Draft:Seymour Matthews

Seymour Matthews has been an actor, playwright, novelist, theatre director & producer over the past six decades.

Early life and education
He was born in Brighton in 1945 and attended Varndean Grammar School.

Acting career
His first professional engagement as an actor was in 1966 with the Royal Shakespeare Co. where he appeared in a dozen productions spread over three years. He was a founding member of the Young Vic under Frank Dunlop when it opened on the South Bank in 1970 playing Lucentio in Taming of the Shrew, Paris in Romeo & Juliet, Clov in Endgame, Lucky in Waiting for Godot and many others. He appeared in Repertory Theatres in Sheffield, Nottingham, Colchester and the Bristol Old Vic. There followed a flurry of classical TV work including Danton's Death, Vanity Fair, The Brontes of Haworth and Dickens of London, in which he played Edgar Allan Poe. His most recent theatre work was a world tour of King Lear with the RSC, again with Ian McKellen, and playing Mr Paravicini in The Mousetrap at St. Martin's Theatre in London's West End.

There have been numerous TV appearances over the years but his favourite has to be playing the Sotherby's Auctioneer who made Del Boy and Rodney into quadruple millionaires in the Christmas Special edition of Only Fools and Horses.

His first performance with the Royal National Theatre was as Thomas Putnam in The Crucible in 1990; he has appeared in another 14 RNT productions since then including Lawyer Hawkins in The Devil's Disciple, Bishop of Ely in Richard III (with Ian McKellen), Bardolph in The Merry Wives of Windsor, First Avocatori in Volpone, The Consultant in Remember This and Firs in The Cherry Orchard.

Director
He was Artistic Director of Frinton Summer Theatre for 20 years and Sheringham Summer Theatre for 3 years.

Author
He has written 3 plays and 2 novels all currently in print. He has also written and performed a one-man show entitled The Life & Loves of Edgar Allan Poe.