fuzz. He is also featured in several Travelers Insurance television commercials from 2007 to 2009.

Among his television work, Freeman has appeared in an episode of Midsomer Murders titled "Down Among the Dead Men". He also appeared in the Waking the Dead in the episode "Straw Dog", and played Adam Kingsley in the BBC adaptation of Minette Walters' The Dark Room. He was seen in Agatha Christie's Poirot in the episode "Appointment with Death" as Colonel Carbury.

He appeared as George Aaranow in the 2008 London revival of David Mamet's Glengarry Glen Ross.

In 2012, he played Thomas Erpingham in the BBC adaptation of William Shakespeare's Henry V from The Hollow Crown series.

• Paul Freeman at IMDb