David Morrissey

David Morrissey
Morrissey in May 2015
Born	(1964-06-21) 21 June 1964 (age 60) Liverpool, England
Occupations	Actor filmmaker
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	Esther Freud ​ ​ (m. 2006; sep. 2020)​
Children	3

David Mark Joseph Morrissey (born 21 June 1964) is an English actor and filmmaker. Noted for the meticulous preparation and research he undertakes for each role, he has been described by the British Film Institute as one of the most versatile English actors of his generation.^[1]

Morrissey made his screen acting debut in the drama series One Summer (1983) at the age of 18, and subsequently receiving training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company and National Theatre for four years. Standing 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) tall with an easily identifiable voice, he was often typecast as authority figures such as policemen and soldiers throughout the 1990s, breaking this trend with his roles as Bradley Headstone in Our Mutual Friend (1998) and Christopher Finzi in Hilary and Jackie (1998).

He appeared in Some Voices in 2000) and Captain Corelli's Mandolin the following year, before playing the critically acclaimed roles of Stephen Collins in State of Play (2003) and Gordon Brown in The Deal (2003). The former earned him a Best Actor nomination at the British Academy Television Awards, while the latter won him a Best Actor award from the Royal Television Society.

Morrissey also appeared in the supernatural horror film The Reaping (2007), and played Jackson Lake, a man suffering from amnesia who believed he was The Doctor, in the Doctor Who Christmas special "The Next Doctor" (2008). Also in 2008, Morrissey returned to the theater for a run of Neil LaBute's In a Dark Dark House.

In the years following those films, Morrissey had roles in Sense and Sensibility (2008), Red Riding (2009), Nowhere Boy (2009), Centurion (2010), and a crime drama he also produced, Thorne(2010). In 2011, he again returned to the stage in the title role in the Liverpool Everyman's production of Macbeth, and also starred in the British crime film Blitz, playing a morally dubious reporter in contact with the eponymous cop killer

Morrissey portrayed The Governor in the third, fourth, and fifth seasons of the AMC horror-drama series The Walking Dead (2012–2015). In 2014, he starred in the Danny Brocklehurst drama, The Driver. He later appeared in the Italian fantasy horror film Dampyr (2022).

Morrissey has directed short films and the television dramas Sweet Revenge (2001) and Passer By (2004). His feature-length directorial debut, Don't Worry About Me, premiered at the 2009 London Film Festival and was broadcast on BBC television in 2010. He was awarded an honorary doctorate by Edge Hill University in 2016.