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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
November 25, 1944
Place of Birth
Denby Dale, West Yorkshire, England, UK
Paul Copley
0.8 Popularity
Biography
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.
Known For
0.0
Arthur Thistle
Big Winners
2025
7.2
Albert Mason
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
2025
0.0
Narrator (voice)
Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands, New Tricks
2025
0.0
Howard
Ticker
2023
6.9
Terry Hunter
DI Ray
2022
7.2
Mason
Downton Abbey: A New Era
2022
0.0
Great Uncle Geoffrey
The Infectious Imagination of Henry Bramble
2021
7.2
Station Master
Enola Holmes
2020
6.0
Larry Windsor
Ropeless
2020
3.7
Ray
On the Edge
2018
Credits
Big Winners
as Arthur Thistle
2025
0.0
Downton Abbey: The Grand Finale
as Albert Mason
2025
7.2
Rose Ayling-Ellis: Old Hands, New Tricks
as Narrator (voice)
2025
0.0
Ticker
as Howard
2023
0.0
DI Ray
as Terry Hunter
2022
6.9
Downton Abbey: A New Era
as Mason
2022
7.2
The Infectious Imagination of Henry Bramble
as Great Uncle Geoffrey
2021
0.0
Enola Holmes
as Station Master
2020
7.2
Ropeless
as Larry Windsor
2020
6.0
On the Edge
as Ray
2018
3.7
Broken
as Joe Kerrigan
2017
6.9
Reg
as Man 2
2016
5.0
The Nest Egg
2016
7.0
The Sound of Music Live!
as Franz
2015
7.8
The Coroner
as John Roxwell
2015
6.1
Code of a Killer
as Sidney Jeffreys
2015
7.4
Inside No. 9
as Ernie
2014
8.0
Father Brown
as Mr Feste
2013
7.6
Carved with Love: The Genius of British Woodwork
as Narrator
2013
0.0
Last Tango in Halifax
2012
7.0
Last Tango in Halifax
as Harry
2012
7.0
First Encounter: King Lear
as King Lear
2012
0.0
White Heat
as Alan (present day)
2012
5.3
Call the Midwife
as Tommy Smith
2012
7.5
Vera
as Malcolm Kenrich
2011
7.4
Downton Abbey
as Mr. Mason
2010
8.1
Moving On
as Ronnie
2009
7.1
Survivors
as Ted
2008
7.1
Inspector George Gently
2008
7.9
The Shadow in the North
as Paton
2007
6.5
Kingdom
as Vincent Straker
2007
7.1
Torchwood
as Clement McDonald
2006
7.3
When Kim & Aggie Went To Hospital
as Self - Narrator (voice)
2006
0.0
The Street
2006
7.7
Johnny and the Bomb
as Sgt. Bourke
2006
6.5
Life on Mars
as Reg Cole
2006
7.8
Marian, Again
as Phillip Walsh
2005
4.2
Dead Man Weds
as Blind Man
2005
7.0
No Angels
2004
5.5
Shameless
as Norman Owens
2004
7.6
New Tricks
as Pat the Rat
2004
7.4
The Key
2003
0.0
How Clean Is Your House?
2003
5.3
How Clean Is Your House?
as Self - Narrator (voice)
2003
5.3
Burn It
as Terry Grimshaw
2003
5.3
The Afternoon Play
as Dave
2003
0.0
The Royal
as Nesbitt
2003
7.6
Hornblower: Duty
as Matthews
2003
7.3
Hornblower: Loyalty
as Matthews
2003
7.1
🎬
Nice Guy Eddie
2002
0.0
Born and Bred
as Hubert Gough
2002
8.5
The Many Lives of Albert Walker
as Danny Peck
2002
0.0
Waking the Dead
2001
7.2
Waking the Dead
as Clifford Day
2001
7.2
Messiah
as Ian Fleet
2001
7.2
Hornblower: Retribution
as Matthews
2001
7.3
Hornblower: Mutiny
as Mathews
2001
7.3
Blow Dry
as Ken
2001
5.9
Hornblower: The Frogs and the Lobsters
as Mathews
1999
7.2
Hornblower: The Duchess and the Devil
as Matthews
1999
7.2
Queer as Folk
as Roy Maloney
1999
7.9
Hornblower: The Examination for Lieutenant
as Mathews
1998
7.4
The Worst Witch
as Algernon Rowan-Webb
1998
7.5
The Worst Witch
as Algernon Rowan Webb
1998
7.5
Hornblower
as Matthews
1998
7.7
Hornblower: The Even Chance
as Matthews
1998
7.5
Written in Blood
as Brian Chappel
1998
9.0
The Lakes
as Peter Quinlan
1997
6.7
Midsomer Murders
as Frank Dewar
1997
7.5
This Life
as Jerry Cook
1996
7.5
Dalziel & Pascoe
1996
6.3
Silent Witness
1996
7.5
Jude
as Mr. Willis
1996
6.3
Roughnecks
as Ian
1994
6.5
A Pinch of Snuff
as Charlie Heppelwhite
1994
0.0
The Remains of the Day
as Harry Smith
1993
7.4
Cracker
as Pathologist
1993
6.6
🎬
Harry
as Thomas Thomas
1993
3.5
Peak Practice
as Tim Shardlow
1993
6.1
Peak Practice
as DS Patrick Hopkins
1993
6.1
Heartbeat
as Dick Radcliffe
1992
7.1
Heartbeat
as Herbie Lloyd
1992
7.1
Heartbeat
as Malcolm Stainsby
1992
7.1
🎬
How's Business
as Jack
1991
0.0
Stay Lucky
1989
6.0
The Paradise Club
as Mousey Pavitt
1989
5.8
Testimony of a Child
as Gerry
1989
0.0
Young Charlie Chaplin
as Chimnery Sweep
1989
0.0
Theban Plays: Oedipus at Colonus
as Local Man
1986
0.0
Casualty
as Frederick Chambers
1986
6.1
Casualty
as Mick McCarthur
1986
6.1
Casualty
as Arthur
1986
6.1
Silas Marner
as William Dane
1985
5.6
🎬
The Bright Side
1985
5.0
Which Side Are You On?
as Narrator (voice)
1985
6.5
Bird Fancier
as Roy Pearson
1985
0.0
The Bill
1984
6.7
The Gathering Seed
as Bob Henshaw
1983
0.0
Doll’s Eye
as Social Worker
1983
1.0
🎬
Ends and Means
1983
0.0
Ghost in the Water
as Mr. Reed
1982
6.5
P.Q. 17
as PO Jordan
1981
0.0
🎬
A Room for the Winter
as Robert
1981
1.0
Tenko
as POW
1981
8.1
🎬
West End Tales
as Herbert
1981
0.0
A Brush with Mr. Porter on the Road to El Dorado
as Tom
1981
0.0
Happy
as Vernon
1980
0.0
Death of a Princess
as Steve Jackson
1980
7.8
Minder
as Palmer
1979
6.8
Cries from a Watchtower
as Andy
1979
0.0
Black Jack
as Narrator
1979
7.0
Zulu Dawn
as Cpl. Storey
1979
6.1
On a Paving Stone Mounted
1978
0.0
Travellers
as Young William/Middle William/Sales Rep
1978
0.0
Mucking Out
as Brian Wilson
1978
0.0
The Turkey Who Lives on the Hill
as Bill
1978
0.0
Destiny
as Paul McShane
1978
0.0
🎬
Some Enchanted Evening
as Peter
1978
0.0
A Christmas Carol
as Fred (Scrooge's Nephew)
1977
6.6
Treasure Island
1977
6.0
BBC2 Play of the Week
as Finnegan
1977
7.0
BBC2 Play of the Week
as Bill
1977
7.0
Secret Army
as Eric Finch
1977
7.5
A Bridge Too Far
as Pvt. Wicks
1977
7.2
Arnhem: The Story of an Escape
as Finnegan
1976
4.0
Days of Hope
as Ben Matthews
1975
6.2
Alfie Darling
as Bakey
1975
4.2
Diane
as Jim
1975
4.0
Churchill's People
as Viventius
1974
1.0
Playhouse
as Jim
1974
7.0
Playhouse
as Vernon
1974
7.0
Father Dear Father
as Dumbo
1973
4.8
Speech Day
as Woodwork Master
1973
0.0
Play for Today
1970
6.3
Play for Today
as Andy
1970
6.3
BBC Play of the Month
1965
5.0
🎬
Dangerous Journey
as Narrator
N/A
0.0