
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

Downton Abbey: A New Era

The Remains of the Day

Blow Dry

Zulu Dawn

Jude

Hornblower: The Even Chance

Marian, Again

Travellers

Ticker

Big Winners

The Chester Mystery Plays

The Shadow in the North

Happy

Theban Plays: Oedipus at Colonus

Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters

Hornblower: Loyalty

Alfie Darling

Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil

The Sound of Music Live!

Silas Marner

Hornblower: Duty

Hornblower: Mutiny

The 12 Days of Christine

Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant

Father Dear Father

Mucking Out

A Christmas Carol

Hornblower: Retribution

Black Jack

On a Paving Stone Mounted

Reg

The Many Lives of Albert Walker

Which Side Are You On?

Arnhem: The Story of an Escape

The Key

Death of a Princess

A Pinch of Snuff

Dangerous Journey

Bird Fancier

Written in Blood

Doll’s Eye

P.Q. 17

When Kim & Aggie Went To Hospital

First Encounter: King Lear

Destiny

Diane

Speech Day

Ghost in the Water

The Nest Egg

Cries from a Watchtower

Ropeless

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

Testimony of a Child

The Turkey Who Lives on the Hill

The Infectious Imagination of Henry Bramble
TV Shows

Father Brown

Casualty

Silent Witness

Vera

Peak Practice

BBC Play of the Month

Minder

Playhouse

Heartbeat

Inside No. 9

Shameless

New Tricks

Waking the Dead

Torchwood

The Bill

ITV Playhouse

BBC2 Play of the Week

Secret Army

Cracker

Inspector George Gently

Hornblower

Life on Mars

The Coroner

Born and Bred

Churchill's People

Moving On

Kingdom

Tenko

The Afternoon Play

The Lakes

Strangers

DI Ray

Queer as Folk

The Street

Last Tango in Halifax

The Paradise Club

The Worst Witch

This Life

White Heat

Survivors

Messiah

Trust Me

How Clean Is Your House?

On the Edge

Big Deal

Stay Lucky

Roughnecks

Broken

Code of a Killer

Johnny and the Bomb

Burn It

Young Charlie Chaplin

Days of Hope

Play for Today

The Gathering Seed

Trinity Tales

Dead Man Weds







