
Paul Copley
Born November 25, 1944 · Denby Dale, West Yorkshire, England, UK
Paul is a long established and much respected British actor and voiceover artist. Born in Denby Dale, West Riding of Yorkshire, on 25th November 1944 he grew up beside a dairy farm. His father, Harold, was involved with local amateur dramatic productions, as were the rest of his family. He went to Penistone Grammar School, then the Northern Counties College of Education in Newcastle upon Tyne, where he received an Associate of the Drama Board (ADB) in Drama. He taught English and Drama in Walthamstow, before he joined the Leeds Playhouse Theatre-in-education Company in 1971. In 1976, Paul won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor in a New Play for his role in John Wilson's For King and Country. With many and varied roles to follow, Paul soon established himself as one of the UK's leading stage, film, television and radio actors. In 2011-2015 Paul gained worldwide recognition appearing in 16 episodes of the hugely popular television series Downton Abbey playing the popular role of farmer Mr Mason. Paul is married to the actress Natasha Pyne. They married in 1972, after both performing in a Leeds Playhouse production of Frank Wedekind's Lulu, adapted by Peter Barnes, directed by Bill Hays in 1971.
Notable Appearances
Movies

Enola Holmes

Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale

A Bridge Too Far

The Remains of the Day

Downton Abbey: A New Era

Blow Dry

Zulu Dawn

Jude

Ticker

Travellers

Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil

Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant

Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters

Marian, Again

The Shadow in the North

Big Winners

Happy

Theban Plays: Oedipus at Colonus

Alfie Darling

The 12 Days of Christine

The Chester Mystery Plays

Hornblower: Loyalty

Hornblower: Retribution

Hornblower: Duty

The Many Lives of Albert Walker

Hornblower: Mutiny

Silas Marner

The Sound of Music Live!

Hornblower: The Even Chance

A Christmas Carol

A Pinch of Snuff

Father Dear Father

Written in Blood

Reg

Black Jack

Which Side Are You On?

On a Paving Stone Mounted

Mucking Out

The Key

Arnhem: The Story of an Escape

Death of a Princess

Diane

Doll’s Eye

P.Q. 17

When Kim & Aggie Went To Hospital

Bird Fancier

Destiny

Ghost in the Water

Testimony of a Child

Cries from a Watchtower

First Encounter: King Lear

The Nest Egg

Ropeless

A Brush with Mr. Porter on the Road to El Dorado

Speech Day

Dangerous Journey

The Infectious Imagination of Henry Bramble

The Turkey Who Lives on the Hill
TV Shows

Father Brown

Silent Witness

Vera

Casualty

Minder

Heartbeat

Peak Practice

Shameless

BBC Play of the Month

Playhouse

Inside No. 9

Waking the Dead

New Tricks

Torchwood

The Bill

ITV Playhouse

BBC2 Play of the Week

Cracker

Secret Army

Life on Mars

Inspector George Gently

Moving On

Churchill's People

Hornblower

Kingdom

The Coroner

Strangers

Born and Bred

Queer as Folk

The Afternoon Play

The Lakes

The Paradise Club

DI Ray

Tenko

The Worst Witch

This Life

The Street

Last Tango in Halifax

Trust Me

Survivors

Messiah

How Clean Is Your House?

White Heat

Broken

Stay Lucky

Roughnecks

On the Edge

Big Deal

Code of a Killer

Burn It

Johnny and the Bomb

Days of Hope

Play for Today

Young Charlie Chaplin

The Gathering Seed

Trinity Tales

Dead Man Weds







