Sir Derek George Jacobi CBE (/ˈdʒækəbi/; born 22 October 1938) is an English actor. Jacobi is known for his work at the Royal National Theatre and for his film and television roles. He's received numerous accolades including a BAFTA Award, two Olivier Awards, two Primetime Emmy Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and a Tony Award. He was given a knighthood for his services to theatre by Queen Elizabeth II in 1994.
Jacobi started his professional acting career with Laurence Olivier as one of the original founding members of the National Theatre. He has appeared in numerous Shakespearean stage productions including Hamlet, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, The Tempest, King Lear, and Romeo and Juliet. Jacobi received the Laurence Olivier Award, for the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac in 1983 and Malvolio in Twelfth Night in 2009. He also won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play for his role as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing in 1985.
Jacobi has also made numerous television appearances including starring as Claudius in the BBC series I, Claudius (1976), for which he won the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor. He received two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for The Tenth Man (1988), and Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for Frasier (2001). He's also known for his roles in the medieval drama series Cadfael (1994–1998), the HBO film The Gathering Storm (2002), the ITV sitcom Vicious (2013-2016) and in BBC's Last Tango in Halifax (2012–2020). He portrayed Edward VIII, the Duke of Windsor, in the third season of the acclaimed Netflix series The Crown in 2019.

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